How can I recover the original file from a .swp file?












50















I tried opening the .swp file using vi and cat but it displays junk.






ubuntu vim







share|improve this question

























  • Are you using vi or vim?

    – frabjous
    Oct 28 '10 at 15:13
















50















I tried opening the .swp file using vi and cat but it displays junk.






ubuntu vim







share|improve this question

























  • Are you using vi or vim?

    – frabjous
    Oct 28 '10 at 15:13














50












50








50


12






I tried opening the .swp file using vi and cat but it displays junk.






ubuntu vim







share|improve this question
















I tried opening the .swp file using vi and cat but it displays junk.






ubuntu vim




ubuntu vim






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Oct 28 '10 at 7:34









Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

96k6155211




96k6155211










asked Oct 28 '10 at 7:32









zarnazarna

351133




351133













  • Are you using vi or vim?

    – frabjous
    Oct 28 '10 at 15:13



















  • Are you using vi or vim?

    – frabjous
    Oct 28 '10 at 15:13

















Are you using vi or vim?

– frabjous
Oct 28 '10 at 15:13





Are you using vi or vim?

– frabjous
Oct 28 '10 at 15:13










5 Answers
5






active

oldest

votes


















80














vim -r .swp


This goes into recovery mode and gives you more info. I think this is what you want.



.swX-files are left behind if a session with an unsaved file is killed/crashes/something else bad happens. They are also present during the time an unsaved buffer is open in a Vim session. vim -rreads these temporary files and recreates the content. After you've recovered it, just save it as usual, e.g. :w newfilename.






share|improve this answer





















  • 4





    Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

    – Eric Hu
    Jan 18 '12 at 23:22





















16














You don't need to have the original file to recover the .swp. Just open the file as if it exists. vim will look for the file with the .swp extension and offer to recover it.



e.g.:



$ ls -a

. .. .test.txt.swp

$ vim test.txt

[...]

Swap file ".test.txt.swp" already exists!

[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:


Just press R to recover it and :wq the file



Edit:
Note that the .swp file only contains the changes done to the file (see comment). This means that you will need to fetch a recent copy of the file from backup and then use vim to recover the latest changes. If you don't have a backup copy of the file you're really out of luck.






share|improve this answer





















  • 2





    You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

    – Heptite
    Oct 28 '10 at 17:57













  • You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

    – Vegar Westerlund
    Nov 2 '10 at 9:27











  • Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

    – John P
    Aug 1 '17 at 15:15











  • Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

    – John P
    Aug 1 '17 at 16:02











  • (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

    – John P
    Aug 1 '17 at 16:09





















7














Open the original file using vim, and choose the recovery option.






share|improve this answer
























  • I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

    – zarna
    Oct 28 '10 at 7:36






  • 1





    That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

    – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
    Oct 28 '10 at 7:40



















7














1 Open the swap file .file.swp in vim



2 :recover will recover your file






share|improve this answer

































    6














    After reading Vegar Westerlund and Heptite comments, I wanted to know at what point vim needs the original file (or a backup) to recover from a .swp file. Here's what did:



    I opened a 975 lines file, edited it on line 949 (creating a .swp file) and killed the process, then deleted the original. $ vim Original_File asked if I wanted to recover from the .swp » > yes; only the first 68 lines and the last 34 lines (starting 8 lines above my edit) were actually recovered.



    I then repeated the test with smaller files: From 20 up to 200 lines, the .swp file contained 100% of the original content. But at 300 lines, only the first 68 and the 18 last lines (starting 2 lines above my edit) were included in the .swp.



    As a conclusion it's good to know that vim always save the file's "header" and "bottom" in the .swp files. Maybe there's a setting to control how much lines should a .swp contains?






    share|improve this answer

























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      5 Answers
      5






      active

      oldest

      votes








      5 Answers
      5






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      80














      vim -r .swp


      This goes into recovery mode and gives you more info. I think this is what you want.



      .swX-files are left behind if a session with an unsaved file is killed/crashes/something else bad happens. They are also present during the time an unsaved buffer is open in a Vim session. vim -rreads these temporary files and recreates the content. After you've recovered it, just save it as usual, e.g. :w newfilename.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 4





        Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

        – Eric Hu
        Jan 18 '12 at 23:22


















      80














      vim -r .swp


      This goes into recovery mode and gives you more info. I think this is what you want.



