Why You Should Probably Redo Vim From Scratch (And How To Actually Do It)

We've all been there. You started with a "Vim distribution" like LunarVim or AstroNvim because you wanted that IDE feel without the bloat, but now you’re staring at a 500-line init.lua file you don't actually understand. It’s a mess. Your keybinds are fighting each other. Honestly, the most satisfying thing you can do for your workflow is to blow it all up and start over.

Learning how to redo vim isn't just about cleaning up your config; it’s about reclaiming your editor. If you’re tired of "magic" features that break whenever you run a plugin update, this is for you.

The Case for the "Nuclear Option"

Most people treat their .vimrc or init.lua like a digital hoarder's attic. You found a cool snippet on a 2018 Reddit thread, pasted it in, and never looked at it again. Now, your startup time is lagging. You’ve got five different plugins doing the same thing.

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Starting fresh feels scary. You might think, "I'll lose my productivity for a week!" But that's rarely true. If you use a modern approach with Neovim and a decent plugin manager, you can be back to a functional state in twenty minutes. The difference is that this time, you'll know exactly what every single line of code does. That’s the real power.

What most people get wrong about "minimalism"

People think "minimalism" means no plugins. That’s just being a masochist. True minimalism in Vim is about intentionality. It means if you have a plugin for fuzzy finding, it’s because you specifically chose it, configured its UI, and mapped its keys to your muscle memory.

Step Zero: Back Up the Chaos

Before you delete anything, move your current config. Don't just rm -rf.

You’ll want to run mv ~/.config/nvim ~/.config/nvim.bak. Do the same for your local data folders (usually ~/.local/share/nvim). This gives you a safety net. If you realize you forgot a specific, complex regex you spent three hours writing last year, you can just go grab it from the backup.

The Core Philosophy of How to Redo Vim Right

When you start the rebuild, don't just go looking for "top 10 vim plugins 2026" lists. Start with the basics. Set your leader key. If you aren't using <Space> as your leader, you're missing out on the most ergonomic setup available. It's right there under your thumb.

vim.g.mapleader = " "

That’s your first line. Simple. Clean.

Picking Your Plugin Manager

Years ago, we had Pathogen. Then Vundle. Then Plug. Now? It’s basically lazy.nvim or nothing. Folke Lemaitre, the developer behind Lazy, has essentially changed the game. It handles lazy-loading so well that you can have a hundred plugins and your editor will still open in under 30 milliseconds.

If you're going to redo your setup, use Lazy. It provides a visual interface to see what’s failing and what’s taking too long to load. It turns your config from a black box into a dashboard.

Moving to Lua (If You Haven't Already)

If you are still using VimScript for your main config, it is time to stop. Neovim's integration with Lua is why the ecosystem is currently exploding. Lua is faster. It’s a real programming language.

You don't need to be a senior software engineer to write it. Most of it is just defining tables. For instance, setting an option looks like this:

vim.opt.relativenumber = true

Relative numbers are a godsend for jumping around lines. If you aren't using them, you're probably tapping the j and k keys way too many times. Stop doing that.

Addressing the LSP Nightmare

This is where most people get stuck when they try to redo vim. Language Server Protocol (LSP) setup used to be a nightmare of manual configurations.

Now, we have Mason.nvim.

Mason is basically an in-editor package manager for LSPs, linters, and debuggers. You open a menu, hit i, and it installs the Python server for you. No more messing with your system PATH or manually downloading binaries. Couple this with nvim-lspconfig and you have a pro-grade IDE experience.

Don't over-automate the LSP

A common mistake is installing every LSP known to man. It bloats your system. Only install what you are actually coding in this week. The beauty of a fresh redo is that you can add things as you need them.

The "Big Three" Plugins You Actually Need

If you’re rebuilding, focus on these three pillars. Everything else is just window dressing.

1. Telescope.nvim: This is the gold standard for fuzzy finding. Files, git commits, help tags—if it exists, Telescope can find it.
2. Treesitter: This isn't just for syntax highlighting. It actually parses the code structure. It makes your editor "understand" what a function is or what a variable belongs to. It’s the difference between "pretty colors" and "intelligent editing."
3. nvim-cmp: For autocompletion. You want that little menu that pops up when you start typing. It’s essential for modern dev work.

Breaking the "Copy-Paste" Habit

When you find a cool config online, like ThePrimeagen’s or TJ DeVries’, don’t just copy their entire GitHub repo. It’s tempting. They have great setups. But their setups are for their fingers, not yours.

Read their code. Understand why they mapped JJ to escape or why they use a specific theme like Rose Pine or Gruvbox. If it makes sense for your workflow, type it out manually into your own file. This tactile act of typing the config helps you remember the keybinds.

Refining the UI Without the Bloat

You don’t need a fancy dashboard that shows a picture of a cat every time you open Vim. It’s cool for a screenshot on r/unixporn, but it adds nothing to your productivity.

Focus on the status line. Lualine is the standard. It’s fast and shows you what branch you’re on and what the file encoding is. That’s useful.

Also, consider a file tree like nvim-tree or oil.nvim. Oil is particularly interesting because it lets you edit your file system like a normal Vim buffer. Want to rename five files? Just change the text in the buffer and save. It’s brilliant.

Handling Keybind Overlap

One of the biggest headaches when you redo vim is realizing two plugins want the same key combination.

Use the :checkhealth command frequently. Neovim’s built-in health check is surprisingly good at spotting conflicts. If Telescope and LSP are fighting over gd (go to definition), you need to make a choice. Usually, you want the LSP version for code and Telescope for general searching.

Performance Tuning

If your Vim feels slow, it’s probably not Vim. It’s usually a poorly written autocommand or a plugin that’s trying to index your entire home directory.

Use :Lazy profile to see exactly how many milliseconds each plugin adds to your startup. If something is taking more than 10ms and you don't use it every day, set lazy = true in your plugin spec.

Actionable Next Steps for a Clean Rebuild

1. Kill the old config: Move ~/.config/nvim to a backup location right now.
2. Create a structured layout: Don't put everything in init.lua. Create a lua/ folder. Inside, have an options.lua, keymaps.lua, and a plugins/ directory.
3. Bootstrap Lazy.nvim: Copy the bootstrap snippet from the Lazy.nvim GitHub readme into your init.lua.
4. Install one plugin at a time: Start with Treesitter for highlighting, then Telescope for navigation. Test your editor after every single addition.
5. Map your Leader: Set it to Space. Map <leader>ff to find files and <leader>fg to live grep. These will be your most used commands.
6. Commit to Git: Initialize a git repo in your ~/.config/nvim folder. Every time you get a feature working (like LSP or Autocompletion), commit it. If you break it later, you can just roll back.

Redoing your setup isn't a chore; it’s a ritual. It forces you to evaluate how you work. You'll find that you don't actually need half the stuff you thought you did. What’s left will be a razor-sharp tool tailored specifically to your needs.