Registers in Vim
From the Vim cheat sheet · Macros & Registers · verified Jul 2026
Registers
Using registers for advanced copy/paste
text
"ay - Yank into register a
"ap - Paste from register a
"Ay - Append to register a
"+y - Yank to system clipboard
"+p - Paste from system clipboard
"*y - Yank to selection clipboard
"*p - Paste from selection clipboard
:reg - Show all registers
:reg a - Show contents of register a
"_ - Black hole register (delete without saving)
# Special registers:
"" - Unnamed register (default)
"0 - Yank register (last yank)
"1-"9 - Delete registers (last 9 deletions)
". - Last inserted text
"% - Current filename
": - Last command
"/ - Last search pattern💡 Use named registers (a-z) to store multiple yanks
⚡ "+ accesses system clipboard
📌 "_ for true deletion (no register storage)
🟢 Default operations use the unnamed register ""
registersclipboard