      .swX-files are left behind if a session with an unsaved file is killed/crashes/something else bad happens. They are also present during the time an unsaved buffer is open in a Vim session. vim -rreads these temporary files and recreates the content. After you've recovered it, just save it as usual, e.g. :w newfilename.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 4





        Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

        – Eric Hu
        Jan 18 '12 at 23:22
















      80












      80








      80







      vim -r .swp


      This goes into recovery mode and gives you more info. I think this is what you want.



      .swX-files are left behind if a session with an unsaved file is killed/crashes/something else bad happens. They are also present during the time an unsaved buffer is open in a Vim session. vim -rreads these temporary files and recreates the content. After you've recovered it, just save it as usual, e.g. :w newfilename.






      share|improve this answer















      vim -r .swp


      This goes into recovery mode and gives you more info. I think this is what you want.



      .swX-files are left behind if a session with an unsaved file is killed/crashes/something else bad happens. They are also present during the time an unsaved buffer is open in a Vim session. vim -rreads these temporary files and recreates the content. After you've recovered it, just save it as usual, e.g. :w newfilename.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited Apr 26 '12 at 12:46

























      answered Oct 30 '10 at 10:33









      Daniel AnderssonDaniel Andersson

      19.3k34056




      19.3k34056








      • 4





        Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

        – Eric Hu
        Jan 18 '12 at 23:22
















      • 4





        Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

        – Eric Hu
        Jan 18 '12 at 23:22










      4




      4





      Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

      – Eric Hu
      Jan 18 '12 at 23:22







      Precisely what I was looking for. For anyone else, this is how you recover as-of-yet unsaved files. The above methods work fine if a file already exists, but you can't open a file with no name.

      – Eric Hu
      Jan 18 '12 at 23:22















      16














      You don't need to have the original file to recover the .swp. Just open the file as if it exists. vim will look for the file with the .swp extension and offer to recover it.



      e.g.:



      $ ls -a
      
. .. .test.txt.swp
      
$ vim test.txt
      
[...]
      
Swap file ".test.txt.swp" already exists!
      
[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:


      Just press R to recover it and :wq the file



      Edit:
      Note that the .swp file only contains the changes done to the file (see comment). This means that you will need to fetch a recent copy of the file from backup and then use vim to recover the latest changes. If you don't have a backup copy of the file you're really out of luck.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 2





        You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

        – Heptite
        Oct 28 '10 at 17:57













      • You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

        – Vegar Westerlund
        Nov 2 '10 at 9:27











      • Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 15:15











      • Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:02











      • (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:09


















      16














      You don't need to have the original file to recover the .swp. Just open the file as if it exists. vim will look for the file with the .swp extension and offer to recover it.



      e.g.:



      $ ls -a
      
. .. .test.txt.swp
      
$ vim test.txt
      
[...]
      
Swap file ".test.txt.swp" already exists!
      
[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:


      Just press R to recover it and :wq the file



      Edit:
      Note that the .swp file only contains the changes done to the file (see comment). This means that you will need to fetch a recent copy of the file from backup and then use vim to recover the latest changes. If you don't have a backup copy of the file you're really out of luck.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 2





        You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

        – Heptite
        Oct 28 '10 at 17:57













      • You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

        – Vegar Westerlund
        Nov 2 '10 at 9:27











      • Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 15:15











      • Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:02











      • (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:09
















      16












      16








      16







      You don't need to have the original file to recover the .swp. Just open the file as if it exists. vim will look for the file with the .swp extension and offer to recover it.



      e.g.:



      $ ls -a
      
. .. .test.txt.swp
      
$ vim test.txt
      
[...]
      
Swap file ".test.txt.swp" already exists!
      
[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:


      Just press R to recover it and :wq the file



      Edit:
      Note that the .swp file only contains the changes done to the file (see comment). This means that you will need to fetch a recent copy of the file from backup and then use vim to recover the latest changes. If you don't have a backup copy of the file you're really out of luck.






      share|improve this answer















      You don't need to have the original file to recover the .swp. Just open the file as if it exists. vim will look for the file with the .swp extension and offer to recover it.



      e.g.:



      $ ls -a
      
. .. .test.txt.swp
      
$ vim test.txt
      
[...]
      
