Setup VIM To Use The System Clipboard

Posted By Weston Ganger

I wanted VIM to use the system clipboard so I could yank/paste to/from other applications easily.

First edit your .vimrc


# ~/.vimrc
set clipboard=unnamedplus


Next check to see if your current vim version supports xterm_clipboard


vim --version

If you see “+xterm_clipboard” then its ready to go.

If you see “-xterm_clipboard” then we need to upgrade vim.


If you are running Debian:


sudo apt-get install vim-gnome


If you are running Redhat or CentOS:

You have to install vim-x11 afterwards you have to use vimx instead of vim. (Its handy to make an alias)


sudo yum install vim-x11


Now you should be able to use the clipboard back and forth between vim and other applications.


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Article Topic:Software Development - Linux

Date:August 11, 2015