Macros Are Just Register Contents

"ap → edit → "ay$ — the macro lifecycle as text editing.

Keys: "ap, "ay$

A recorded macro is text in a register. Paste it, edit it, yank it back. This unification of macros and clipboard text is one of Vim's smartest design choices.

qa…q records a macro into register a. @a plays it. But the register a is the same a you yank text into — so the macro is just text. Which means you can edit it like any other text.

The lifecycle

A typical refinement loop looks like: 1. Record a draft: qa…q. 2. It mostly works but has a glitch. 3. o (open a new line), then "ap — the keystrokes appear as text in the buffer. 4. Edit them. Maybe dawi should have been daWi. Replace. 5. "ay$ (yank from cursor to end of line back into register a) or "ayy for the whole line. 6. u to undo the buffer changes (you don't want the keystroke text staying in your file). 7. @a — try the macro again with the fix.

See also: Registers, Named Registers, Recording and Playing Macros, Editing a Macro