Automatically load Vi into insert mode

Question

I use Vi as my preferred (and, in fact, only) text editor on Linux Systems. I know how to change modes from normal to insert, and vice-versa.

Is it possible to have Vi automatically load into Insert Mode rather than Normal Mode?

I want this because I can only access my Linux over SSH, and my computer that I can use for SSH access is so slow, it takes ages to load command mode. (Also my Openwrt system is quite slow).

Answer 1

You can use the +startinsert option (or +star for short) to start Vim with insert mode.

vim +star myfile.txt

If you want this to happen by default when starting Vim, you can make an alias (in your .bashrc or .zshrc for example) as follows:

alias vim="vim +startinsert"

However, that works only when starting Vim. If you want Vim to be in Insert mode even when you open a file from within Vim, add the following to your .vimrc:

au BufRead,BufNewFile * startinsert

Answer 2

$ vim -y <file>

-y Easy mode. Implied for |evim| and |eview|. Starts with 'insertmode' set and behaves like a click-and-type editor. This sources the script $VIMRUNTIME/evim.vim. Mappings are set up to work like most click-and-type editors, see |evim-keys|. The GUI is started when available. {not in Vi}

source

Answer 3

Although I think starting in insert mode is not the vim way, you can do this very easily. You should start vim with

vim -c startinsert 'file'

The -c flag passes in a command into vim. The :startinsert command changes to insert mode. As you can imagine, you could start vim with any number of commands if you so desired.