Add the following to your vimrc to provide a mapping to fold on an already-performed search: nnoremap \z :setlocal foldexpr=(getline(v:lnum)=~@/)?0:(getline(v:lnum-1)=~@/)\\|\\|(getline(v:lnum+1)=~@/)?1:2 foldmethod=expr foldlevel=0 foldcolumn=2 * The foldexpr is an extension of foldexpr=(getline(v:lnum)=~@/)?0:1 * The following options set the foldmethod to use the fold expression, and some other convenient values. First search for a pattern, then fold everything else with \z Use zr to display more context, or zm to display less context.