How Can I Force Wq In Vim When The File Is Read-Only?

I remember the first time I used Vim, and the command ':wq' was a lifesaver. It's a simple yet powerful command that writes the current file to disk and quits Vim. The ':w' part saves the file, while the ':q' part exits the editor. It's one of those commands that becomes second nature once you get used to Vim. I love how efficient it is—no need to reach for the mouse or navigate through menus. Just type it, hit enter, and you're done. It's especially handy when you're working on multiple files and need to switch between them quickly. Over time, I've found myself using ':wq' more than any other command in Vim, and it's a staple in my workflow.

I've been using Vim for years, and the difference between ':w' and ':wq' is straightforward but crucial. ':w' stands for 'write,' and it simply saves the current file without closing Vim. It's perfect when you need to save your progress but keep editing. On the other hand, ':wq' combines 'write' and 'quit,' saving the file and exiting Vim in one command. It's a time-saver when you're done editing and ready to move on. I use ':w' frequently during long coding sessions to avoid losing work, while ':wq' is my go-to when wrapping up. Both commands are essential for efficient workflow in Vim.

Okay, here’s my take in plain terms: ':wq' is the explicit save-then-exit command, while 'ZZ' (that is, capital Z twice) is a quick-shorthand that behaves a bit differently. I use ':wq' when I want to be explicit or when I need to save to a different name — like ':wq newname.txt' — or force a write with ':wq!'. It always writes the buffer to the file (which updates the file timestamp even if nothing changed) and then quits the editor. That makes it handy when you need to be sure the file is actually written, or when you’re scripting things and want predictable behavior. By contrast, 'ZZ' is essentially the normal-mode shortcut for ':x'. It will write the file only if there are unsaved changes, and then quit. If nothing changed, 'ZZ' just exits without touching the file, so it preserves the modification time. 'ZZ' also doesn’t accept a filename or the force bang — it’s a no-frills shortcut for the common “save if needed and quit” case. In practice I hit 'ZZ' when I’ve been tweaking something and just want to close out quickly, and I use ':wq' when I need control over where or how the file is written.

Okay, quick practical trick that I use all the time when I need Vim to save-and-exit from a shell script without any interactive prompts. The most straightforward is to use Ex mode or Vim’s silent mode. For classic Vim you can run: vim -E -s -c 'wq' filename Notes and variations that matter in real runs: if the file might be read-only, use 'wq!' instead of 'wq'. To avoid loading your vimrc (which can produce messages), add -u NONE -N. To skip swap-file checks and avoid prompts about swap you can add -n. A more bulletproof command I often drop into scripts is: vim -E -s -u NONE -N -n -c 'wq!' -- filename < /dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1 That redirects stdin so Vim won’t accidentally read from a pipe or terminal, silences output, forces write/quit, and skips user config and swap. If you’re using Ex directly (which is tiny and exact for this job): ex -s +'wq' filename works nicely. For Neovim, use headless mode: nvim --headless -c 'wq' filename or nvim --headless +'wq' filename. Finally, check the exit code ($?) after the command if you need to know whether the save actually succeeded; scripts should always verify that. I prefer the small, explicit commands above so my CI jobs never hang on a stray prompt.

Man, I used to frown every time I typed :wq — it feels like a tiny ritual for something that should be one keystroke. If you want to bind the whole ':wq' dance to a convenient key, the cleanest route is to put a mapping in your vimrc (or init.vim). For normal mode I like something simple and mnemonic: set your leader early on, for example let mapleader=',' (or ' ' if you like space as leader), then add a line like nnoremap x :wq. Now ',x' saves and quits. I prefer nnoremap so things don't recurse and behave predictably. If you want a single modifier key, people often try for save. In vimscript you'd add nnoremap :w and inoremap :wa so you can save without leaving insert mode (or inoremap :wq to save+quit from insert). Beware: many terminal emulators intercept Ctrl-S (XON/XOFF), so you might need to run stty -ixon or change your terminal settings; GUI versions of vim/Neovim don't have that issue. For Neovim with Lua I'm lazy and use: vim.keymap.set('n', 'x', ':wq', {silent=true}) or vim.api.nvim_set_keymap('i', '', ':wa', {noremap=true, silent=true}). If you want to write with sudo because you opened a root-owned file, use a trick mapping or a command like cnoremap w!! w !sudo tee % >/dev/null to avoid reinventing permission handling. Small tip: add to hide the command echo and keep things tidy. Try a mapping for :wa to save everything (nnoremap wa :wa) if you often juggle buffers. Play around until it feels like second nature — I still grin every time a single keystroke finishes a hectic edit session.

