Downloading Vim

Vim is available for many different systems and there are several versions. This page will help you decide what to download.

Systems
Mirrors Alternative sites to download Vim files from.
Sources Build Vim yourself and/or make changes.
Mercurial Obtain Vim sources with a Mercurial client (recommended).
Patches Include the latest improvements (requires sources and rebuilding).
Runtime Get the latest syntax files, documentation, etc..
Script links Links to individual syntax, indent, color, compiler and ftplugin scripts.
Translations Non-English documentation packages.

Versions before 7.3 can also be obtained with Subversion and CVS.

Version

Vim 7.3 is the latest stable version. It is highly recommended, many bugs have been fixed since 7.2 and earlier. If you have a problem with it (e.g., when it's too big for your system), you could try version 6.4 or 5.8 instead.

To avoid having to update this page for every new version, there are links to the directories. From there select the files you want to download. In the file names ## stands for the version number. For example, vim##src.zip with version 7.3 is vim73src.zip and vim-##-src.tar.gz for version 7.3 is vim-7.3-src.tar.gz. Links are provided for quick access to the latest version.

Unix

The best way to install Vim on Unix is to use the sources. This requires a compiler and its support files. Compiling Vim isn't difficult at all. You can simply type "make install" when you are happy with the default features. Edit the Makefile in the "src" directory to select specific features.

You need to download at the sources and the runtime files. And apply all the latest patches. For Vim 6 up to 7.2 you can optionally get the "lang" archive, which adds translated messages and menus. For 7.3 this is included with the runtime files.

Using Mercurial
This is the simplest and most efficient way to obtain the latest version, including all patches. This requires the "hg" command.
The explanations are on this page: Mercurial

Summary: 

hg clone https://vim.googlecode.com/hg/ vim
cd vim/src
make
Using Aap
Aap is a new tool that does all the work of downloading and patching for you. You download one file, called a recipe, and "aap install" does all the work. To later update to the latest version of Vim you do not need to download anything manually, just use the command "aap update".

The detailed explanation can be found here. This does require Python and installing Aap. Please report problems to Bram AT a-a-p.org.

version 7.x
There is one big file to download that contains almost everything. It is found in the unix directory:
The runtime and source files together: vim-##.tar.bz2vim-7.3.tar.bz2
If you would like to use translated messages and menus on Vim 7.2 and earlier, get an additional archive from the extra directory:
The language files. vim-##-lang.tar.gzvim-7.2-lang.tar.gz
version 6.x
You have a choice: Either get the one big archive OR get four smaller ones (that each fit on a floppy disk). They are all in the unix directory:
The runtime and source files together: vim-##.tar.bz2vim-6.4.tar.bz2
The runtime files part 1: vim-##-rt1.tar.gzvim-6.4-rt1.tar.gz
The runtime files part 2: vim-##-rt2.tar.gzvim-6.4-rt2.tar.gz
The source files part 1: vim-##-src1.tar.gzvim-6.4-src1.tar.gz
The source files part 2. vim-##-src2.tar.gzvim-6.4-src2.tar.gz
If you would like to use translated messages and menus, get an additional archive from the extra directory:
The language files. vim-##-lang.tar.gzvim-6.4-lang.tar.gz
version 5.x
There are two files you should both get from the unix directory:
The runtime files: vim-##-rt.tar.gzvim-5.8-rt.tar.gz
The source files: vim-##-src.tar.gzvim-5.8-src.tar.gz
The files ending in ".tar.gz" are tar archives that are compressed with gzip. Unpack them with tar -xzf filename.
The single big file ending in ".tar.bz2" is a tar archive compressed with bzip2. Uncompress and unpack it with bunzip2 -c filename | tar -xf -.
All archives should be unpacked in the same directory.

If you can't compile yourself or don't want to, look at the site of the supplier of your Unix version for a packaged Vim executable. For Linux distributions and FreeBSD these are often available shortly after a new Vim version has been released. But you can't change the features then.

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PC: MS-DOS and MS-Windows

For modern MS-Windows systems (starting with XP) you can simply use the executable installer:
    gvim73_46.exe
It includes GUI and console versions, for 32 bit and 64 bit systems. You can select what you want to install and includes an uninstaller.

Since there are so many different versions of MS operating systems, there are several versions of Vim for them.
For Vim 5.x, Vim 6.x and Vim 7 look in the pc directory.