Swap file ".test.txt.swp" already exists!
      
[O]pen Read-Only, (E)dit anyway, (R)ecover, (D)elete it, (Q)uit, (A)bort:


      Just press R to recover it and :wq the file



      Edit:
      Note that the .swp file only contains the changes done to the file (see comment). This means that you will need to fetch a recent copy of the file from backup and then use vim to recover the latest changes. If you don't have a backup copy of the file you're really out of luck.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited Jan 18 at 11:32









      DaniGuardiola

      1033




      1033










      answered Oct 28 '10 at 7:41









      Vegar WesterlundVegar Westerlund

      27316




      27316








      • 2





        You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

        – Heptite
        Oct 28 '10 at 17:57













      • You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

        – Vegar Westerlund
        Nov 2 '10 at 9:27











      • Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 15:15











      • Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:02











      • (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:09
















      • 2





        You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

        – Heptite
        Oct 28 '10 at 17:57













      • You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

        – Vegar Westerlund
        Nov 2 '10 at 9:27











      • Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 15:15











      • Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:02











      • (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

        – John P
        Aug 1 '17 at 16:09










      2




      2





      You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

      – Heptite
      Oct 28 '10 at 17:57







      You definitely have to have the original file, without it the data in the .swp file is useless. See ":help swap-file". There are situations where it may appear to work without the original file, but the .swp file only stores change information and requires some starting point to apply that information during recovery.

      – Heptite
      Oct 28 '10 at 17:57















      You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

      – Vegar Westerlund
      Nov 2 '10 at 9:27





      You are right, of course. I actually didn't know this about vim. But it is only logical as storing a complete copy of the original file would be a huge waste. Then the answer is: Recover your file from backup, then use vim to recover the latest modifications.

      – Vegar Westerlund
      Nov 2 '10 at 9:27













      Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 15:15





      Storing the entire file in a single swp would be wasteful, yes, but I see potential value in accumulating swp files (when enabled.) For the same reason you edit via diff and patch the original only on explicit save, it makes sense to me if you could stage a sequence of diffs, generate a partial sum (dates before today -> nightly; nightly + today = current) etc. I found ':pre[serve]` in the manuel, I think it works that way. In any case, the most important line is: The original file is no longer needed for recovery.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 15:15













      Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 16:02





      Looks like it works - :preserve and :set cpoptions=...& leaves a .swp and .swo file in the directory and offers to recover from either. Using vim -r <file> you can choose between .swp and .swo. Further edits generate .swn, .swm, etc., which appear to be the partial sum of swaps up to that point. You can revert to the version of your liking and edit (~=fork) or save (~=stash). Eventually you can tar up the swap files, daemonize their backups, etc. I could be wrong about the details when it comes to larger files - I'm not sure how that affects the extra swap files either - see below.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 16:02













      (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 16:09







      (Continued) - the buffer carries the flags and it's the buffer that produces the swap files, so even if the flags aren't set from global configuration or autoload, they are inherited during recovery itself. To replace a recovery sequence with a single recovery file, you can move the swap you want to .swp and hide the rest. I'd love to know more about the overlap between file recovery and Vim session management if anyone can fill in the gaps.

      – John P
      Aug 1 '17 at 16:09













      7














      Open the original file using vim, and choose the recovery option.






      share|improve this answer
























      • I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

        – zarna
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:36






      • 1





        That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

        – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:40
















      7














      Open the original file using vim, and choose the recovery option.






      share|improve this answer
























      • I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

        – zarna
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:36






      • 1





        That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

        – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:40














      7












      7








      7







      Open the original file using vim, and choose the recovery option.






      share|improve this answer













      Open the original file using vim, and choose the recovery option.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered Oct 28 '10 at 7:34









      Ignacio Vazquez-AbramsIgnacio Vazquez-Abrams

      96k6155211




      96k6155211













      • I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

        – zarna
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:36






      • 1





        That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

        – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:40



















      • I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

        – zarna
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:36






      • 1





        That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

        – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
        Oct 28 '10 at 7:40

















      I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

      – zarna
      Oct 28 '10 at 7:36





      I don't have the original file.I just have it's '.swp'

      – zarna
      Oct 28 '10 at 7:36




      1




      1





      That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

      – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
      Oct 28 '10 at 7:40





      That's less important than you think. Open it regardless.

      – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
      Oct 28 '10 at 7:40











      7














      1 Open the swap file .file.swp in vim



      2 :recover will recover your file






      share|improve this answer






























        7














        1 Open the swap file .file.swp in vim



        2 :recover will recover your file






        share|improve this answer




























          7












          7








          7







          1 Open the swap file .file.swp in vim



          2 :recover will recover your file






          share|improve this answer















          1 Open the swap file .file.swp in vim



          2 :recover will recover your file







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited Nov 8 '14 at 6:40

























          answered Nov 8 '14 at 6:20









          SathyamSathyam

          18115




          18115























              6














              After reading Vegar Westerlund and Heptite comments, I wanted to know at what point vim needs the original file (or a backup) to recover from a .swp file. Here's what did:



              I opened a 975 lines file, edited it on line 949 (creating a .swp file) and killed the process, then deleted the original. $ vim Original_File asked if I wanted to recover from the .swp » > yes; only the first 68 lines and the last 34 lines (starting 8 lines above my edit) were actually recovered.



              I then repeated the test with smaller files: From 20 up to 200 lines, the .swp file contained 100% of the original content. But at 300 lines, only the first 68 and the 18 last lines (starting 2 lines above my edit) were included in the .swp.



              As a conclusion it's good to know that vim always save the file's "header" and "bottom" in the .swp files. Maybe there's a setting to control how much lines should a .swp contains?






              share|improve this answer






























                6














                After reading Vegar Westerlund and Heptite comments, I wanted to know at what point vim needs the original file (or a backup) to recover from a .swp file. Here's what did:



                I opened a 975 lines file, edited it on line 949 (creating a .swp file) and killed the process, then deleted the original. $ vim Original_File asked if I wanted to recover from the .swp » > yes; only the first 68 lines and the last 34 lines (starting 8 lines above my edit) were actually recovered.



                I then repeated the test with smaller files: From 20 up to 200 lines, the .swp file contained 100% of the original content. But at 300 lines, only the first 68 and the 18 last lines (starting 2 lines above my edit) were included in the .swp.



                As a conclusion it's good to know that vim always save the file's "header" and "bottom" in the .swp files. Maybe there's a setting to control how much lines should a .swp contains?






                share|improve this answer




























                  6












                  6








                  6







                  After reading Vegar Westerlund and Heptite comments, I wanted to know at what point vim needs the original file (or a backup) to recover from a .swp file. Here's what did:



                  I opened a 975 lines file, edited it on line 949 (creating a .swp file) and killed the process, then deleted the original. $ vim Original_File asked if I wanted to recover from the .swp » > yes; only the first 68 lines and the last 34 lines (starting 8 lines above my edit) were actually recovered.



                  I then repeated the test with smaller files: From 20 up to 200 lines, the .swp file contained 100% of the original content. But at 300 lines, only the first 68 and the 18 last lines (starting 2 lines above my edit) were included in the .swp.



                  As a conclusion it's good to know that vim always save the file's "header" and "bottom" in the .swp files. Maybe there's a setting to control how much lines should a .swp contains?






                  share|improve this answer















                  After reading Vegar Westerlund and Heptite comments, I wanted to know at what point vim needs the original file (or a backup) to recover from a .swp file. Here's what did:



                  I opened a 975 lines file, edited it on line 949 (creating a .swp file) and killed the process, then deleted the original. $ vim Original_File asked if I wanted to recover from the .swp » > yes; only the first 68 lines and the last 34 lines (starting 8 lines above my edit) were actually recovered.



                  I then repeated the test with smaller files: From 20 up to 200 lines, the .swp file contained 100% of the original content. But at 300 lines, only the first 68 and the 18 last lines (starting 2 lines above my edit) were included in the .swp.



                  As a conclusion it's good to know that vim always save the file's "header" and "bottom" in the .swp files. Maybe there's a setting to control how much lines should a .swp contains?







                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited Jun 20 '17 at 10:59

























                  answered Feb 6 '15 at 20:16









                  tuk0ztuk0z

                  25427




                  25427






























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