---
name: "nvim"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "neovim"
version: "0.12.6-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/nvim"
---

# nvim(1)

edit text

## NAME

**nvim** – edit text

## SYNOPSIS

**nvim** \[*options*\] \[*file* *...*\]

**nvim** \[*options*\] **-**

**nvim** \[*options*\] **-t** *tag*

**nvim** \[*options*\] **-q** \[*errorfile*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**nvim** is a text editor based on Vim. Start **nvim** followed by any number of options and/or files:

```
nvim [options] [file ...]
```

Commands in **nvim** begin with colon (‘:’). Type “:help subject” to get help on a specific subject. Use \<Tab\> and CTRL-D to complete subjects (“:help cmdline-completion”).

The “quickref” help section is a condensed reference of editor features:

```
:help quickref
```

If you are new to Vim/Nvim, start with the 30-minute tutorial:

```
:Tutor
```

After installing/updating Nvim, it's a good idea to run the self-check:

```
:checkhealth
```

- *file* *...*

  File(s) to edit. Opens one buffer per file. To switch between buffers, use the **:next** and **:previous** commands.

- **-**

  Reads text from standard input until EOF, then opens a buffer with that text. User input is read from standard error, which should be a terminal.

## OPTIONS

- **-t** *tag*

  Finds *tag* in the tags file, the associated file becomes the current file and the associated command is executed. Cursor is positioned at the tag location in the file. **:help tag-commands**

- **-q** \[*errorfile*\]

  QuickFix mode. Display the first error in *errorfile*. If *errorfile* is omitted, the value of the 'errorfile' option is used (defaults to **errors.err**). Further errors can be jumped to with the **:cnext** command. **:help quickfix**

- **--**

  End of options. Remaining arguments are treated as literal file names, including filenames starting with hyphen (‘-’).

- **-e**

  Ex mode, reading stdin as Ex commands. **:help Ex-mode**

- **-E**

  Ex mode, reading stdin as text. **:help Ex-mode**

- **-es**

  Silent (non-interactive) Ex mode, reading stdin as Ex commands. Useful for scripting because it does NOT start a UI, unlike **-e**. **:help silent-mode**

- **-Es**

  Silent (non-interactive) Ex mode, reading stdin as text. Useful for scripting because it does NOT start a UI, unlike **-E**. **:help silent-mode**

- **-d**

  Diff mode. Show the difference between two to eight files, similar to [sdiff(1)](/sdiff/1.md). **:help diff**

- **-R**

  Read-only mode. Sets the 'readonly' option. Implies **-n**. Buffers can still be edited, but cannot be written to disk if already associated with a file. To overwrite a file, add an exclamation mark to the relevant Ex command, such as **:w!**. **:help 'readonly'**

- **-m**

  Resets the 'write' option, to disable file modifications. Writing to a file is disabled, but buffers can still be modified.

- **-M**

  Resets the 'write' and 'modifiable' options, to disable file and buffer modifications.

- **-b**

  Binary mode. **:help edit-binary**

- **-A**

  Arabic mode. Sets the 'arabic' option.

- **-H**

  Hebrew mode. Sets the 'hkmap' and 'rightleft' options.

- **-V**\[*N*\]\[*file*\]

  Verbose mode. Prints debug messages. *N* is the 'verbose' level, defaults to **10**. If *file* is specified, append messages to *file* instead of printing them. **:help 'verbose'**

- **-D**

  Vimscript debug mode. Started when executing the first command from a script. **:help debug-mode**

- **-n**

  Disable the use of swap files. Sets the 'updatecount' option to **0**. Can be useful for editing files on a slow medium.

- **-r** \[*file*\]

  Recovery mode. If *file* is omitted then list swap files with recovery information. Otherwise the swap file *file* is used to recover a crashed session. The swap file has the same name as the file it's associated with, but with ‘.swp’ appended. **:help recovery**

- **-L** \[*file*\]

  Alias for **-r**.

- **-u** *vimrc*

  Use *vimrc* instead of the default *~/.config/nvim/init.vim*. If *vimrc* is **NORC**, do not load any initialization files (except plugins). If *vimrc* is **NONE**, loading plugins is also skipped. **:help initialization**

- **-i** *shada*

  Use *shada* instead of the default *~/.local/state/nvim/shada/main.shada*. If *shada* is **NONE**, do not read or write a ShaDa file. **:help shada**

- **--noplugin**

  Skip loading plugins (by setting the 'noloadplugins' option). Implied by **-u** **NONE**.

