In Vim, what is the simplest way to join all lines in a file into a single line?

Question

I want to join all lines in a file into a single line. What is the simplest way of doing this? I\'ve had poor luck trying to use substitution (\\r\\n or

Answer 1

I’m surprised no one even mentioned the other way:

:%s/\n/ /

I am equally surprised that no one pointed out that the range 1,$ has a shorthand that’s written %.

(This doesn’t do the same thing as joining the lines, but depending on circumstances that may in fact be more appropriate.)