This option tells Vim what the cursor should look like in different modes. It fully works in the GUI. In a Win32 console, only the height of the cursor can be changed. This can be done by specifying a block cursor, or a percentage for a vertical or horizontal cursor. For a console the 't_SI', 't_SR', and 't_EI' escape sequences are used.

The option is a comma-separated list of parts. Each part consist of a mode-list and an argument-list: mode-list:argument-list,mode-list:argument-list,.. The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes: n Normal mode v Visual mode ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v', if not specified) o Operator-pending mode i Insert mode r Replace mode c Command-line Normal (append) mode ci Command-line Insert mode cr Command-line Replace mode sm showmatch in Insert mode a all modes The argument-list is a dash separated list of these arguments: hor**{N}** horizontal bar, {N} percent of the character height ver**{N}** vertical bar, {N} percent of the character width block block cursor, fills the whole character [only one of the above three should be present] blinkwait**{N}** blinkon**{N}** blinkoff**{N}** blink times for cursor: blinkwait is the delay before the cursor starts blinking, blinkon is the time that the cursor is shown and blinkoff is the time that the cursor is not shown. The times are in msec. When one of the numbers is zero, there is no blinking. The default is: "blinkwait700-blinkon400-blinkoff250". These numbers are used for a missing entry. This means that blinking is enabled by default. To switch blinking off you can use "blinkon0". The cursor only blinks when Vim is waiting for input, not while executing a command. To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see xterm-blink. {group-name} a highlight group name, that sets the color and font for the cursor {group-name} /{group-name} Two highlight group names, the first is used when no language mappings are used, the other when they are. language-mapping

Examples of parts: n-c-v:block-nCursor in Normal, Command-line and Visual mode, use a block cursor with colors from the "nCursor" highlight group i-ci:ver30-iCursor-blinkwait300-blinkon200-blinkoff150 In Insert and Command-line Insert mode, use a 30% vertical bar cursor with colors from the "iCursor" highlight group. Blink a bit faster.

The 'a' mode is different. It will set the given argument-list for all modes. It does not reset anything to defaults. This can be used to do a common setting for all modes. For example, to switch off blinking: "a:blinkon0"

Examples of cursor highlighting:

:highlight Cursor gui=reverse guifg=NONE guibg=NONE
:highlight Cursor gui=NONE guifg=bg guibg=fg

(default "n-v-c:block-Cursor/lCursor, ve:ver35-Cursor, o:hor50-Cursor, i-ci:ver25-Cursor/lCursor, r-cr:hor20-Cursor/lCursor, sm:block-Cursor -blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175", for Win32 console: "n-v-c:block,o:hor50,i-ci:hor15, r-cr:hor30,sm:block")

only available when compiled with GUI enabled, and for Win32 console