- **--clean**

  Start Nvim with “factory defaults” (only builtin plugins, no user config/plugins, no shada). **:help --clean**

- **-o**\[*N*\]

  Open *N* windows stacked horizontally. If *N* is omitted, open one window for each file. If *N* is less than the number of file arguments, allocate windows for the first *N* files and hide the rest.

- **-O**\[*N*\]

  Like **-o**, but tile windows vertically.

- **-p**\[*N*\]

  Like **-o**, but for tab pages.

- **+**\[*linenum*\]

  For the first file, position the cursor on line *linenum*. If *linenum* is omitted, position the cursor on the last line of the file. **+5** and **-c** **5** on the command-line are equivalent to **:5** inside **nvim**.

- **+/**\[*pattern*\]

  For the first file, position the cursor on the first occurrence of *pattern*. If *pattern* is omitted, the most recent search pattern is used (if any). **+/foo** and **-c** **/foo** on the command-line are equivalent to **/foo** and **:/foo** inside **nvim**. **:help search-pattern**

- **+***command*, **-c** *command*

  Execute *command* after reading the first file. Up to 10 instances allowed. "**+foo**" and **-c** **"foo"** are equivalent.

- **--cmd** *command*

  Like **-c**, but execute *command* before processing any vimrc. Up to 10 instances of these can be used independently from instances of **-c**.

- **-l** *script* \[*args*\]

  Execute Lua *script* with optional \[*args*\] after processing any preceding Nvim startup arguments. All \[*args*\] are treated as script arguments and are passed literally to Lua, that is, **-l** stops processing of Nvim arguments. **:help -l**

- **-S** \[*session*\]

  Execute *session* after the first file argument has been read. If *session* filename ends with *.lua* it is executed as Lua instead of Vimscript. Equivalent to **-c** **"source** **session"**. *session* cannot start with a hyphen (‘-’). If *session* is omitted then *Session.vim* is used, if found. **:help session-file**

- **-s** *scriptin*

  Read normal mode commands from *scriptin*. The same can be done with the command **:source! scriptin**. If the end of the file is reached before **nvim** exits, further characters are read from the keyboard.

- **-w** *scriptout*

  Append all typed characters to *scriptout*. Can be used for creating a script to be used with **-s** or **:source!**.

- **-W** *scriptout*

  Like **-w**, but truncate *scriptout*.

- **--startuptime** *file*

  During startup, append timing messages to *file*. Can be used to diagnose slow startup times.

- **--api-info**

  Dump API metadata serialized to msgpack and exit.

- **--embed**

  Use standard input and standard output as a msgpack-rpc channel. **:help --embed**

- **--headless**

  Do not start a UI. When supplied with **--embed** this implies that the embedding application does not intend to (immediately) start a UI. Also useful for “scraping” messages in a pipe. **:help --headless**

- **--listen** *address*

  Start RPC server on this pipe or TCP socket.

- **-h**, **--help**

  Print usage information and exit.

- **-v**, **--version**

  Print version information and exit.

## ENVIRONMENT

- NVIM\_APPNAME

  The name of sub-directories used within each XDG user directory. Defaults to **nvim**. **:help $NVIM\_APPNAME**

- NVIM\_LOG\_FILE

  Low-level log file, usually found at *~/.local/state/nvim/nvim.log*. **:help $NVIM\_LOG\_FILE**

- VIM

  Used to locate user files, such as init.vim. System-dependent. **:help $VIM**

- VIMRUNTIME

  Used to locate runtime files (documentation, syntax highlighting, etc.).

- XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME

  Path to the user-local configuration directory, see FILES. Defaults to *~/.config*. **:help xdg**

- XDG\_STATE\_HOME

  Like XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME, but used to store data not generally edited by the user, namely swap, backup, and ShaDa files. Defaults to *~/.local/state*. **:help xdg**

- XDG\_DATA\_HOME

  Like XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME, but used to store data not generally edited by the user, things like runtime files. Defaults to *~/.local/share*. **:help xdg**

- VIMINIT

  Ex commands to be executed at startup. **:help VIMINIT**

- SHELL

  Used to initialize the 'shell' option, which decides the default shell used by features like **:terminal**, **:!**, and **system()**.

## FILES

- *~/.config/nvim/init.lua*

  User-local **nvim** Lua configuration file.

- *~/.config/nvim*

  User-local **nvim** configuration directory. See also XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME.

- *$VIM/sysinit.vim*

  System-global **nvim** configuration file.

- *$VIM*

  System-global **nvim** runtime directory.

## AUTHORS

Nvim was started by Thiago de Arruda. Most of Vim was written by Bram Moolenaar. Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews, and G.R. (Fred) Walter. **:help credits**