Vim close window without closing buffer

Question

How do I close a window or unsplit without deleting the buffer?

Answer 1

If you want to edit another buffer in the window, just use :edit / :buf. The current buffer will be replaced, and remains in the buffer list (i.e. it shows up in :ls).

If you want to close the windows split, use :close. The :quit command will work, too, but has the side effect of closing Vim when this is the last window.

In order to leave buffers that have changes, you need

:set hidden

If you know how Vim deals with buffers, this is a recommended option that many users have set.