When off a buffer is unloaded when it is abandoned. When on a buffer becomes hidden when it is abandoned. If the buffer is still displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course.

The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer hidden even if the 'hidden' option is off when these three are true:

• the buffer is modified
• 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible
• the '!' flag was used Also see windows.txt.

To only make one buffer hidden use the 'bufhidden' option. This option is set for one command with ":hide {command}" :hide. WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers. Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!".

(default off)