GVIM on windows: way to disable the tmp file creation

Question

I use gvim on windows and I want to know a way to disable the temp file(ending in ~) file creation. Also is there a problem if we do it?

Answer 1

You can disable the backup file by putting this line in your .vimrc:

set nobackup 

I almost always do this, as the ~ file is more annoying that useful. There is no problem with doing this, you'll just lose the ability to revert to a backup of the file.

If you want to get rid of the temporary .swp (swap) file too, you can also set this:

set noswapfile 

The swap file is created when you have a file open, and provides some backup/recovery security, in case Vim crashes while editing a file. It also can prevent multiple Vims from editing the same file. I usually just turn this off too, because I rarely have a use for it. The .swp file isn't as annoying as the ~ file, because it goes away when you close Vim, but I still just turn that feature off.

Answer 2

It's not quite what you asked for, but something that I've found works well is to redirect the swap and backup files to a seperate, dedicated folder. That way, they're still there if I need them, but they're not cluttering up the folder I'm working in.

The _vimrc file can be created in any of the following locations:

• %HOMEPATH%\_vimrc
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Vim\_vimrc

The following lines in the _vimrc file put backup files into a temporary directory:

set backup set dir=%TMP% set backupdir=%TMP% set directory=%TMP% set noundofile 

The last line prevents the proliferation of undo files.