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11. Buffers

A slightly easier way to move between buffers

The :b command doesn’t just accept buffer numbers — it also accepts file paths. What’s more is that you can use tab completion to get a list of the buffers that are available!

Work through the checklist below. This time, your buffer list is already stocked with foo.txt, bar.txt, and baz.txt. Type :b followed by a space and the start of a name, and hit the tab key — Vim completes the buffer name for you. When more than one buffer matches, you can keep hitting tab to walk forward through the candidates.

Pro tip

If you want to open foo.txt, bar.txt, and baz.txt all at the same time, you can use :args *.txt. We’ll learn more about the :args command and the arglist in a later lesson.

  1. Tab your way to foo.txt Type :b f, hit the Tab key — Vim will fill in foo.txt — then hit Enter.
  2. Walk the matches to baz.txt Type :b ba and hit Tab twice — Vim will offer bar.txt, then baz.txt — and hit Enter.
Tab your way to foo.txt Type :b f, hit the Tab key — Vim will fill in foo.txt — then hit Enter.

Next: Walk the matches to baz.txt

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