Change working directory to currently opened file

Question

How can I change my working directory to the path of the file that I currently have open?

Example

1. current working directory is $HOME

Answer 1

That's actually a builtin. (here's the help link)

:set autochdir

Stick that in your .vimrc or whatnot (:e $MYVIMRC). As mentioned here, sometimes plugins will have issues with that and you need to use something more complicated like

autocmd BufEnter * lcd %:p:h

Answer 2

To change to the directory of the currently open file (this sets the current directory for all windows in Vim):

:cd %:p:h

You can also change the directory only for the current window (each window has a local current directory that can be different from Vim's global current directory):

:lcd %:p:h

In these commands, % gives the name of the current file, %:p gives its full path, and %:p:h gives its directory (the "head" of the full path).

Answer 3

You can just type

:cd %:h

since %:h will be replaced by the head of the path to the current file.