--- layout: post title: "Vim with System Clipboard" date: 2013-11-15 16:14 comments: true categories: Tip Vim OSX --- With vim I got really addicted to keyboard-only usage. But there is one thing I was always missing: integration with the system clipboard. I had to switch back to the mouse for that. As I learned today system clipboard is supported by vim. Unfortunately the version packaged with OSX is not compiled with this feature enabled. You can check this yourself by typing `vim --version` on the command line. The output should contain something like `+clipboard` (`+` means enabled). Probably you have a `-` instead. Luckily with [homebrew](http://brew.sh/) you can easily install vim with clipboard enabled. ### 1. Install Vim ``` brew install vim ``` This will install vim in the `/usr/local/bin` directory. So far the original vim is still in place and used. We have to give the brew version precedence. ### 2. Update PATH Order An easy way to make sure the homebrew version is loaded is to make sure its path is defined before the system path. Locate your `PATH` configuration. For bash it's one of these files: * ~/.bash_profile * ~/.bash_login * ~/.profile For [zsh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_shell) open this file: * ~/.zshrc Make sure `/usr/local/bin` is declared before `/usr/bin`: ``` export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin... ``` Reload the config, with zsh for example: http://localhost:4000/blog/2013/11/15/vim-with-system-clipboard/ ``` source ~/.zshrc which vim vim --version ``` The vim path should be `/usr/local/bin/vim`. And `vim --version` should contain the `+clipboard`. A nice side effect of changing the PATH order is that you can also update git using homebrew. ### 3. Enable Clipboard in .vimrc As a last step you have to enable the system clipboard in vim. Open your `.vimrc` and add the following line: ``` set clipboard=unnamed ``` From now on you should be able to use the system clipboard when using vim verbs (`y`, `d`, `p` etc).