Autocomplete hidden files in vim

Question

In vim, when I use something like :e to open files, it doesn't autocomplete files with the hidden prefix .. For example, when trying to edit a .gitignore file, I have to type out the whole name and can't just go :e .giti<Tab>. If I just type :e <Tab>, vim only lists non-hidden files.

I've noticed even FuzzyFinder doesn't actually show hidden files when I use :FufFileWithCurrentBufferDir.

Is there any way I can enable this?

FYI, I can use `e .` with no problem (Vim 7.4 1-944, ArchLinux). — VanLaser, Dec 06 '15 at 20:54
@VanLaser `e .` seems to list hidden directories, but not hidden files (Vim 7.4 1-52, Linux Mint) — Sunjay Varma, Dec 06 '15 at 21:19
@FDinoff changing `wildignore` seems to work. Please add an answer so I can accept it. — Sunjay Varma, Dec 06 '15 at 21:21

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 06 '15 at 21:24

Vim uses wildignore to filter the list of completions when expanding wildcards. Make sure that .gitignore doesn't match a file pattern in that list.

:help 'wildignore' is copied below

                                                'wildignore' 'wig'
'wildignore' 'wig'      string  (default "")
                        global
                        {not in Vi}
                        {not available when compiled without the +wildignore
                        feature}
        A list of file patterns.  A file that matches with one of these
        patterns is ignored when expanding wildcards, completing file or
        directory names, and influences the result of expand(), glob() and
        globpath() unless a flag is passed to disable this.
        The pattern is used like with :autocmd, see autocmd-patterns.
        Also see 'suffixes'.
        Example:
                :set wildignore=*.o,*.obj
        The use of :set+= and :set-= is preferred when adding or removing
        a pattern from the list.  This avoids problems when a future version
        uses another default.

To find out where it was last set you can use :verbose set wildignore?

This appears to let hidden dotted files and hidden dotted folders through: `set wildignore+=.*` But be careful this affects all plugins, who have to contend with this setting. — Eric Leschinski, Jan 09 '19 at 14:19

Autocomplete hidden files in vim

1 Answers1