Self-installing executable   gvim##.exe    gvim73_46.exe
For Vim 6 and later. This includes a GUI version of Vim - with many features and OLE support - and all the runtime files. It works well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. Use this if you have enough disk space and memory. It's the simplest way to start using Vim on the PC. The installer allows you to skip the parts you don't want.
For Vim 6.3 and later it also includes a console version, both for MS-Windows 95/98/ME and MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. The installer automatically selects the right one.
For the latest version with all patches included see Cream below. These versions are unofficial, but the download number is high and complaints are few.
Win64
Native 64-bit binaries for MS-Windows can be found at http://code.google.com/p/vim-win3264/. The Win32 binaries should run too, but the 64 bit version has a few minor advantages (see the web page at the link).
Runtime files   vim##rt.zip    vim73_46rt.zip
For all the following binary versions you need this runtime archive, which includes the documentation, syntax files, etc. Always get this, unless you use the self-installing executable.

There are three versions that run as an MS-Windows application. These provide menus, scrollbars and a toolbar.

GUI executable   gvim##.zip    gvim73_46.zip
This is the "normal" GUI version.
OLE GUI executable   gvim##ole.zip    gvim73_46ole.zip
A GUI version with OLE support. This offers a few extra features, such as integration with Visual Developer Studio. But it uses quite a bit more memory.
Win32s GUI executable   gvim##_s.zip    gvim73_46_s.zip
GUI version for Windows 3.1 with win32s support. (Not available for Vim 6.2 and 6.3)
A true Windows 3.1 version can be found here: http://www.bulbous.freeserve.co.uk/vim16.html
There are three versions that run on MS-DOS or in a console window in MS-Windows:
16 bit DOS executable   vim##d16.zip    vim71d16.zip
The 16 bit DOS version is the only one that runs on old MS-DOS systems. Only use this if you are really desparate, because it excludes many useful features (such as syntax highlighting and long file names) and quickly runs out of memory.
The last version available is 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 are too big to fit in the DOS memory model.
32 bit DOS executable   vim##d32.zip    vim73_46d32.zip
The 32 bit DOS version works well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME. It requires a DPMI manager, which needs to be installed on MS-DOS. MS-Windows already has one. It supports long file names, but NOT on MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. It is compiled with "big" features.
Win32 console executable   vim##w32.zip    vim73_46w32.zip
The Win32 console version works well on MS-Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. It supports long file names and is compiled with "big" features. It does not run perfectly well on MS-Windows 95/98/ME, especially when resizing the console window (this may crash MS-Windows...).
There are a few extra files:
iconv library   libiconv
A library used for converting character sets. Put "iconv.dll" in the same directory as gvim.exe to be able to edit files in many encodings. You can find the dll file in the bin directory of the "libiconv-win32" archive.
newer intl library   libintl
The included libintl.dll does not support encoding conversion. If you have installed the iconv library, as mentioned above, you can install a gettext library that uses it. Get "intl.dll" from the bin directory in the gettext-win32 archive and store it as "libintl.dll" in the same directory as gvim.exe, overwriting the file that may already be there.
PC sources   vim##src.zip    vim73_46src.zip
The source files, packed for the PC. This only includes the files needed on the PC, not for other systems. The files are in dos format CR-LF.
PC debug files   gvim##.pdb    gvim73_46.pdb   gvim##ole.pdb    gvim73_46ole.pdb   vim##w32.pdb    vim73_46w32.pdb
When you notice a bug or a crash in Vim these files can be used to help tracing down the problem. In Vim 7 do ":help debug-win32" to see how.
PC translations   vim##lang.zip    vim72lang.zip
Only for 7.2 and earlier, for 7.3 these are included in the "rt" archive. Translated messages and menu files, packed for the PC. Use this to see non-English menus. The messages are only translated when the libintl.dll library is installed.
Windows 3.1 GUI executable   gvim##w16.zip and gvim##m16.zip
These are GUI versions for 16 bit windows (Windows 3.1). The "w16" has many features, "m16" has few features (for when you're short on memory).
The files ending in ".zip" can be unpacked with any unzip program. Make sure you unpack them all in the same directory!

Alternate distributions

For an unofficial version that does include all the latest patches and optionally a bit more: Cream. The "one-click installer" mentioned includes the Cream changes. For the "real Vim" use the "without Cream" version listed further down.

You may also try Yongwei's build, executables with slightly different interfaces supported.

For a Cygwin binary look at others.

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Amiga

Quite a long time ago, Vim development started on the Amiga. Although it's a really old system now, it might still work. However, this has not been tested recently. You may have to use an older version for which Amiga binaries are available.

For Vim 5.x and Vim 6 look in the amiga directory.
Vim 7 files can be found at os4depot.net. This is for AmigaOS 4. Made by Peter Bengtsson.

