Vim CursorLine color change in insert mode

Question

There is good snippet for changing cursor color:

if &term =~ \"xterm\\\\|rxvt\"
  \" use an orange cursor in insert mode
  let &t_SI = \"\\]12         


        

Answer 1

This is pretty straightforward, put the following in your .vimrc or custom colorscheme file.

set cursorline
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight CursorLine guifg=white guibg=blue ctermfg=white ctermbg=blue
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight CursorLine guifg=white guibg=darkblue ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkblue

For more information see:

• :help 'cursorline'
• :help :autocmd
• :help InsertEnter
• :help :highlight

N.B: You can use the same method to change the colour of the cursor without all of those if-statements and escape-sequences (and this will also work in GVim).

Answer 2

I chose to switch CursorLine and Normal in insert mode. First get the values with :hi Normal and :hi CursorLine. Then adjust the following lines:

set cursorline
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight Normal ctermbg=7
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight CursorLine ctermbg=15
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight Normal ctermbg=15
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight CursorLine ctermbg=7

For solarized light, this looks like this. I like the "focus" effect.

Answer 3

When using MacVim with 'Lokaltog/vim-powerline' you can setup your normal/visual/insert colors to match the powerline mode color. I find this extremely helpful to know what mode I'm in without reading the powerline, especially on a large screen.

Here is the code I am using, based on @Zarick-Lau's answer.

In my colors/molokai.vim file:

" Visual Mode Orange Background, Black Text
hi Visual          guifg=#000000 guibg=#FD971F

" Default Colors for CursorLine
highlight CursorLine guibg=#3E3D32
highlight Cursor guibg=#A6E22E;

" Change Color when entering Insert Mode
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight  CursorLine guibg=#323D3E
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight  Cursor guibg=#00AAFF;

" Revert Color to default when leaving Insert Mode
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight  CursorLine guibg=#3E3D32
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight  Cursor guibg=#A6E22E;

Here is an example using the molokai original color scheme.

Normal

Visual

Insert

I also find it's helpful to set the OS up to visually select using the same color too. For example, I've changed my highlight color to Orange in OSX, and when I select text, it is now orange instead of blue, same as in VIM.

Example

Here the orange highlight being used in the text-box as I'm writing this Stack Overflow entry. Now all text I select in my OS matches the VIM setup.

Answer 4

NO COLOR in current line even if you enter or leave INSERT MODE

"set cursorline
set noshowmode

"Enable CursorLine
set nocursorline

"Default Colors for CursorLine
hi CursorLine cterm=NONE ctermbg=NONE ctermfg=NONE

"Change Color when entering Insert Mode
autocmd InsertEnter * set nocursorline

"Revert Color to default when leaving Insert Mode
autocmd InsertLeave * set nocursorline

Answer 5

Have you look in into the 'highlight' command which is a easier way to control this.

For example, to change the CursorLine,

:hi CursorLine guifg=red guibg=blue

Reference: :help highlight

To make it switch between mode.

" Enable CursorLine
set cursorline

" Default Colors for CursorLine
highlight  CursorLine ctermbg=Yellow ctermfg=None

" Change Color when entering Insert Mode
autocmd InsertEnter * highlight  CursorLine ctermbg=Green ctermfg=Red

" Revert Color to default when leaving Insert Mode
autocmd InsertLeave * highlight  CursorLine ctermbg=Yellow ctermfg=None

I may be possible to mix termcap color with autocmd, but IMO, highlight is more easy to maintain in long term (and in case if use gVim occassionally)