Vim Search and Replace — /, ?, :s, :%s Commands

Searching in Vim

Basic Search

Command	Action
/{pattern}	Search forward for pattern
?{pattern}	Search backward for pattern
n	Go to next match (same direction)
N	Go to previous match (opposite direction)
*	Search forward for word under cursor
#	Search backward for word under cursor

Search Options

Setting	Effect
:set ignorecase	Case-insensitive search
:set smartcase	Case-sensitive only if pattern has uppercase
:set hlsearch	Highlight all matches
:set incsearch	Show matches as you type
:noh	Clear search highlighting

Substitute (Replace) Command

The substitute command follows this pattern:

:[range]s/{pattern}/{replacement}/[flags]

Common Substitute Patterns

Command	Scope
:s/old/new/	First occurrence on current line
:s/old/new/g	All occurrences on current line
:%s/old/new/g	All occurrences in entire file
:%s/old/new/gc	All occurrences with confirmation
:5,20s/old/new/g	Lines 5 through 20
:'<,'>s/old/new/g	Within visual selection

Useful Flags

Flag	Meaning
g	Global (all matches on the line, not just first)
c	Confirm each replacement
i	Case-insensitive
I	Case-sensitive
n	Count matches without replacing

Advanced: Using Capture Groups

:%s/\(\w\+\) \(\w\+\)/\2 \1/g

This swaps two words separated by a space, using capture groups \1 and \2.