Vimdoc File Format (.vimdoc)

A VIMDOC file holds Vim help text, the plain-text format Vim's :help command reads, with *tag* markers for jump targets and a fixed 78-column layout built for an 80-column terminal.

.vimdocDocuments

Vimdoc at a glance#

Full name	Vim help file
File extension	.vimdoc
Category	Documents
Developer	Bram Moolenaar
Compression	Uncompressed
Specification	Vim help: writing Vim help files (help-writing)
FileFlip support	FileFlip writes this format but cannot open one

What a .vimdoc file can hold#

These are the things a Vimdoc file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Selectable text	Yes
Human readable	Yes

Strengths and limitations of Vimdoc#

What Vimdoc does well

The |tag| and *tag* convention gives every help topic a link Vim can jump to instantly with Ctrl-]
78-column width and heavy use of tab alignment keep a help file readable in the same terminal window Vim runs in
Any Vim plugin can ship its own help file, and :help finds it automatically once the plugin is installed in the right runtime path

Where Vimdoc falls short

The tag-and-column conventions only render as intended inside Vim's own help viewer, not as a general-purpose document
Writing one by hand means tracking column widths and tag uniqueness manually, since nothing enforces the convention automatically
Outside Vim and Neovim almost nothing reads it, so a help file usually needs converting before it can appear on a website

Write plugin documentation as a Vim help file when it needs to open with :help inside Vim itself.

Convert a Vim help file to Markdown or HTML when the same documentation needs to appear on a project's website or README.

How to open a .vimdoc file#

A .vimdoc file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on.

Platform	Programs that open it
Windows	Vim, Neovim
macOS	Vim, Neovim
Linux	Vim, Neovim

Vimdoc questions people ask#

What is a .vimdoc file?

A .vimdoc file holds text written in Vim's help file format, the plain-text convention Vim's :help command reads. Vim plugins normally ship this text as a .txt file inside a doc/ folder, so the .vimdoc extension mainly shows up once that content has been extracted or converted.

How do I read a Vim help file?

Opening it inside Vim with :help or :h and its filename renders the tags and cross-references as clickable jumps. The file is still plain text, so opening it in any text editor shows the same content, just without the tag highlighting or Ctrl-] navigation.

Why are Vim help files formatted so strictly?

Vim help files are written to a 78-column width so they display cleanly in an 80-column terminal, and every section carries a *tag* so Vim's help viewer can jump straight to it. Vim itself, along with every plugin's bundled documentation, follows the same convention, which is what makes :help consistent across the whole ecosystem.

Converting Vimdoc files#

FileFlip cannot open a .vimdoc file, so there is nothing to convert it into here. It appears on the site as something other formats can be converted to.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.