CODEWITHSUNDEEP
macosvim
Tamas Czinege
Tamas Czinege

Reputation: 121294

Vim Insert Mode on Mac OS X

Apparently Mac keyboards don't have an Insert key (or maybe they do but I can't find it). How can I get to insert mode in vim on a Mac?

Upvotes: 123

Views: 107390

Answers (5)

Esqarrouth
Esqarrouth

Reputation: 39181

Enter Insert Mode: press i

Exit Insert Mode: press esc, type :x

Upvotes: 8

Jeremy L
Jeremy L

Reputation: 7797

If this is as simple a question as it seems, you merely press i.

Upvotes: 261

Konrad Rudolph
Konrad Rudolph

Reputation: 545508

Vim enters the insert mode using i (or a for append), regardless of platform. Overwrite mode is only rarely entered using Shift+r. I've never used the Insert key here.

Upvotes: 21

smathy
smathy

Reputation: 27961

The other use of the Insert key is to switch between replace-mode and insert-mode when already in either. You can accomplish this easily on the Mac by just mapping another key to do this for you. In your ~/.vimrc just put imap <F13> <Insert> and now the F13 key (which on my Mac keyboard is the closest key to where the Insert key is on a regular keyboard).

Upvotes: 10

Parrots
Parrots

Reputation: 26872

Pressing "i" brings you into insert mode within VIM.

Upvotes: 7

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