How to insert Tab character when expandtab option is ON in VIM
When I'm in INSERT mode and I have expandtab option switched on pressing tab results in inserting configured number of spaces.
But occasionally I want to insert tab character itself.
Do you know how to do this?
You can use <CTRL-V><Tab> in "insert mode". In insert mode <CTRL-V> inserts a literal copy of your next character.
If you find you need to do this often, @Dee`Kej suggested (in the comments) setting Shift+Tab to insert a real tab by
:inoremap <S-Tab> <C-V><Tab>
Also as, noted by @feedbackloop, on windows you may need to press <CTRL-Q> rather than <CTRL-V> .
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).
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, eg
set pastetoggle=<F2>
you could also do <F2>Tab<F2> .
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