gvim: Easy copying into system clipboard

Question

I am using gVim on Ubuntu 10.10. I want to copy (yank) text to the system clipboard, so that the copied text is available in other applications.

This works with "+y. But I want to have it working with y.

I have tried to map y to "+y but then yy doesn't work anymore (since it produces "+y"+y).

I have also tried :set clipboard=unnamed but this works only the other direction: Text in the system clipboard I can paste with p.

Phrixus

I just use different mappings for dealing with the clipboard, and keep the normal functionality of the y command – Canny

In case it's unclear to some, "+y means you have to type ", +, y (" is the register symbol, + is clipboard register, y is yank) – Erich

Answer 1

Did you try to map with this command:

noremap y "+y

? This mapping contains a serious mistake: it maps y in normal, visual and operator-pending modes, while you need only normal and visual modes. Use the following:

nnoremap y "+y
vnoremap y "+y

Also try set clipboard=unnamedplus (it requires at least vim-7.3.74). set clipboard=unnamed works in both directions, but it sets «mouse» (*) register which is different from clipboard register (+).

Stewartstewed

Answer 2

Most online solutions simply tell you to map y to "+y. But sometimes the issue is "+y doesn't even work. You do need to check what features your vim has been compiled with.

Try the steps below:

1. Open your terminal, run vim –-version | grep xterm_clipboard
2. Check the sign before xterm_clipboard, if it’s a + (plus sign), go to step 4.
3. If it’s a - (minus sign), run sudo apt-get install vim-gnome, then sudo update-alternatives –config vim, select vim.gnome in the list (You should use the proper command that corresponds to your system). Run command vim –-version | grep xterm_clipboard again, now you should be able to get + (plus sign).
4. Check whether your system clipboard uses + (plus sign) or * (star sign) register of vim, this depends on the OS you're using, sometimes they’re equivalent. How to check? Just copy some random text, then open vim and type :reg, check which register shows the string you just copied. If it’s a + (plus sign), add set clipboard=unnamedplus to your .vimrc. If it’s a * (star sign), add set clipboard=unnamed.
5. Test it out. Copy something inside vim, and then type :reg to check if the system clipboard has changed. If it does, your will get whatever is in that register when you paste outside of vim.

Lowrie

@CHID glad to be of help – Lowrie

Worked for me, thanks. But what do the commands in step 3 do? (And why does it work?) – Beefeater

Answer 3

I have the very same idea as you, but I did it for years.

nnoremap yy yy"+yy
vnoremap y ygv"+y

Note that now yy command does two things: First it yank to register as normal, and then it yank to " register (system clipboard). The y command does the same thing. This is because I want to keep the multiple clipboard functionality of Vim.

For pasting from system clipboard, I used to have noremap gp "+p (global pasting), but now I use the excellent plugin Yankring.

Gauger

Answer 4

Select some text in visual mode and it will be inserted into the system clipboard (the one where you middle-click to paste, I cannot recall the exact name).

If you set mouse=a you can use the mouse for visual selection like you would in many other applications.

Busily

For some reason, the middle-click copy of "visually-selected" text doesn't work for me in cells of a jupyter notebook in Firefox. Pasting after "+y works. – Natala

Answer 5

In my case, I can sometimes copy from gvim to the system clipboard and sometimes not. I found a workaround, though I don't understand the underlying problem. If I copy text in another application (e.g. Notepad, as I am on Windows 7), then I can copy text from gvim and paste it elsewhere. It looks I need do this for each copy out of gvim.

Heliochrome