What is an abandoned buffer in vim?

Question

I've been using vim for more than 5 years now, and I was surprised when I didn't know what an abandoned buffer was. The closest answer I found was in this SO answer.

So is an abandoned buffer one that was loaded but is not displayed any more? What about if there are multiple tabs - are any of the buffers loaded in these tabs abandoned or not?

Answer 1

An "abandoned" buffer is a buffer you left without saving changes.

If you have set nohidden (the default value), Vim generally warns you about unsaved changes when you try to leave a modified buffer. When you force your way with a bang, the previous buffer becomes "abandoned" and you loose all your unsaved changes.

If you have set hidden, modified buffers are kept in their current state when you leave them so they are — technically — never "abandoned". You will still get a warning if you try to quit Vim with unsaved changes.

As long as it's still displayed in a window, a buffer can't be thought of as "hidden" or "abandoned" so your buffers currently displayed in another window in another tab page are neither "hidden" nor "abandoned".