Registers: Vim's Hidden Clipboard System

Most Vim users know y and p. Fewer know that every yank and delete operation writes to a register — and that you can control exactly which one.

The Register Landscape

Vim maintains several categories of registers:

• "a through "z — 26 named registers you control explicitly
• "0 — the yank register (last yanked text, untouched by deletes)
• "1 through "9 — the delete history (a stack of your last 9 deletes)
• "+ — the system clipboard
• "_ — the black hole register (deletes without saving)
• ". — the last inserted text
• "% — the current filename
• ": — the last ex command

Using Named Registers

Prefix any yank or delete with "x where x is the register letter:

"ayy    " yank current line into register a
"Ayy    " append current line to register a (uppercase = append)
"ap     " paste from register a

The uppercase trick is particularly powerful. Build up a collection of lines from different parts of a file by appending to the same register:

"ayy    " first line into register a
jj
"Ayy    " another line appended to a
5G
"Ayy    " yet another line appended
"ap     " paste all three lines together

The Yank Register Trick

Here's the scenario: you yank a line, then delete something to make room, then try to paste — but p pastes the deleted text, not the yanked line.

The fix: "0p. Register 0 always holds your last yank, unaffected by delete operations.

Pro Tip

Use :reg to see the contents of all registers at any time. Better yet, map it:

nnoremap <leader>r :registers<CR>

When you're refactoring, use named registers as staging areas. Yank the replacement text into "a, then navigate and use ciw followed by Ctrl-R a in insert mode to paste from register a without leaving insert mode.

Example

A real workflow for renaming a variable across a function:

" Yank the new name into register n
/newVariableName
"nyiw

" Now find each old name and replace
/oldVariableName
ciw<C-r>n<Esc>

" Repeat with n (find next) and . (repeat change)
n.n.n.

This is faster than a substitution command when you want to review each replacement individually.