CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vimvim-plugin
Phoenix Mu
Phoenix Mu

Reputation: 728

Vim8 cannot delete letters

I installed a vim 8.1 on the cluster I am using in my home folder. I also installed a number of plugins including YouCompleteMe. I then made an alias so that I can open the vim easier.

However, I found that my vim cannot delete letters very well. When I am writing I can delete what I just typed. But if I move the cursor to other places, then it cannot delete letters at all, unless I type in something at first.

I am using a Scientific Linux system developed by the Fermi Lab.

How can I solve this problem?

Thanks

Upvotes: 0

Views: 305

Answers (1)

Ingo Karkat
Ingo Karkat

Reputation: 172698

This sounds like the default configuration of the :help 'backspace' option. If this doesn't contain start, you cannot remove characters over the start of insertion by pressing Backspace, only what got inserted before. Removal of characters via the x or d commands (:help deleting) should always work - anywhere. Else, you have a serious misconfiguration should inspect your ~/.vimrc and re-add plugins one by one.

If you're new to Vim (and using backspace for deletion in insert mode is a typical approach of people used to other, modeless editors), you should spend 30 minutes on the vimtutor that comes with it (see :help vimtutor). Then, there are several good resources, cheatsheets, and vi / Vim tutorials out there on the net. http://vimcasts.org/ has several short entertaining episodes that go beyond the basics.

Your problem could be fixed by putting

set backspace=indent,eol,start

into your ~/.vimrc. Also have a look at :help defaults.vim; by including that instead, you'll get other goodies and recommended settings as well! (The reason for the odd defaults is backwards compatibility.)

Upvotes: 2

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