How do I paste a column of text after a different column of text in Vim?

Question

I have two columns full of text, and I want to get them side-by-side. For example, I have

abc
def
ghi

and

123
456
789
         


        

Answer 1

If you'd like to manually set the register type to say blockwise, use this

:call setreg(0, getreg(0), 'b')

or

:call setreg('*', getreg('*'), 'b')

Useful for pasting a column from a spreadsheet editor.

See :help setreg and vimtip for details.