How can I autoformat/indent C code in vim?

When I copy code from another file, the formatting is messed up, like this:

fun()
{
for(...)
{
for(...)
{
if(...)
{
}
}
}
}

How can I autoformat this code in vim?

The builtin command for properly indenting the code has already been mentioned (`gg=G`). If you want to *beautify* the code, you'll need to use an external application like [indent][1]. Since `%` denotes the current file in ex mode, you can use it like this:

:!indent %


[1]:

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Try the following keystrokes:

gg=G

Explanation: `gg` goes to the top of the file, `=` is a command to fix the indentation and `G` tells it to perform the operation to the end of the file.

Maybe you can try the followings
$indent -kr -i8 *.c

Hope it's useful for you!

I like `indent` as mentioned above, but most often I want to format only a small section of the file that I'm working on. Since `indent` can take code from stdin, its really simple:

1. Select the block of code you want to format with <kbd>V</kbd> or the like.
2. Format by typing `:!indent`.

`astyle` takes stdin too, so you can use the same trick there.

I find that `clang-format` works well.

There are some example keybindings in the [clang documentation](

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)

I prefer to use the `equalprg` binding in vim. This allows you to invoke `clang-format` with `G=gg` or other `=` indent options.

Just put the following in your .vimrc file:

autocmd FileType c,cpp setlocal equalprg=clang-format