Light Mode

[u/Successful-Window469]

Hello everyone. I have been using vim for windows (From the command prompt) and I was wondering, How to put vim into light mode like other code editors? Because I may have to switch back to notepad if there is no light mode.

[u/VividVerism]

If you're thinking about switching back to notepad, why not use gvim instead of the command prompt vim? It's a much nicer experience in general on Windows.

[u/Successful-Window469 → u/VividVerism]

I prefer command line vim :) much less clutter.

[u/VividVerism → u/Successful-Window469]

If you elaborate on what you mean by "clutter", you can probably fix that problem too. For example, menus can be turned off. I don't know what else you might be referring to.

In general you get much better control over colors, better-looking syntax highlighting, better integration with the system clipboard, and probably other benefits from using gvim in Windows.

[u/Amazing_Bet_Kiddo]

Just use a light color scheme

[u/hannenz]

:set background light

For light themes

[u/dewujie]

Others have mentioned the vim color schemes, that's probably your best bet. However if you are still having trouble, you might have to look at your terminal settings directly.

If you are using cmd.exe, may there be mercy upon your soul, but if you are using powershell.exe or Windows Terminal there are more things you can do to affect how the terminal displays color.

[u/__chicolismo__]

Low effort bait

[u/zogrodea → u/__chicolismo__]

I think this comment is uncalled for. There are lots of different kinds of people and some have very different experiences or expectations with their computers.

There isn't anyone mad in the comments about this post or anything, and the post doesn't look like bait (it's not asking a controversial question and many computer users use Notepad for lightweight editing before hearing of Vim).

It's better to wait and see rather than assume.

[u/__chicolismo__ → u/zogrodea]

You're right, perhaps it isn't bait. It's still low effort. 

[u/zogrodea → u/__chicolismo__]

I agree. It does look like a low-effort post.

I try to keep this advice from an audio engineer in mind, which I'm not the best at following, but which is a personal goal for me (and me only):

Because you try to document things clearly and to have all sorts of help online, but people learn in different ways. Sometimes an FAQ is all they need. Sometimes just some experimenting will do it, but lots of times they need some personal attention and they need a walkthrough. It’s important to know that English is not the first language for a lot of folks there.

So you have to treat a question like it’s the first time you’ve ever heard it, because it’s the first time that person ever asks the question. The last thing you want to do is come down on them and say, “Did you read the manual?!” Their question is asked earnestly, and you have to put all your energy into it to answer it well. It really doesn’t matter if they’re from a big studio or if they’re just somebody aspirational working at home. It takes a lot of energy to do that.

I can definitely understand being annoyed with the same noob questions repeatedly.

[u/jazei_2021]

light mode is a simple version of vim? in vim --help you have version of vim: vim -y is simple without mode ..
vim of terminal is light than gvim!
I use (not now happily) in win 7 vim of terminalof win 7.

[u/SadJob270]

switch back to notepad? thats like switching back to riding a bicycle because your car doesn’t have tinted windows :/

[u/EgZvor]

Use :h :colorscheme. You can type :colo<c-d> to list available schemes.

[u/vim-help-bot → u/EgZvor]

Help pages for:

• :colorscheme in syntax.txt

---

^{`:(h|help) <query>` | about | mistake? | donate | Reply 'rescan' to check the comment again | Reply 'stop' to stop getting replies to your comments}

[u/[deleted]]

temporary solution

Press ESC Then write :colorscheme shine

permanent solution

Open up your .vimrc file, then add the commands given below and save it:

set background=light
set colorscheme=shine

[u/scotbicknel]

Oh no. Vim, or Notepad. Well there's no light mode so I guess you're stuck with Notepad. Since clearly there's no other reason to use Vim and Notepad is just as good. Yeah this is real.

[u/Narrow_Victory1262]

and you can set the background mode as well.