vim line numbers - how to have them on by default?

Question

I can :set number from within a file I'm editing but how can I have them always be on by default?

Solution 1

Add set number to your .vimrc file in your home directory.
If the .vimrc file is not in your home directory create one with vim .vimrc and add the commands you want at open.

Here's a site that explains the vimrc and how to use it.

Solution 2

To change the default setting to display line numbers in vi/vim:

vi ~/.vimrc

then add the following line to the file:

set number

Either we can source ~/.vimrc or save and quit by :wq, now future vi/vim sessions will have numbering :)

Solution 3

set nu set ai set tabstop=4 set ls=2 set autoindent

Add the above code in your .vimrc file. if .vimrc file is not present please create in your home directory (/home/name of user)

set nu -> This makes Vim display line numbers

set ai -> This makes Vim enable auto-indentation

set ls=2 -> This makes Vim show a status line

set tabstop=4 -> This makes Vim set tab of length 4 spaces (it is 8 by default)

The filename will also be displayed.

Solution 4

Terminal > su > password > vim /etc/vimrc

Click here and edit as in line number (13):

set nu

Solution 5

I did not have a .vimrc file in my home directory. I created one, added this line:

set number

and that solved the problem.

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Comments

[Tim Pote]

Yeah. Any time I want to set some defaults for a command line program I search their man page for rc. It's a pretty common convention.

[abe312]

by sudo it will also work if folder is restricted, which is often the case.

[Christian Brabandt]

Yes, and you break access for the normal user which owns his home directory. This has been the cause of several bug reports and is just the wrong solution

[yonatan]

also why use gedit? what if it's a server? or gedit is just not installed? make more sense to use vim :)

[crobicha]

Note that this would change default vim behavior for ALL users on a system, unless overridden by a users personal .vimrc in their home directory

[Ryan Hoo]

I like the color scheme in this screenshot, which one are you using?

[Rajeev Ranjan]

Create the file .vimrc if it does not exist in the home directory.

[Brosig]

For ubuntu server the file location is /etc/vim/vimrc

[aarona]

another great setting that's useful is set relativenumber

[Kapil Jituri]

Simply run this command anywhere in your terminal: echo "\nset nu" >> ~/.vimrc. Now exit and reopen terminal session.

[unknown programmer guy]

if you cant find .vimrc in your home directory, you can check it inside /etc/vim/vimrc

[maruf]

This works but maybe VIM's default profile no longer working. One example: After creating .vimrc file java's default documentation comment's formatting not working correctly :(