Okay, if you’ve ever been in the middle of editing and wondered how to actually save and leave, here’s the simple, practical bit that I lean on every day. First, make sure you’re in Normal mode — press Esc a couple of times to be sure. Then type :wq and press Enter. That’s it: colon to get to command-line mode, w for write, q for quit. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, Shift+ZZ (press Z twice while holding Shift) does the same thing — it writes the file only if there are changes, then exits. Another close cousin is :x which writes and quits but only writes when needed (like ZZ). Sometimes the file is read-only or owned by root and you’ll get a warning like "E45: 'readonly' option is set" or "E212: Can't open file for writing". I usually do two things: either use :wq! to force write and quit (careful: this overrides readonly flags), or if it’s a permission issue I use the neat trick :w !sudo tee % >/dev/null then press Enter, then :q to quit — that runs sudo tee to write the buffer back to the original file. If you're juggling multiple tabs or splits, :wqa writes and quits all, :wa saves all buffers, and :qa quits all (use :qa! to force). Keep a mental note: Esc -> : -> command -> Enter. It’s silly how much comfort that little ritual gives me after a long edit session.

Okay, short practical yes/no first: you can't make the plain :wq magically write only a visual selection and then quit without telling Vim exactly what range to write, but Vim absolutely can write just a selected range to a file — you just use a range with :w (and you can follow it with |q to quit). If you visual-select some lines (V or v), hit :, and you'll see something like :'<,'> already filled in. From there you can do :'<,'>w /path/to/outfile to write only those lines to that file. If you want to overwrite the current file on disk with just the selection, you can use :'<,'>w % (where % expands to the current filename) — be careful: that will replace the file on disk with only the selected lines and your buffer will still contain the original full text, so it's easy to get into a mismatch. A safer pattern is to write the selection to a temp file first (:'<,'>w /tmp/sel) and then move it into place from the shell, or visually check and then replace. If permissions are the issue (trying to write to a root-owned path), a neat trick is :'<,'>w !sudo tee % — that sends the selected lines to sudo tee which writes to the file with elevated rights. To write selection and quit in one go, you can chain commands: :'<,'>w /path/to/outfile | q. Bottom line: :wq itself writes the whole buffer, but Vim's :w supports ranges and external commands, so you can definitely write only a selected range — just mind backups and file vs buffer consistency.

Oh, this one used to trip me up too, and once you see the little differences it's way less scary. E45 in Vim literally means the 'readonly' option is set for the buffer — Vim is telling you it won't overwrite what's flagged readonly unless you explicitly force it. That readonly flag can come from a few places: you opened the file with 'view' or 'vim -R', a modeline or your personal config set the buffer to readonly, or Vim detected that the file itself is write-protected by the OS (so even if you force it, the system will still stop you). In practice that means two different things to check. First, inside Vim check the buffer option: :set readonly? or :echo &readonly will show whether the buffer is flagged. If that's the culprit you can clear it with :set noreadonly or just force the write with :w! or :wq!. Second, if forcing still fails you'll hit other messages like "E212: Can't open file for writing" or a plain permission denied — that's the operating system saying you don't have write access. Fix that by adjusting permissions (chmod u+w file), changing ownership (chown), remounting the filesystem read-write, or removing an immutable attribute (chattr -i file). A practical trick I use when I forgot to start Vim with sudo: :w !sudo tee % >/dev/null will write the buffer as root, or just re-open the file with sudoedit. If you're unsure why Vim set readonly in the first place, :verbose set readonly? will often tell you which script or command changed it. Little habits like checking :set readonly? and ls -l outside Vim save me from frantic typing at 3 a.m.