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I am using a mac, and I usually paste things in by doing the following:

  • :set paste!
  • cmdp
  • :set paste!

This is really the only way I've been able to paste things into vim reliably (with the help of iTerm), whether it's on a local or remote server (i.e., on a remote server having "a yanked locally means nothing). I was wondering if there was some way to automate this behavior, either in vim or outside it. I don't think it's possible entirely in vim, as it doesn't recognize mac's cmd character. What might be a good way to do this?

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  • Do you mean the other way around? :set paste before Cmd+P and :set nopaste after it?
    – filbranden
    Apr 28, 2020 at 5:06
  • @filbranden yes, good spot thank you. Normally I'll just do paste! but yes I mixed them up (fixed now)
    – David542
    Apr 28, 2020 at 5:13

2 Answers 2

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I have been using the paste mappings from vim-unimpaired by Tim Pope, which will drop you on insert mode under set paste and restore nopaste as soon as you leave insert mode.

The mappings are:

  • [op: Paste above the current line (similar to O but with set paste)
  • ]op: Paste below the current line (similar to o but with set paste)
  • yop: Paste replacing the current line (similar to S but with set paste)

So one could use the sequence:

  • ]op
  • Cmd+P
  • Esc

Since leaving Insert mode with "Esc" is enough to restore nopaste mode.

But I also like to paste from when I'm already in Insert mode, for example if I want to write something above the text I'm about to paste.

For that, I use the following mapping:

inoremap <C-e> <C-g>u<C-o>:normal <Plug>unimpairedPaste<cr>

This will use the Ctrl+E key in Insert mode to switch to set paste mode, while setting up the restoring of nopaste after leaving Insert mode. It reuses the internal mapping from vim-unimpaired. Before setting up for pasting, it issues a <C-g>u sequence, to break the "undo" tree, meaning you can undo the paste operation on its own, without undoing the additional text you wrote before your paste.

So then the sequence is:

  • i (or similar), to enter Insert mode
  • enter any text that should precede the paste
  • Ctrl+E, to set paste
  • Cmd+P, to actually paste the contents of the clipboard
  • Esc, to leave Insert mode
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There is something called "bracketed paste mode", see :h xterm-bracketed-paste. Check if iTerm supports it. If it does, make sure you don't unset t_BE and t_BD in your configuration. (I don't have a Mac, so I can't test.)

If that doesn't work: I have configures F9 to toggle paste mode:

set pastetoggle=<F9>    " toggle paste option
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  • 1
    You shouldnt need the mappings with pastetoggle set
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Apr 28, 2020 at 12:08
  • 1
    @D.BenKnoble you're right. Those three lines in my vimrc are at least 10 years old. Updating (the answer and my vimrc :-))
    – Ralf
    Apr 28, 2020 at 12:30
  • @Ralf looks like it does, thanks for the tip: gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/-/wikis/Paste-Bracketing
    – David542
    Apr 28, 2020 at 18:29
  • 1
    @David542 Tell us if it works or not and what you had to do.
    – Ralf
    Apr 28, 2020 at 22:15

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