How do I search the open buffers in Vim?

I'd like to search for text in all files currently open in vim and display all results in a single place. There are two problems, I guess:

• I can't pass the list of open files to :grep/:vim, especially the names of files that aren't on the disk;
• The result of :grep -C 1 text doesn't look good in the quickfix window.

Here is a nice example of multiple file search in Sublime Text 2:

Any ideas?

Or

:bufdo vimgrepadd threading % | copen

The quickfix window may not look good for you but it's a hell of a lot more functional than ST2's "results panel" if only because you can keep it open and visible while jumping to locations and interact with it if it's not there.

ack and Ack.vim handle this problem beautifully. You can also use :help :vimgrep. For example:

:bufdo AckAdd -n threading

will create a nice quickfix window that lets you hop to the cursor position.

Like the answer of Waz, I have written custom commands for that, published in my GrepCommands plugin. It allows to search over buffers (:BufGrep), visible windows (:WinGrep), tabs, and arguments.

(But like all the other answers, it doesn't handle unnamed buffers yet.)

I really liked romainl's answer, but there were a few sticky edges that made it awkward to use in practice.

The following in your .vimrc file introduces a user command Gall (Grep all) that addresses the issues that I found irksome.

funct! GallFunction(re)
  cexpr []
  execute 'silent! noautocmd bufdo vimgrepadd /' . a:re . '/j %'
  cw  
endfunct

command! -nargs=1 Gall call GallFunction(<q-args>)

This will allow case-sensitive searches like this:

:Gall Error\C

and case-insensitive:

:Gall error

and with spaces:

:Gall fn run

Pros

• It will only open the Quickfix window, nothing else.
• It will clear the Quickfix window first before vimgrepadd-ing results from each buffer.
• The Quickfix window will contain the locations of all matches throughout the open buffers, not just the last visited.
• Use :Gall repeatedly without any special housekeeping between calls.
• Doesn't wait on errors and displays results immediately.
• Doesn't allow any autocmd to run, speeding up the overall operation.

Ambivalent features

• Doesn't preemptively jump to any occurrence in the list. :cn gets second result or CTRL-w b <enter> to get to the first result directly.

Cons

• If there's only one result, you'll have to navigate to it manually with CTRL-w b <enter>.

To navigate to a result in any buffer quickly:

:[count]cn

or

:[count]cp

E.g. :6cn to skip 6 results down the list, and navigate to the correct buffer and line in the "main" window.

Obviously, window navigation is essential:

Ctrl-w w "next window (you'll need this at a bare minimum)

Ctrl-w t Ctrl-w o "go to the top window then close everything else

Ctrl-w c "close the current window, i.e. usually the Quickfix window

:ccl "close Quickfix window

If you close the Quickfix window, then need the results again, just use:

:cw

or

:copen

to get it back.

I made this function a long time ago, and I'm guessing it's probably not the cleanest of solutions, but it has been useful for me:

" Looks for a pattern in the open buffers.
" If list == 'c' then put results in the quickfix list.
" If list == 'l' then put results in the location list.
function! GrepBuffers(pattern, list)
    let str = ''

    if (a:list == 'l')
        let str = 'l'
    endif

    let str = str . 'vimgrep /' . a:pattern . '/'

    for i in range(1, bufnr('$'))
        let str = str . ' ' . fnameescape(bufname(i))
    endfor

    execute str
    execute a:list . 'w'
endfunction

" :GrepBuffers('pattern') puts results into the quickfix list
command! -nargs=1 GrepBuffers call GrepBuffers(<args>, 'c')

" :GrepBuffersL('pattern') puts results into the location list
command! -nargs=1 GrepBuffersL call GrepBuffers(<args>, 'l')

An improved (on steroids) version of Waz's answer, with better buffer searching and special case handling, can be found below (The moderators wouldn't let me update Waz's answer anymore :D). A more fleshed out version with binds for arrow keys to navigate the QuickFix list and F3 to close the QuickFix window can be found here: https://pastebin.com/5AfbY8sm (When i feel like figuring out how to make a plugin i'll update this answer. I wanted to expedite sharing it for now)

" Looks for a pattern in the buffers.
" Usage :GrepBuffers [pattern] [matchCase] [matchWholeWord] [prefix]
" If pattern is not specified then usage instructions will get printed.
" If matchCase = '1' then exclude matches that do not have the same case. If matchCase = '0' then ignore case.
" If prefix == 'c' then put results in the QuickFix list. If prefix == 'l' then put results in the location list for the current window.
function! s:GrepBuffers(...)
    if a:0 > 4
        throw "Too many arguments"
    endif

    if a:0 >= 1
        let l:pattern = a:1
    else
        echo 'Usage :GrepBuffers [pattern] [matchCase] [matchWholeWord] [prefix]'
        return
    endif

    let l:matchCase = 0
    if a:0 >= 2
        if a:2 !~ '^\d\+$' || a:2 > 1 || a:2 < 0
            throw "ArgumentException: matchCase value '" . a:2 . "' is not in the bounds [0,1]."
        endif
        let l:matchCase = a:2
    endif

    let l:matchWholeWord = 0
    if a:0 >= 3
        if a:3 !~ '^\d\+$' || a:3 > 1 || a:3 < 0
            throw "ArgumentException: matchWholeWord value '" . a:3 . "' is not in the bounds [0,1]."
        endif
        let l:matchWholeWord = a:3
    endif

    let l:prefix = 'c'
    if a:0 >= 4
        if a:4 != 'c' && a:4 != 'l'
            throw "ArgumentException: prefix value '" . a:4 . "' is not 'c' or 'l'."
        endif
        let l:prefix = a:4
    endif

    let ignorecase = &ignorecase
    let &ignorecase = l:matchCase == 0
    try
        if l:prefix == 'c'
            let l:vimgrep = 'vimgrep'
        elseif l:prefix == 'l'
            let l:vimgrep = 'lvimgrep'
        endif

        if l:matchWholeWord
            let l:pattern = '\<' . l:pattern . '\>'
        endif

        let str = 'silent ' . l:vimgrep . ' /' . l:pattern . '/'

        for buf in getbufinfo()
            if buflisted(buf.bufnr) " Skips unlisted buffers because they are not used for normal editing
                if !bufexists(buf.bufnr)
                    throw 'Buffer does not exist: "' . buf.bufnr . '"'
                elseif empty(bufname(buf.bufnr)) && getbufvar(buf.bufnr, '&buftype') != 'quickfix'
                    if len(getbufline(buf.bufnr, '2')) != 0 || strlen(getbufline(buf.bufnr, '1')[0]) != 0
                        echohl warningmsg | echomsg 'Skipping unnamed buffer: [' . buf.bufnr . ']' | echohl normal
                    endif
                else
                    let str = str . ' ' . fnameescape(bufname(buf.bufnr))
                endif
            endif
        endfor

        try
            execute str
        catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E\%(683\|480\):/ "E683: File name missing or invalid pattern --- E480: No match:
            " How do you want to handle this exception?
            echoerr v:exception
            return
        endtry

        execute l:prefix . 'window'
    "catch /.*/
    finally
        let &ignorecase = ignorecase
    endtry
endfunction