GVIM on windows: way to disable the tmp file creation

You can disable the backup file by putting this line in your .vimrc:

set nobackup

I almost always do this, as the ~ file is more annoying that useful. There is no problem with doing this, you'll just lose the ability to revert to a backup of the file.

If you want to get rid of the temporary .swp (swap) file too, you can also set this:

set noswapfile

The swap file is created when you have a file open, and provides some backup/recovery security, in case Vim crashes while editing a file. It also can prevent multiple Vims from editing the same file. I usually just turn this off too, because I rarely have a use for it. The .swp file isn't as annoying as the ~ file, because it goes away when you close Vim, but I still just turn that feature off.

It's not quite what you asked for, but something that I've found works well is to redirect the swap and backup files to a seperate, dedicated folder. That way, they're still there if I need them, but they're not cluttering up the folder I'm working in.

The _vimrc file can be created in any of the following locations:

• %HOMEPATH%\_vimrc
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Vim\_vimrc

The following lines in the _vimrc file put backup files into a temporary directory:

set backup
set dir=%TMP%
set backupdir=%TMP%
set directory=%TMP%
set noundofile

The last line prevents the proliferation of undo files.

put these in your vimrc file

set nobackup
set nowritebackup
set noswapfile

From inside vim:

:e $HOME/_vimrc

and add this to the file:

set nobackup

Then, $HOME/_vimrc~ will hopefully be the last backup that vim makes!

You can also use the _vimrc from $VIM. The _vimrc file from your home dir will be loaded later and the last setting wins. Beware when using a common dir for backup, swap or undo files. If you are on an USB or network drive and a drive letter gets reused you may run into problems.