In insert mode, pressing Ctrl-u deletes text you've typed in the current line, and Ctrl-w deletes the word before the cursor. You can't undo these deletions. However, what you've typed is still in the . register. You can confirm that (after pressing Esc to return to normal mode) with the command :reg which will list all registers (or just :reg . to display the . register). You may be able to copy the missing text from the register display, for example, with the mouse. :let @a = @. "aP To avoid the problem in the future, put the following in your vimrc: