Downloading Vim
Vim is available for many different systems and there are several versions.
This page will help you decide what to download.
The most popular:
Details and options for:
| Mirrors |
Alternative sites to download Vim files from.
|
| Sources |
Build Vim yourself and/or make changes. |
| GitHub |
Obtain Vim sources with a git client (recommended). |
| Mercurial |
Obtain Vim sources with a Mercurial client
(recommended if you don't like git). |
| Patches |
Include the latest improvements (requires sources and rebuilding). |
| Runtime |
Get the latest syntax files, documentation, etc.. |
| Script links |
Links to individual syntax, indent, color, compiler and ftplugin scripts. |
| Translations |
Non-English documentation packages. |
Versions before 7.3 can also be obtained with
Subversion
and
CVS.
Version
Vim 8.0 is the latest stable version. It is highly recommended, many bugs have
been fixed since 7.4 and earlier.
If you have a problem with it (e.g.,
when it's too big for your system), you could try version 6.4 or 5.8 instead.
To avoid having to update this page for every new version, there are
links to the directories. From there select the files you want to download.
In the file names ## stands for the version number. For example,
vim##src.zip
with version 8.0 is vim80src.zip and
vim-##-src.tar.gz for version 8.0
is vim-8.0-src.tar.gz.
Links are provided for quick access to the latest version.
Note that the links point to the latest version (currently 8.0.586) to avoid
that caching causes you to get an older version.
Unix
The best way to install Vim on Unix is to use the sources. This requires a
compiler and its support files. Compiling Vim isn't difficult at all.
You can simply type "make install" when you are happy with the default
features. Edit the Makefile in the "src" directory to select specific
features.
You need to download at the sources and the runtime files.
And apply all the latest patches.
For Vim 6 up to 7.2 you can optionally get the "lang" archive, which adds
translated messages and menus. For 7.3 and later this is included with the
runtime files.
- Using git
-
This is the simplest and most efficient way to obtain the latest version,
including all patches. This requires the "git" command.
The explanations are on this page:
GitHub
Summary:
git clone https://github.com/vim/vim.git
cd vim/src
make
- Using Mercurial
-
This is another simple and most efficient way to obtain the latest version,
including all patches. This requires the "hg" command.
The explanations are on this page:
Mercurial
Summary:
hg clone https://bitbucket.org/vim-mirror/vim
cd vim/src
make
- Using Aap
-
Aap is a new tool that does all the work of downloading and patching for you.
You download one file, called a recipe, and "aap install" does all the work.
To later update to the latest version of Vim you do not need to download
anything manually, just use the command "aap update".
The detailed explanation can be found
here.
This does require Python and installing Aap. Please report problems to Bram AT
a-a-p.org.
- version 7.x and 8.x
-
There is one big file to download that contains almost everything.
It is found in
the unix directory:
If you would like to use translated messages and menus on Vim 7.2 and earlier,
get an additional archive from
the extra directory:
- version 6.x
-
You have a choice: Either get the one big archive OR get four smaller
ones (that each fit on a floppy disk). They are all in
the unix directory:
If you would like to use translated messages and menus, get an additional
archive from
the extra directory:
- version 5.x
-
There are two files you should both get from
the unix directory:
The files ending in ".tar.gz" are tar archives that are compressed with gzip.
Unpack them with tar -xzf filename.
The single big file ending in ".tar.bz2" is a tar archive compressed with
bzip2. Uncompress and unpack it with
bunzip2 -c filename | tar -xf -.
All archives should be unpacked in the same directory.
If you can't compile yourself or don't want to, look at the site of the
supplier of your Unix version for a packaged Vim executable. For Linux
distributions and FreeBSD these are often available shortly after a new Vim
version has been released. But you can't change the features then.
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PC: MS-DOS and MS-Windows
For modern MS-Windows systems (starting with XP) you can simply use the
executable installer:
gvim80.exe
It includes GUI and console versions, for 32 bit and 64 bit systems.
You can select what you want to install and includes an uninstaller.
If you want the most recent improvements, with a small risk that something is
broken, you can get the nightly build from
vim-win32-installer
It supports many interfaces, such as Perl, Tcl, Lua, Python and Ruby.
A 64 bit version, which only runs on 64 bit MS-Windows and uses a lot more memory, but is compatible with 64 bit plugins, can be found
here
You can also find links to interfaces to install there (Python, Perl, Ruby, etc.).
For the latest version with all patches included see Cream
below. These versions are unofficial, but the download number
is high and complaints are few.
Since there are so many different versions of MS operating systems, there are
several versions of Vim for them.
