Similar to the jump list discussed previously, Vim additionally maintains lists of changes made to each buffer, which can provide a convenient vehicle for navigating.
Lets walk through an example of how to use it, starting from the following buffer:
Initial Conditions
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·ugly.
2.·Explicit·is·better·than·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·better·than·complex.
4.·Complex·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMALTop1:1
Lets first make a few changes by deleting a word from each line:
Edit line 13fudw
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·.
2.·Explicit·is·better·than·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·better·than·complex.
4.·Complex·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMALTop1:29
Edit line 2j2bdw
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·.
2.·Explicit·is·better·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·better·than·complex.
4.·Complex·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMAL40%2:23
Edit line 3j2bdw
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·.
2.·Explicit·is·better·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·than·complex.
4.·Complex·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMAL60%3:14
Edit line 4 and move the cursorj2bdwgg
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·.
2.·Explicit·is·better·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·than·complex.
4.·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMALTop1:4
Now, lets view the change list for this buffer by executing the :changes command.
View the change list
1.·Beautiful·is·better·than·.
2.·Explicit·is·better·implicit.
3.·Simple·is·than·complex.
4.·is·better·than·complicated.
NORMALTop1:4
:changeschange line col text 4 1 28 1. Beautiful is better than . 3 2 22 2. Explicit is better implicit. 2 3 13 3. Simple is than complex. 1 4 3 4. is better than complicated.>
Each change is assigned a number in the left-most column, then the line number and column of each change. To provide a hint about which change this is, the list includes the text contained in the line. Finally, the change list indicates the current position in the list with a ">". We are currently located at the bottom of the list.