How to save a file in Vim without quit

Question

I know the basic command ESC + SHIFT ZZ and another, ESC + :wq ENTER, but I don't want to quit Vim.

I want to save the file and the file should remain open in Vim.

I don't know if I should vote to close this question.... There could be many similar Qs coming, like "how to move curse up/down/left/right", "how to quit without saving", "how to undo/redo"... — Kent
– Kent, Commented May 18, 2016 at 15:59
@DarshanSharma The most important command in vim you should learn is not :w, it is :h, do :h wq you can see many possibilities to save/quit/discard.... — Kent
– Kent, Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:08
@DarshanSharma you may want to play vimtutor first. just type the command in your terminal. — Kent
– Kent, Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:16

Mateusz Piotrowski · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-31 23:22:32Z

104

ESC, :, w, Enter

The w is "write", the q is "quit"; use only "write".

edited Mar 31, 2018 at 23:22

Mateusz Piotrowski

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answered May 18, 2016 at 15:55

max66

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Levi Maes · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-25 06:17:57Z

5

Here's another shorcut that works, if you're interested in saving a keystroke or two. Run the below commands (as long as your Vim(rc) config file matches the below target destination):

`$ echo "noremap ww :w<CR>" >> ~/.vimrc`
`$ source ~/.vimrc`    .

This should add a line to your Vim config file, noremap ww :w<CR>, which: (1.) Declares it's going to create a new Normal-Mode "Remap" (noremap); (2.) Designates what we can consider a new operator, or operating keystroke, ww, for the...; (3.) ...for the operand command, :w<CR>, which stands for "[Enter the] command mode, with ':', then key stroke 'w', following with a Carrige Return ()", and is the how the operator will behave when called. In case you're not familiar with Vim's Normal mode shortcuts: For example, using my example, you'd literally just type the letters 'ww', and read the bottom for confirmation that lines were written. (There are no "CTRL-... or CMD- or Shift-"-like combinations necessary.)

answered Aug 25, 2017 at 6:17

Levi Maes

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2 Comments

Jake T. Over a year ago

I really appreciate answers like this. It may go beyond the scope of the question, but I searched for and found this question because I'm still fairly novice with Vim, and am trying to learn basic things. This answer provided a bit of extra information in an easily digestible quantity to not only accomplish the task I set out to learn, but dip my toe into a slightly more advanced feature that would be less likely for me to end up deciding to search for explicitly. Thanks, @Levi Maes

Jake T. Over a year ago

That being said, it does appear that this specific remap appears to interfere with using w to navigate. w is supposed to jump to the beginning of a word, but that seems to be getting ignored with the ww remap. W to jump forward a word still works.

J-L · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-12 08:37:08Z

2

How about the :update / :up command? It's similar to the :write / :w command, but it doesn't actually write out the file if there were no changes made that need to be written out.

(Kind of like the difference between :x and :wq ; if there are no changes to save, :x just quits without writing out the file, whereas :wq writes out the file regardless of whether there are any changes.)

edited Nov 12 at 8:37

answered Nov 11 at 22:35

J-L

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