How to delete every other line in Vim?

Question

I would like to delete every other line from a Vim buffer, starting with the second one, i.e., lines 2, 4, 6, etc. For example, if the buffer’s contents is:

aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff 

then, after the desired line removal, it should become:

aaa ccc eee 

Which Vim commands can be used to automate this operation?

Answer 1

An elegant (and efficient) way to accomplish the task is to invoke the :delete command (see :help :d) for the + line range (same as .+1) addressing the line following the current one (see :help {address}), on every line (see :help /^) using the :global command (see :help :g):

:g/^/+d 

Answer 2

You can use a macro for this. Do the following.

• Start in command mode.
• Go to the beginning of the file by pressing gg.
• Press qq.
• Click arrow down and press dd after.
• Press q.
• Press 10000@q

PS: To go to command mode just press Escape a couple of times.