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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-13T10:32:24+00:00

I want Vim to reuse the currently existing instance if it exists. Usually, Vim

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I want Vim to reuse the currently existing instance if it exists. Usually, Vim pops up a warning about an existing swap file. Specifically, this is for switching between Vim and Visual Studio. (I know about ViEmu, but it doesn’t work with Visual Studio Express.)

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  1. Editorial Team

    Poster’s Solution:

    Solution:
    There is a plugin in the standard distribution of Vim: runtime/macros/editexisting.vim. Just copy it to the Vim plugins directory.

    Extra details for Visual Studio Integration: Follow these steps to add Vim as an external tool and assign a convenient keyboard shortcut:

    • Title: Vim
    • Command: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim70\gvim.exe
    • Arguments: +$(CurLine) “$(ItemPath)”
    • Initial directory: $(SolutionDir)

    Note I use slightly different settings so the cursor is set to the column from VS and centered in Vim:

    • Arguments: +”call cursor($(CurLine),$(CurCol))” +”normal zz” $(ItemPath)
    • Initial directory: $(FileDir)

    Then set VS to automatically load chanages made from Vim:

    In order to effectively use the two
    together and make sure .NET does not
    complain about its files changing,
    goto Tools > Options > Environment >
    Documents and ensure these two options
    are checked: Detect when file is
    changed outside the environment.
    Auto-load changes (if not currently
    modified inside the environment).

    Finally set Vim to automatically load changes made from VS:

    :set autoread

    My Solution

    Similar, but subtly different: Save this to a .settings file and import. Uses --servername and --remote-call to reuse existing Vim, tailored for the current solution.

    <UserSettings>
    <ApplicationIdentity version="8.0"/>
    <ToolsOptions/>
    <Category name="Environment_Group" RegisteredName="Environment_Group">
        <Category name="Environment_ExternalTools" Category="{E8FAE9E8-FBA2-4474-B134-AB0FFCFB291D}" Package="{DA9FB551-C724-11d0-AE1F-00A0C90FFFC3}" RegisteredName="Environment_ExternalTools" PackageName="Visual Studio Environment Package">
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.Command">gvim.exe</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.Arguments">--servername $(SolutionFileName) --remote-silent +"call cursor($(CurLine),$(CurCol))" "$(ItemFileName)$(ItemExt)"</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.InitialDirectory">$(ItemDir)</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.SourceKeyName"/>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.UseOutputWindow">false</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.PromptForArguments">false</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.CloseOnExit">false</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.IsGUIapp">true</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.SaveAllDocs">true</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.UseTaskList">false</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.Unicode">false</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.Package">{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}</PropertyValue>
            <PropertyValue name="edit with v&amp;im.NameID">0</PropertyValue>
        </Category>
    </Category>
</UserSettings>
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