How to delete a buffer in Vim without losing the split window?

When a buffer gets deleted (via the :bd[elete] command), it not only deletes the buffer but also removes the split window that buffer was in.

Is there a way to delete/unload a buffer and keep the window split?

bp|bd # will do it.

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Details: The bp command (“buffer previous”) moves us to a different buffer in the current window (bn would work, too), then bd # (“buffer delete” “alternate file”) deletes the buffer we just moved away from. See :help bp, :help bd, and :help alternate-file.

I really like bufkill.vim there is a github repo as well

You can add the following to your .vimrc to have Bd work as bd but without touching the window splits:

command Bd bp\|bd \#

I found this as a useful complement to what Mud answered.

See deleting a buffer without closing the window on VIM tips wiki.

I do something similar to @Mud, but switch to previous view buffer, #, instead of the previous buffer in buffer list. Here is a binding key in my .vimrc:

nnoremap <silent> <leader>q :lclose<bar>b#<bar>bd #<CR>

Close Location windows, if exist, switch to the previous view buffer, and then close the last switched buffer.

My Choice is

:sb # | bd #
:sb 1 | bd #
: <1. Recall Buffer> | <2. Delete Buffer>

Think Like that! /// <1. Recall Buffer> | <2. Delete Buffer>

:vert sb 2 | bd #
:vert sb <tab key~completed file(buffer)name> | bd #

why?! It's easy to remember 3 (+ 1) keyword!

1. sb split_buffer
2. bd delete buffer ▶ simple 2 keywords
3. # or Number of buffer
4. vert ▶ short_form of vertical (split_buffer or else)

That are easy and very useful in many other many case!

Have a nice Day! :)

I used to use :

:bp<bar>sp<bar>bn<bar>bd<CR>

But I found certain occasions where it closed my window. On top of that the next or previous buffer might not be what you want to be displayed in the split.

Now I do this :

• switch to the buffer I want to work on
• Delete the alternate buffer

nnoremap <leader>d :bd#<CR>

I actually like the behaviour of :bd some of the time so I use the following combination:

nmap <silent> <Leader>d  :enew \| bd#<Return>
nmap <silent> <Leader>w :bd<CR>

This allows me to use <Leader>d to close a buffer whilst maintaining splits and <Leader>w to close a buffer and split simultaneously.

1. :enew creates a new buffer and switches focus to it
2. bd # delete the last buffer that was focused