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I know I can write to a file by simply doing :w <file>. I would like to know though how can I write to a file by appending to it instead of overwriting it.

Example use case: I want to take some samples out of a log file into another file. To achieve that today I can do:

  1. Open the log file
  2. Select some lines with Shift+v
  3. Write to a file: :w /tmp/samples
  4. Select some more lines with Shift+v
  5. Append to /tmp/samples with :w !cat - >> /foo/samples

Unfortunately step 5 is long, ugly and error prone (missing a > makes you lose data). I hope Vim has something better here.

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  • 3
    If you're interested in using Vim better, do checkout sister site Vi and Vim. Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 15:50

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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From :h :w:

 :w_a :write_a E494 :[range]w[rite][!] [++opt] >> Append the specified lines to the current file. :[range]w[rite][!] [++opt] >> {file} Append the specified lines to {file}. '!' forces the write even if file does not exist.

So, if you have selected the text using visual mode, just do :w >> /foo/samples (:'<,'> will be automatically prepended). If you miss out on a >, Vim will complain:

E494: Use w or w>>
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  • This is perfect :) Nothing like reading the docs. Didnt know about :h though. Will use it more Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 15:59
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    @BrunoPolaco :h is just shorthand for :help. Start with :help helphelp? :D Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 16:02
  • This is great when building shell scripts in combination with the fc command. Commented Dec 3, 2020 at 23:07
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Define a function:

fun! App(filename) exec "w !cat - >> " . shellescape(a:filename) endfunc

Call a function:

call App('/foo/samples')
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Append all contents of current file to file named filename

:w >> filename

Append contents in line numbers 1 through 13 of current file to file named filename

:1,13w >> filename
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