How to get rid of search highlight in vim

Question

I have :set hlsearch as default value.

When I search for something, search terms get highlighted. However many times I want to get rid of the highlight, so I do :set nohlsearch. In this way I get rid of highlights for the time being.

However if I do a new search then search terms are not highlighted.

I would like to hit ESC and ESC to get rid of highlights and then set back set hlsearch.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Try the :noh command.

Answer 2

you could search for something not in the text file. Nothing will be highlighted in this case. (e.g. /349i5u9sgh)

Answer 3

Try this:

set hlsearch!
nnoremap <F12> :set hlsearch!<CR>

and hit F12 to clear when desired. Use :noh in command mode to clear.

Answer 4

I use

/pleasedisablehighlightthanks

command. Or just

/qewrufhiqwe

But you should be carefult not to mix this with the following command!

/qewrufhiqew

Answer 5

:noremap <silent> <c-l> :nohls<cr><c-l>

This would redraw the screen and clear any search terms with Control-L, handy :) easier than reaching up to the F keys.

Answer 6

I have the following in my .vimrc:

map <silent> <C-N> :let @/=""<CR>

Answer 7

This might suit your needs:

nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>

With a little tinkering you can make it work in insert mode.