#3430·fzf

Use vim as previewer

Author: thealioCreated Sep 6, 2023Updated Sep 2, 2026
  • I have read through the manual page (man fzf)
  • I have the latest version of fzf
  • I have searched through the existing issues

Info

  • OS
    • Linux
    • Mac OS X
    • Windows
    • Etc.
  • Shell
    • bash
    • zsh
    • fish

Problem / Steps to reproduce

Hi

I'd like to use vim as a previewer for fzf

fzf --preview='vim -RMn --not-a-terminal {}' --bind shift-up:preview-page-up,shift-down:preview-page-down

But I'm encountering two issues:

  • On the top there are the file and folder infos, with also some ANSI characters , that are putted over the text, ruining the readibility if the preview
  • The --bind flag seems do not work

So, I'd like to use vim for previews in fzf, with the same behavior of other tools, like bat or cat