For opening each file the first time: https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim For switching quickly between the 10 most recently u

For opening each file the first time: https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim For switching quickly between the 10 most recently used buffers: https://github.com/vim-scripts/LustyJuggler https://github.com/vim-scripts/LustyJuggler I suggest adding this to your .vimrc (the default mapping is <Leader>lj; my leader key is the spacebar, and I find space space to be much better): let g:LustyJugglerDefaultMappings = 0 nnoremap <silent> <Leader><Leader> :LustyJuggler<CR> For very quickly jumping between the current buffer, and the last buffer I have a mapping: nnoremap <leader>dd <C-^> because <C-^> is a bit awkward; <leader>dd could be anything that's very easy to type. So most of the time I'm alternating between two files using the <C-^> mapping. When I need to jump to a less recently used buffer I double tap <space>, opening LustyJuggler, then double tap the appropriate home row key to jump to the buffer I want. If the buffer I want isn't in the ten most recently used, I open Ctrl-P, type enough characters from the file path of the file I want to make it the first choice, then hit enter.