Vim default leader key on a MacBook

Question

I use Vim on a MacBook Pro and in order to input \, I have to type in Maj + Alt + /. Vim's leader key is bound by default on \ but typing the whole "shortcut" doesn't seem to work as a leader key.

Is there a way to make it work or should I use another leader key like , ?

Solution 1

I use this command:

let mapleader = ','

Solution 2

Put the following line into your .vimrc in order to use , as your leader

let mapleader = ','

Save your .vimrc and reopen vim. Your leader is now ,

Comments

[Julien Grenier]

The problem with that solution is that you lose the default usage of "," which is to reverse a character search. Example fa goes to the next "a" on the line then hit "," it goes to the previous "a". It is really useful if you use ";" to repeat a character search and you need to go back.

[Justin D.]

@JulienGrenier, Well, ,<space> will still search for the reverse character. Personally, I don't reverse search a lot (I rarely get trigger-happy) and there is also F{char}) so having to type the extra space doesn't bother me...