Runtime files   vim##rt.tgz    vim64rt.tgz
Documentation, syntax files, etc. You always need this.
Executable   vim##bin.tgz    vim64bin.tgz
The executables for Vim and Xxd. For Vim 6 it includes "big" features, for Vim 5.x it includes the normal features. For Vim 6.2 it is not available (my Amiga had harddisk problems then, this miraculously healed later).
Big executable   vim##big.tgz
Vim with "big" features and Xxd. Only for Vim 5.x.
Sources   vim##src.tgz    vim64src.tgz
The source files for the Amiga. Only needed when you want to compile Vim yourself.
The files are all tar archives, compressed with gzip. To unpack, first uncompress them with gzip -d filename. Then unpack with tar xf filename. You need to unpack the archives in the same directory.

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OS/2

The OS/2 version runs in a console window.

For Vim 5.x and Vim 6 look in the os2 directory. Version 6.2 is not available. Versions 6.3 and 6.4 were compiled by David Sanders.
Version 7.0 was compiled by David Sanders.

Runtime files   vim##rt.zip    vim70rt.zip
Documentation, syntax files, etc. You always need this.
Executables   vim##os2.zip    vim70os2.zip
Vim, Xxd, Tee and EMX libraries.
The files ending in ".zip" can be unpacked with any unzip program. Make sure you both zip archives in the same directory!

If you want to compile the OS/2 version, you need the EMX compiler. Use the Unix source archive, runtime files and the extra archive. After unpacking the runtime archive, move all the files and directories in the "runtime" directory one level up.

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Macintosh

The Macintosh binaries are not on the Vim ftp site. They are produced by a few Macintosh lovers. Often they lag behind a few versions.

Since MacOS 10.3 the "vi" program is actually a console version of Vim 6.2 or later. It has few features. If you want a GUI version or more features Vim needs to be installed separately.

There are currently two kinds of Vim for Macintosh:

Cocoa (MacVim)

MacVim has more a Mac look and feel, is developed actively and most people prefer this version. Most of MacVim was made by Björn Winckler.

MacVim can be downloaded here: http://code.google.com/p/macvim/

New versions are made quite often. Subscribe to the vim-mac maillist to be informed about bugs and updates.

Carbon

Recent binaries for Mac OS/X can be found on this SourceForge project. Maintained by Nicholas Stallard.

There are several versions of Vim 6.x for Mac OS on http://macvim.org/.

A GUI version for MacOS Classic (7 - 9) compiled by Axel Kielhorn can be found at http://macvim.org/MacClassic/.

A GUI version for MacOS X 10.1 compiled by Benji Fisher can be found at http://macvim.org/OSX/. This version does not work with MacOS X 10.2 (Jaguar). A special version that runs only on 10.2 is provided at the same location.

There is also a version for Mac OSX that works in a terminal window and a GUI version for X11 with GTK (produced by Marc Liyanage):
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/welcome.html#vim

Here is a multi-byte version of Vim 5.7 (for Japanese, possibly also for Korean and Chinese; not for Unicode):
http://www-imai.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~asai/macvim-e.html

Most of the work for the Macintosh port (Classic and Carbon) was done by Dany St-Amant.

If you have OSX and a setup for compiling programs, you can use the Unix and Extra source code archives and compile yourself. See the Unix section above.The development tools can be downloaded from Apple's developer web site. Hint: stuffit expander can handle .bz2 files. Turn to the vim-mac maillist to meet other Vim-Mac users.

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Others

This is a list of links to sites where various versions of Vim can be obtained. These are supported by individuals, use at your own risk.

Android Only on rooted Android.
QNX Provided by Yakov Zaytsev. Requires QNX 6.3.0/6.3.2 with service pack 2.
Agenda http://pi7.fernuni-hagen.de/hartrumpf/agenda/vim/vim.vr3
Sharp Zaurus http://killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=388
HP Jornada http://www.uni-magdeburg.de/steschum/hpcsh-pkgs/
MS-Windows CE http://www.rainer-keuchel.de/wince/vim.html
Compaq Tru64 Unix on Alpha http://www.geocities.com/jstarship_2001/vim-tru64.html
Cygwin (console) http://www.cygwin.com/packages/vim/
Installing is done with the Cygwin setup.exe.
Cygwin (with GTK GUI) http://lassauge.free.fr/cygwin/
Open VMS http://www.polarhome.com/vim/
RISC OS http://www.vim.riscos.org.uk/ (sorry, currently doesn't appear to work...)
MorphOS http://www.akcaagac.com/index_vim.html

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