VIM: What's the quickest way to return from typing :w<enter> in insert mode?

Question

Sometimes I forgot to press ESC to return to command mode and enter :w<enter> in some line I was editing. So I get the following:

some line of code:w
    I was typing
   ^ cursor position

So what I do is pressing ESC+k+A+Backspace+Backspace+ESC+j or something similar.

Someone has a shorter/better/quicker way of doing this?

Answer 1

If the extra :w<enter> is the only insertion in that place I use ESC + u (undo).

If not it's just as long as yours but depending on personal preferences/habits it might be faster: ESC + up arrow + J (join) + left arrow + left arrow + x + x (delete current char).

Technically the longer sequence can be saved as a macro and then invoked with just ESC + @ + key (where key corresponds to the register in which the macro was saved) - but I just couldn't get the macros into my habits :)

Answer 2

C-o u

C-o: normal state for one command

u: undo

Note: this might undo more than you want depending on how much you changed.

Answer 3

With set backspace=2, you should be able to just press Backspace three times.

This is the same as set backspace=indent,eol,start, eol being the most important, it allows you to backspace over newlines.

See Vim | options | backspace or :help 'backspace' (note the single quotes) for more details