I keep forgetting which mode I'm in

Question

My main problem is that I don't realize which mode I am in each time I use vim.

Sometimes I forget to <ESC> into normal mode, hence pressing vim commands in insert mode. I have to waste time deleting those characters, but that's not the worst.

The worst is when I don't realize I am in command mode, and I do several characters of typing. Then I realize, gosh! I made a mess to my notes. I don't know what have I changed, and that's my nightmare. To undo them back to the correct state is hard because I don't know what the correct state is.

Answer 1

Try to make NORMAL your main mode. So after you did change/insert text goto normal mode right away. Then start all your typings and commands knowing you are in NORMAL mode.

And by default vim shows other than NORMAL modes in the bottom left corner:

Answer 2

There are several ways to distinct between modes. First of all - if not in normal mode then in lower left corner Vim will display name of the mode.

Another way to distinct between modes is to use cursor visual clues. For example one can set in .vimrc cursor in normal mode to block, in insert mode to vertical bar and replace to underline.

Detailed instructions can be found Change cursor shape in different modes

Answer 3

If you know how long you used the wrong mode (let's say it's during 10 seconds), you can run :earlier 10s to go back in time regardless on how many changes you did.

These two plugins that can help you:

• airline to have a colored bar showing your current mode (the color depends on the mode you are in).
• undotree can help you to see what you changed (modified lines can be colored).

Edit : Another solution without plugin: add this in your ~/.vimrc

set cursorline
au InsertEnter * hi CursorLine ctermbg=52
au InsertLeave * hi CursorLine ctermbg=234

then, when you go to insert mode, the background line where your cursor is becomes red, and when you leave it, the line becomes grey. You can chose between 256 colors.

And if you prefer to do it for the column,

set nocursorcolumn
hi CursorColumn ctermbg=52
au InsertEnter * setlocal cursorline
au InsertLeave * setlocal nocursorcolumn

I don't do it the same way because I don't want to see the cursor column at all in normal mode (to avoid blinks on empty lines).

Answer 4

Setting 'showcmd' and 'showmode' can help with this, but <esc> also needs to be kind of a habit. That way you rarely type commands in insert mode (but it happens to all of us, not such a big deal. Occasionally I even hit <esc>ZZ in Word or some such! (Though I try not to use it much now...)

When you type commands in normal mode trying to insert text, just hit u until thinks look ok; there's nothing wrong with u!

P.S. Some people don't like the Escape key. If that's you, you might like to try Ctrl-[ instead. Whatever you do, do not get into the habit of using Ctrl-c as a poor man's escape; things will look fine until they don't.

Answer 5

I don't know how to program, i just found this code from internet and twig it into workable .. there might got some useless code inside.

I have entered this into .vimrc It will make Insert mode status line to be red color "1" Replace mode into green color "2" Normal mode statusline white color.

function! InsertStatuslineColor(mode)
  if a:mode == 'i'
    hi statusline ctermfg=1
  elseif a:mode == 'r'
    hi statusline ctermfg=2
  else
    hi statusline ctermfg=4
  endif
endfunction

au InsertEnter * call InsertStatuslineColor(v:insertmode)
au InsertChange * call InsertStatuslineColor(v:insertmode)
au InsertLeave * hi statusline ctermfg=7

" default the statusline to green when entering Vim
hi statusline guibg=green


"status bar and "Color TERMinal" color code explaination:
"ctermfg is refering to statusbar color
"ctermbg is refering to words color of statusbar
"No.4 x No.0 (don't fit)
"0=No color or black color ?? 
"1=Red color
"2=Light green
"3=Dark Yellow
"4=Light blue
"5=Magenta
"6=Light Blue
"7=White
"8=Cyan (dark grey)
"9=Dull Red
"10=some sort of pale blue greenish
"11=some sort of pale yellow
"12=blue
"13=magenta
"14=blue greenish
"15=dull white
"16=dark black
"17=deep blue
"18=deep blue
"19=lighter deep blue
"20= blue of diff intensity
"21= blue of diff intensity
"22= dark green
"23= pale blue