How to close buffer without closing the window?
I messed with this a bit and finally came up with:
:bp | sp | bn | bd
Here's the copy/paste version for key mapping:
:bp<bar>sp<bar>bn<bar>bd<CR>
Or a command for your .vimrc (call with :Bd):
command Bd bp | sp | bn | bd
I've tested it a fair bit and it works consistently in various conditions. When used on the last buffer it will leave you with a new blank buffer.
It can be a pain, this question is raised over and over on #vim
(Freenode), too.
Some people recommend not deleting buffers and switching with :b partial<Tab>
instead of :bn
, which works, but isn't what you're asking.
The best way I know of to do that is to switch to another buffer and then :bd#
, which you could map, of course.
See also Deleting a buffer without closing the window on the Vim wikia.
A window is a viewport into a buffer. (See :help window
.) You can't have a window without an associated buffer. You can use a command such as :enew
to replace the current window contents with an empty buffer, though.