For Vim 5.x, Vim 6.x and Vim 7 look in
the pc directory.
- Self-installing executable gvim##.exe gvim80.exe
-
For Vim 6 and later. This includes a GUI version
of Vim - with many features and OLE support - and all the runtime files.
It works well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7.
Use this if you have enough disk space and memory. It's the simplest way to
start using Vim on the PC. The installer allows you to skip the parts you
don't want.
For Vim 6.3 and later it also includes a console version, both for MS-Windows
95/98/ME and MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. The installer automatically
selects the right one.
- Runtime files vim##rt.zip vim80rt.zip
-
For all the following binary versions you need this runtime archive, which
includes the documentation, syntax files, etc. Always get this, unless you
use the self-installing executable.
There are three versions that run as an MS-Windows application. These provide
menus, scrollbars and a toolbar.
- GUI executable gvim##.zip gvim80.zip
-
This is the "normal" GUI version.
- OLE GUI executable gvim##ole.zip gvim80ole.zip
-
A GUI version with OLE support. This offers a few extra features,
such as integration with Visual Developer Studio. But it uses quite a bit
more memory.
- Win32s GUI executable gvim##_s.zip gvim73_46_s.zip
-
GUI version for Windows 3.1 with win32s support. (Not available for Vim 6.2,
6.3 and 7.4 and later)
A true Windows 3.1 version can be found here:
http://www.bulbous.freeserve.co.uk/vim16.html
There are three versions that run on MS-DOS or in a console window in
MS-Windows:
- 16 bit DOS executable vim##d16.zip vim71d16.zip
-
The 16 bit DOS version is the only one that runs on old MS-DOS systems. Only
use this if you are really desparate, because it excludes many useful features
(such as syntax highlighting and long file names) and quickly runs out of
memory.
The last version available is 7.1. Version 7.2 and later are too big to fit in
the DOS memory model.
- 32 bit DOS executable vim##d32.zip vim73_46d32.zip
-
The 32 bit DOS version works well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME. It requires a DPMI
manager, which needs to be installed on MS-DOS. MS-Windows already has one.
It supports long file names, but NOT on MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. It is
compiled with "big" features.
Not available for 7.4 and later.
- Win32 console executable vim##w32.zip vim80w32.zip
-
The Win32 console version works well on MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. It
supports long file names and is compiled with "big" features. It does not run
perfectly well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME, especially when resizing the console
window (this may crash MS-Windows...).
There are a few extra files:
- iconv library libiconv
-
A library used for converting character sets.
Put "iconv.dll" in the same directory as gvim.exe to be able to edit files in
many encodings. You can find the dll file in the bin directory of the
"libiconv-win32" archive.
- newer intl library libintl
-
The included libintl.dll does not support encoding conversion.
If you have installed the iconv library, as mentioned above, you can install a
gettext library that uses it.
Get "intl.dll" from the bin directory in the gettext-win32 archive and store it
as "libintl.dll" in the same directory as gvim.exe, overwriting the file
that may already be there.
- PC sources vim##src.zip vim80src.zip
-
The source files, packed for the PC. This only includes the files needed on
the PC, not for other systems. The files are in dos format CR-LF.
- PC debug files gvim##.pdb gvim80.pdb gvim##ole.pdb gvim80ole.pdb vim##w32.pdb vim80w32.pdb
-
When you notice a bug or a crash in Vim these files can be used to help tracing down the problem. In Vim 7 do ":help debug-win32" to see how.
- PC translations vim##lang.zip vim72lang.zip
-
Only for 7.2 and earlier, for 7.3 and later these are included in the "rt" archive.
Translated messages and menu files, packed for the PC. Use this to see
non-English menus. The messages are only translated when the libintl.dll
library is installed.
- Windows 3.1 GUI executable gvim##w16.zip and gvim##m16.zip
-
These are GUI versions for 16 bit windows (Windows 3.1). The "w16" has many
features, "m16" has few features (for when you're short on memory).
The files ending in ".zip" can be unpacked with any unzip program.
Make sure you unpack them all in the same directory!
Alternate distributions
- Cream
-
For an unofficial version that does include all the latest patches and
optionally a bit
more: Cream.
The "one-click installer" mentioned includes the Cream changes.
For the "real Vim" use the "without Cream" version listed further down.
- Yongwei's build
-
You may also try Yongwei's build,
executables with slightly different interfaces supported.
- Cygwin
-
For a Cygwin binary look at others.
- Win64
-
The 32-bit version of Vim runs fine on 64-bit windows.
