How can I change the default text editor from gedit to vim?

Question

How can I change the default text editor from gedit to vim? When I click on a text file, I want it to open in vim under the terminal instead of gedit.

Solution 1

You don't say how you are clicking on this file, so I will explain a way to do it in Gnome from Nautilus. It should work in other cases, I believe.

First, to get Vim (or any app) into the "open with other application" list, you need to create a .desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications with a line in it like this: Exec=<command> %f. I just made one called vim.desktop with these lines:

[Desktop Entry]
Categories=;
Comment=Edit file in Vim
Exec=vim %f
GenericName=Text Editor
Hidden=false
Icon=vim
Name=Vim
Terminal=true
Type=Application
Version=1.0

This made "Vim" appear in the list of possible apps when I right-clicked in Nautilus, and opened the file as expected.

Let me know if there are any problems.

Solution 2

Open defaults.list

sudo -H gedit /etc/gnome/defaults.list`

Replace

text/plain=gedit.desktop

with

text/plain=gvim.desktop

Save and close.

For more details and screenshot check this answer: How do I stop gedit from opening anything?

Solution 3

Save this as ~/.local/share/applications/vim.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Vim Text Editor
Comment=Edit text files
Exec=vim %F
Terminal=true
Type=Application
Icon=vim
Categories=Utility;TextEditor;
StartupNotify=true
MimeType=text/plain;

Then in Nautilus right-click on a text file, choose "Properties" and go to "Open with". If vim isn't shown here click "Show other applications". Select vim and click "Set as default".

Solution 4

The problem with the vim.desktop approach is that each time it will open a new terminal window, instead of using an existing vim instance. This is probably not what you want, but I don't think there's any way around it.

The next best thing is using gvim, which is a GUI app, instead of a terminal app.

Solution 5

Pure command line based method:

echo "[Desktop Entry]
Name=Vim Text Editor
Comment=Edit text files
Exec=vim %F
Terminal=true
Type=Application
Icon=vim
Categories=Utility;TextEditor;
StartupNotify=true
MimeType=text/plain;" > ~/.local/share/applications/vim.desktop
cp /etc/gnome/defaults.list ~/defaults.list.bak # backup
sudo sed -i "s/=gedit\.desktop/=vim\.desktop/" /etc/gnome/defaults.list
mkdir ~/.icons
wget -O ~/.icons/vim.png http://en.xn--icne-wqa.com/images/icones/1/4/vim.png # if you want an icon

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Comments

[Deepak Verma]

Just saw another answer when I posted this. Looks like I wasted time, but perhaps it will help anyway, somehow.

[Deepak Verma]

I think by default gvim will also open a new instance. There is a way around this, I think by using a gvim switch. I used to have it open in a new tab with the existing gvim before I reinstalled Ubuntu.

[Deepak Verma]

Glad I could help. Thanks for letting me know. I learned something new, too, as I didn't know the answer, but decided it would be nice to know (and an exercise for my brain). :)

[Deepak Verma]

BTW, from a different thread, if you want to use vim automatically instead of gedit for all types of files. I think you could edit /etc/gnome/defaults.list, and replace gedit with vim, to use the vim desktop file. I haven't tested this, though.

[bioShark]

+1 Excellent tip. Not necessarely for vim, but in general to add new applications to Open with...

[voithos]

Is gvim a Gnome app? I think the 'g' stands for 'graphical', not 'Gnome'.

[user1036005]

@voithos: Indeed, the 'g' doesn't stand for 'Gnome'. Corrected.

[brunch875]

Excellent answer! I'd like to add to this to open it with sudo vim /etc/gnome/defaults.list and then use the command %s_gedit_gvim_g

[Darael]

In general, it's better to set EDITOR and use sudoedit than to run the editor under sudo

[Noumenon]

If you want vim to be the default choice for a file extension, not just another choice, add that extension to the Categories=.