# Searching in Vim

You can search for the word under the cursor using * and # in the forward and reverse directions, respectively. This is synonymous with pressing / and then the word, flanked by \< and \> (which are word boundaries).

# Special chars

Other valid special characters are available:

• \< - represents the beginning of a word
• \> - represents the end of a word
• \w - word character
• \+ - one or more
• \s - space or tab
• \_s - space, tab or newline
• \(...\) - search group
• \| - or

# Add modes after search query

Vim also allows special chars that specify modes:

• /e - positions the cursor after the query instead of at start
• \c - forces case-insensitive
• \C - forces case-SENSITIVE

# Options

The options most relevant to searching are:

• :set incsearch - move the cursor to the matched string as you type
• :set hlsearch - highlight all search matches, to temporarily disable for current search :noh