Quickly switching buffers in Vim normal mode

Solution 1:

Add this to your .vimrc

map gn :bn<cr>
map gp :bp<cr>
map gd :bd<cr>

Note that you are remapping gp and gd, but maybe you don't care about that (:help gp, :help gd).

For more information on how to map key strokes see :help map-overview and :help map.txt.

Btw, I personally use <leader> instead of g in the mapping. My <leader> is set to ;. This puts my <leader> key on the home row which makes me willing to map all kinds of stuff using <leader>. :help mapleader if you want to change your <leader> key.

Solution 2:

The way I usually switch between buffers is to use the :buffer command with the built-in autocompletion, e.g. :b prof<Tab> to switch to folder/path/LoginProfileFactory.php.

You can just start typing any part of the file name of the buffer you need, which is nice.

Less often, I actually remember the numbers of the buffers I want and I use something like :b 3 or :3b. I see you mention you don't like :buf 3 though, so Rumple Stiltskin has an alternative to the :3b style that you may prefer.

Solution 3:

{count}CTRL-^ switches to the count numbered buffer.

Solution 4:

I have the following lines in .vimrc:

nnoremap  <silent>   <tab>  :if &modifiable && !&readonly && &modified <CR> :write<CR> :endif<CR>:bnext<CR>
nnoremap  <silent> <s-tab>  :if &modifiable && !&readonly && &modified <CR> :write<CR> :endif<CR>:bprevious<CR>

Now a Tab let you go to the next buffer and a Shift-Tab to the previous.

Solution 5:

This is based on Nick Knowlson's answer, but I wanted to expand on my comment there ...

Type :b <Tab> (note the space), then cycle through the open buffers with Tab or ← / →.

... which gets us closer to the Ctrl + Tab in all the other editors and browsers I use.

It's actually even better in some ways, you can then go backwards and forwards with ← / → arrows. It avoids the thumb + finger fu to type Ctrl + Shift + Tab to go backwards through the tabs in editors and browsers.

N.B. Shift + Tab just does the same as Tab

This is then actually something like Win + Tab in Windows 10, where once you first open up the window and you can then move around using the arrow keys.

Edit: I have two further tricks that I picked up for using buffers:

From this answer I have this in my .vimrc:
```
nnoremap <leader>bb :buffers<cr>:b<space> 
```
it opens the :ls / :buffers command and pre-types the :b so that you just have to type the buffer number as you'll see a list with all the buffers and their numbers.
I also have
```
nnoremap <leader><tab> :b#<cr>
```
which toggles between the current and most recently used buffers, it's a bit like doing cd - when switching back and forth between directories