Strings to use in 'list' mode and for the :list command. It is a comma-separated list of string settings.

eol:c Character to show at the end of each line. When omitted, there is no extra character at the end of the line.

tab:xy[z] Two or three characters to be used to show a tab. The third character is optional.

tab:xy The 'x' is always used, then 'y' as many times as will fit. Thus "tab:>-" displays:

                                      >-
                                      >--
                                      etc.

                tab:xyz       The 'z' is always used, then 'x' is prepended, and
                              then 'y' is used as many times as will fit.  Thus
                              "tab:<->" displays:
                                      >
                                      <>
                                      <->
                                      <-->
                                      etc.

                              When "tab:" is omitted, a tab is shown as ^I.
                                                              *lcs-space*
                space:c       Character to show for a space.  When omitted, spaces
                              are left blank.
                                                              *lcs-multispace*
                multispace:c...
                              One or more characters to use cyclically to show for
                              multiple consecutive spaces.  Overrides the "space"
                              setting, except for single spaces.  When omitted, the
                              "space" setting is used.  For example,
                              `:set listchars=multispace:---+` shows ten consecutive
                              spaces as:
                                      ---+---+-- ~
                                                              *lcs-lead*
                lead:c        Character to show for leading spaces.  When omitted,
                              leading spaces are blank.  Overrides the "space" and
                              "multispace" settings for leading spaces.  You can
                              combine it with "tab:", for example: >
                                      :set listchars+=tab:>-,lead:.

leadmultispace:c... Like the lcs-multispace value, but for leading spaces only. Also overrides lcs-lead for leading multiple spaces. :set listchars=leadmultispace:---+ shows ten consecutive leading spaces as: ---+---+--XXX Where "XXX" denotes the first non-blank characters in the line.

trail:c Character to show for trailing spaces. When omitted, trailing spaces are blank. Overrides the "space" and "multispace" settings for trailing spaces.

extends:c Character to show in the last column, when 'wrap' is off and the line continues beyond the right of the screen.

precedes:c Character to show in the first visible column of the physical line, when there is text preceding the character visible in the first column.

conceal:c Character to show in place of concealed text, when 'conceallevel' is set to 1.

nbsp:c Character to show for a non-breakable space character (0xA0 (160 decimal) and U+202F). Left blank when omitted.

The characters ':' and ',' should not be used. UTF-8 characters can be used when 'encoding' is "utf-8", otherwise only printable characters are allowed. All characters must be single width.

Each character can be specified as hex:

set listchars=eol:\\x24
set listchars=eol:\\u21b5
set listchars=eol:\\U000021b5

Note that a double backslash is used. The number of hex characters must be exactly 2 for \x, 4 for \u and 8 for \U.

Examples:

:set lcs=tab:>-,trail:-
:set lcs=tab:>-,eol:<,nbsp:%
:set lcs=extends:>,precedes:<

The "NonText" highlighting will be used for "eol", "extends" and "precedes". "SpecialKey" will be used for "tab", "nbsp", "space", "multispace", "lead" and "trail". hl-NonText hl-SpecialKey

(default "eol:$")