Insert mode keymaps: Custom keymaps just insert characters of combination when typed (Neovim)

Question

When I use imap or inoremap to create any shortcut in Neovim 0.2.0, the shortcuts seem to act as if they are not there! Here is an example that I just tried.

nnoremap <F2> :w!<CR>
vnoremap <F2> <Esc>:w!<CR>gv
inoremap <F2> <Esc>:w!<CR>gi

The insert mode mapping just types in the key combination when I enter it in insert mode. However, the normal and visual mode mappings work just fine. I have tried other combinations such as zz C-s and others.

Any ideas?

P.S. I have stty -ixon in my shell rc file.

Answer 1

So as it turns out, the problem was that I had

set paste

In my init.vim file. Removing that line solved it, and now insert mode key bindings work fine!

Answer 2

Instead of the <esc>...gi pattern, it is generally better to use <c-o> to temporarily leave insert mode to use a command:

inoremap <F2> <c-\><c-o>:w!<cr>

<c-\><c-o> is like <c-o> except does not move the cursor backwards when at the end of the line.