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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-12T03:18:44+00:00

I’m trying to get VIM to access the system clipboard. As I see it,

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I’m trying to get VIM to access the system clipboard. As I see it, here are my options:

  1. Recompile VIM and specify that access to the clipboard, per this post.
  2. Install a newer version of VIM using homebrew, per this post.

I’d prefer to do the second option. Does anyone know if this will actually solve the problem I’m having? Also, are there other solutions to this copy/paste problem that haven’t been listed here?

MY SOLUTION: I ended up installing MacVim and making it the default Vim. I found this post helpful. I ran this command:

brew install macvim --override-system-vim

then modified my .bash_profile and that was it.

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  1. Editorial Team

    You are probably using a version of Vim that was not built with clipboard support. Of course the solution to this “problem” is to use a version of Vim that is built with clipboard support.

    What does $ vim --version say?

    There are many answers on SO describing your options, either related to Ruby or Python support or to clipboard support. The solution is the same every time: install a proper build. Just pick the process you are most comfortable with.

    The absolute simplest solution is to install MacVim and use the bundled mvim script to run MacVim on the command line. It’s totally painless and guaranteed to work.

    I don’t recommend building from the sources as it can be a needlessly frustrating task.

    Homebrew and MacPorts are also good options but I don’t like all the symlinking that is done in Homebrew’s case. YMMV.

    You have asked the question more than 17 minutes ago. That’s more than enough time to try all your options. Did you actually try something?

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