~ / search / search-basicslesson 1/7

Search: / ? n and N

Type what you want to reach, press Enter, then hop between matches.

?how it works

/ opens a prompt at the bottom of the window. Type some text and press <CR>: the cursor jumps to the next match after it. ? does the same thing backwards, towards the top of the buffer.

Once a search is set, n jumps to the next match and N goes the other way, without retyping anything. Both remember the direction you searched in: after a ? search, n keeps going up and N goes down.

You rarely need a whole word. Type just enough letters that the first match is the spot you want, and let the highlight show you when you're there. If you run off the end of the buffer, the search wraps around to the other end, and the match count at the bottom gets a W in front, like W [1/4].

/ and <CR> with nothing typed searches for the last pattern again. ? and <CR> does it backwards.

The common mistake is reading N as "search up". It means "the opposite of how I searched", so after a ? search it moves down.

⌨keys

`/{pattern}<CR>`	search forward for {pattern}
`?{pattern}<CR>`	search backward for {pattern}
`n`	repeat the last search in the same direction
`N`	repeat the last search in the opposite direction
`/<CR>`	search forward for the last pattern again
`?<CR>`	search backward for the last pattern again

Nin neovim

Neovim turns on 'hlsearch' and 'incsearch' by default, so every match lights up and the cursor previews the first match while you type. It also shows a match count like [2/5] after each search: Vim hides that unless you remove S from 'shortmess', Neovim leaves S out. Run :nohlsearch (:noh) or press <C-l> to clear the highlighting until your next search.

4 drills

Jump with /: Put the cursor on the target with one / search. Type only as many letters as you need.
Hop along with n: The target is one of several identical matches. Search for it, then press n until you get there.
Look back with ?: The target is above the cursor. Reach it with one ? search.
Wrap around from the top: The cursor is at the top and the target is the last match of a repeated word. Get there with one ? search: it wraps around to the bottom.

The drill editor loads in your browser.