There was a 64-bit binary, but it wasn't used much and maintenance stopped.
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Amiga
Quite a long time ago, Vim development started on the Amiga. Although it's a
really old system now, it might still work. However, this has not been tested
recently.
You may have to use an older version for which Amiga binaries are available.
For Vim 5.x and Vim 6 look in
the amiga directory.
Vim 7 files can be found at
os4depot.net. This is for AmigaOS 4. Made by Peter Bengtsson.
- Runtime files vim##rt.tgz vim64rt.tgz
-
Documentation, syntax files, etc. You always need this.
- Executable vim##bin.tgz vim64bin.tgz
-
The executables for Vim and Xxd.
For Vim 6 it includes "big" features, for Vim 5.x it
includes the normal features.
For Vim 6.2 it is not available (my Amiga had harddisk problems then, this miraculously healed later).
- Big executable vim##big.tgz
-
Vim with "big" features and Xxd. Only for Vim 5.x.
- Sources vim##src.tgz vim64src.tgz
-
The source files for the Amiga.
Only needed when you want to compile Vim yourself.
The files are all tar archives, compressed with gzip. To unpack, first
uncompress them with gzip -d filename. Then unpack with
tar xf filename. You need to unpack the archives in the same
directory.
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OS/2
The OS/2 version runs in a console window.
For Vim 5.x and Vim 6 look in
the os2 directory.
Version 6.2 is not available.
Versions 6.3 and 6.4 were compiled by David Sanders.
Version 7.0 was compiled by David Sanders.
- Runtime files vim##rt.zip vim70rt.zip
-
Documentation, syntax files, etc. You always need this.
- Executables vim##os2.zip vim70os2.zip
-
Vim, Xxd, Tee and EMX libraries.
The files ending in ".zip" can be unpacked with any unzip program.
Make sure you both zip archives in the same directory!
If you want to compile the OS/2 version, you need the EMX compiler. Use the
Unix source archive, runtime files and the extra archive. After unpacking the
runtime archive, move all the files and directories in the "runtime"
directory one level up.
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Macintosh
The Macintosh binaries are not on the Vim ftp site. They are produced by a few
Macintosh lovers. Often they lag behind a few versions.
Since MacOS 10.3 the "vi" program is actually a console version of Vim 6.2 or
later. It has few features. If you want a GUI version or more features Vim
needs to be installed separately.
There are currently two kinds of Vim for Macintosh:
- Using the Cocoa GUI. Also known as MacVim. This is the latest and is
being actively developed. This behaves like a Mac application.
- Using the Carbon GUI. This is an older way of doing things and isn't
updated much any more. This behaves more like Vim on Unix.
Cocoa (MacVim)
MacVim has more a Mac look and feel, is developed actively and most people
prefer this version. Most of MacVim was made by Björn Winckler.
MacVim can be downloaded here: https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim
New versions are made quite often.
Subscribe to the
vim-mac maillist
to be informed about bugs and updates.
Carbon
Recent binaries for Mac OS/X can be found on this
SourceForge project.
Maintained by Nicholas Stallard.
Others
There is also a version for Mac OSX that works in a terminal window and a GUI
version for X11 with GTK (produced by Marc Liyanage):
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/welcome.html#vim
Here is a multi-byte version of Vim 5.7 (for Japanese, possibly also for
Korean and Chinese; not for Unicode):
http://www-imai.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~asai/macvim-e.html
Most of the work for
the Macintosh port (Classic and Carbon) was done by Dany St-Amant.
If you have OSX and a setup for compiling programs, you can use the Unix and
Extra source code archives and compile yourself. See the Unix section
above.The development tools can be downloaded from Apple's developer web site.
Hint: stuffit expander can handle .bz2 files.
Turn to the vim-mac maillist to meet other
Vim-Mac users.
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Others
This is a list of links to sites where various versions of Vim can be obtained.
These are supported by individuals, use at your own risk.
|
Android
|
Search for "Vim Touch" by Momodalo in the Play Store.
|
|
i/OS
|
Run Vim on your iPhone or Ipad.
|
|
QNX
|
Provided by Yakov Zaytsev. Requires QNX 6.3.0/6.3.2 with service pack 2.
|
|
Agenda
|
http://pi7.fernuni-hagen.de/hartrumpf/agenda/vim/vim.vr3
|
|
Cygwin (with GTK GUI)
|
http://lassauge.free.fr/cygwin/
|
|
Open VMS
|
http://www.polarhome.com/vim/
|
|
MorphOS
|
http://www.akcaagac.com/index_vim.html
|
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|
go to HTTPS page
