Paste in normal mode ignores autoindent

Question

When I paste something within normal mode, vim ignores autoindent. I copy and paste with y and p. As mentioned autoindent is on. It works fine when I manually indent or type something before pasting.

Also if I exit insert mode to normal mode right after the autoindent, the indent is lost.

Answer 1

Paste from insert mode <Ctrl-r>0

You can also insert the yanked text from insert mode when autoindent has added the correct indentation:

1. yiw yank
2. o<CR> switch to insert mode and add new line
3. <Ctrl-r>0 paste text from register 0

Drew Neil has created a vimcast

• Episode 55: Pasting from insert mode

I would also recommend two articles by Drew Neil:

• The copy/paste series - a retrospective
• Registers: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Parts

Note pasting a code block in insert mode

If you want to paste not a single word but a code block, this answer might not be satisfactory. Replace in step 1 yiw with yG and then execute steps 2 and 3, you will end up with

function Scene:get(...)

    function Scene:get(...)

            local l = {}

                for i, e in ipaires(self.nodelist) do
                            if (e:is(...)) then
                                            l[#l +1] = e
                                                    end
                                                        end

                                                            return l

                                                        end


    local l = {}

    for i, e in ipaires(self.nodelist) do
        if (e:is(...)) then
            l[#l +1] = e
        end
    end

    return l

end

To fix this you would have to set paste after you switched to insert mode to take advantage of the autoindentation because paste disables autoindentation. I do not know a simple way to do this and would recommend to paste from normal mode with the help of vim-unimpaired (=p). Also note yanking into the system clipboard and using the bracketed paste feature does not work for me flawlessly (macOS, Terminals: iTerm2.app v3.1.7 or Terminal.app v2.7.4).

Answer 2

=p from vim-unimpaired

function Scene:get(...)

    local l = {}

    for i, e in ipaires(self.nodelist) do
        if (e:is(...)) then
            l[#l +1] = e
        end
    end

    return l

end

1. Yank word function with yiw

2. =p from unimpaired inserts with reindentation after the current line.

3. Fix missing blank line with [-Space (also only with vim-unimpaired)

This is more impressive if you insert several lines from a register. For example, yank full function with yG in step 1 and then do steps 2 and 3.

Answer 3

gV=

Using custom mapping gV to select last changed (pasted) or yanked text.

A typical related question is how can I select a just pasted text. This would allow you to fix conveniently the indentation afterwards. By default there is no builtin keybinding for this. However, it is not difficult to define your own keybinding. IMHO gV is a good choice. Add to your vimrc

nnoremap <expr> gV     "`[" . getregtype(v:register)[0]."`]"

And now you can fix it with gV=.

The mapping is similar to gv which reselects the last selection.

Note, if you yank something else and you want to select your pasted text again, gV selects the most recent yanked text and does not help you here.

You can find the question several times on the web

• http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Selecting_your_pasted_text
• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4312664/is-there-a-vim-command-to-select-pasted-text
• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4775088/vim-how-to-select-pasted-block
• How do I visually select the block of text I just pasted in Vim?

Answer 4

I realized this vim's strange behavior just today.

I found a solution by chance :

]p : paste the line with the right indent