Please check your settings if you have enabled backups (and set the directory (backupdir) correctly. I am not sure, but you might set the permissions in the parent directories too.
Please also read the help files (:help backup). You must set backup and writebackup settings according to your needs. There is a table in the help (:help backup) that will tell you how to set these two settings. Regards On Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 4:00 PM Christopher <[email protected]> wrote: > I understand the permissions issues. How should it backup to begin with, > as I mentioned to someone else. I've started Vim and decided to write and > then saved with a file name. I then exited Vim and there was no file in the > .backup folder ? > > On Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 1:00:45 AM UTC-5 jr wrote: > >> hi, >> >> On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 at 03:28, Riza Dindir <[email protected]> wrote: >> > As Eric Marceau pointed out, the double forward slash (//) in the path >> ("backupdir"=//etc/.backup) might be a problem. >> > >> > Also the double quotes in "backupdir"=//etc/.backup might be a problem. >> I would use "set backupdir=/etc/.backup" (without the double quotes) in the >> ~/.vimrc file or wherever your rc file is. I have something similar in my >> settings file: "set bakupdir=/tmp" (without the double quotes). >> > >> > The other thing might be that you have to create the /etc/.backup >> directory, and you might need write permissions to that directory. It is >> odd to use the /etc directory for this IMHO. It might be a good idea to >> move this to the home folder of your choosing (as Badli al Rashid has >> suggested). This can be something like ~/tmp/.backup or something else... >> >> just to add, conventionally '/etc' is a system directory and a >> non-root user would be permitted to read, not write. >> >> -- >> regards, jr. >> >> You have the right to free speech, as long as you're not dumb enough >> to actually try it. >> (The Clash 'Know Your Rights') >> >> this email is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain >> confidential information. if you are not the intended recipient, you >> are hereby notified that any use of this email, its dissemination, >> distribution, and/or copying without prior written consent is >> prohibited. >> > -- > -- > You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. > Do not top-post! Type your reply below the text you are replying to. > For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "vim_use" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/3000797f-110a-4b7f-a17f-d4d1d8fcbcf2n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/3000797f-110a-4b7f-a17f-d4d1d8fcbcf2n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. Do not top-post! Type your reply below the text you are replying to. For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "vim_use" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vim_use/CA%2Bek4BExDdLooUm9nCR3zmzVxwQF8p8%2BBTC2dEs7fDCj%3DbtuYw%40mail.gmail.com.
