Vim map a key combination while in insert mode

Question

This is probably an easy question for most vim users.

I want to map :tabn to <C-Tab>. It works perfectly while I'm in normal mode but when I'm in my insert mode (typing code) it just inserts tabs characters.

In my vimrc file I have

map <C-Tab> :tabn<CR>

Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer 1

Try this:

:imap <C-Tab> <Esc>:tabn<CR>

That will leave you in normal mode after switching to the next tab. You could instead use this:

:imap <C-Tab> <C-O>:tabn<CR>

which will put you back into insert mode in the next tab at the position where you left the cursor in that tab.

Answer 2

You will need to use the imap command. You will also need to prepend <ESC> to it to make it leave insert mode first.

imap <C-Tab> <ESC>:tabn<CR>