How to insert tab character when expandtab option is on in Vim
VimVim Problem Overview
When I'm in insert mode and I have the expandtab
option switched on, pressing Tab ↹ results in inserting the configured number of spaces.
But occasionally I want to insert an actual tab character.
Do you know how to do this?
Vim Solutions
Solution 1 - Vim
You can use <CTRL-V><Tab>
in "insert mode". In insert mode, <CTRL-V>
inserts a literal copy of your next character.
If you need to do this often, @Dee`Kej suggested (in the comments) setting Shift+Tab to insert a real tab with this mapping:
:inoremap <S-Tab> <C-V><Tab>
Also, as noted by @feedbackloop, on Windows you may need to press <CTRL-Q>
rather than <CTRL-V>
.
Solution 2 - Vim
You can disable expandtab option from within Vim as below:
:set expandtab!
or
:set noet
PS: And set it back when you are done with inserting tab, with "set expandtab" or "set et"
PS: If you have tab set equivalent to 4 spaces in .vimrc (softtabstop), you may also like to set it to 8 spaces in order to be able to insert a tab by pressing tab key once instead of twice (set softtabstop=8).
Solution 3 - Vim
From the documentation on expandtab
:
> To insert a real tab when expandtab
is on, use CTRL-V
<Tab>
. See also :retab
and ins-expandtab.
> This option is reset when the paste
> option is set and restored when the paste
option is reset.
So if you have a mapping for toggling the paste
option, e.g.
set pastetoggle=<F2>
you could also do <F2>Tab<F2>
.