To set the initial size of the Vim window

Place the following in your vimrc to control the initial size of the Vim or gvim window (change the numbers to what you need):

set lines=50 columns=100

AAAA

Here is a more sophisticated version:

if has("gui_running")
  " GUI is running or is about to start.
  " Maximize gvim window.
  set lines=999 columns=999
else
  " This is console Vim.
  if exists("+lines")
    set lines=50
  endif
  if exists("+columns")
    set columns=100
  endif
endif

On Linux/bsd's terminal, this is done automatically. If you want to set initial size of gvim, you can put "set lines=N columns=N" in .gvimrc

To maximize the initial Vim window under Windows

Put the following in your vimrc to maximize Vim on startup (from :help win16-maximized):

au GUIEnter * simalt ~x "x on an English Windows version. n on a French one

There is also a plugin with a DLL to maximize/restore the Vim window: maximize.dll : Maximizing plugin for Win32 gVim.

To maximize the initial Vim window under Sawfish

You can configure Sawfish to automatically maximize gvim on startup:

• Run "sawfish-ui".
• Select "matched windows", "Add...".
• In "macthers" select "Class".
• "Grab..." and click the Gvim window.
• Select the "Maximized" checkbox and click "OK".

Comments

TODO Following are related tips. Should merge some of these.

• 427 Fast window resizing with plus/minus keys
• 488 Start with a wide window for diff
• 494 Maximize or restore window
• 507 Quick window resizing
• 669 Nice window resizing
• 883 Automatically maximizing gvim in KDE
• 1110 Toggle gvim window size

In Windows, you can change the Properties of the shortcut to start Vim, for example:

cmd /c start /max "C:\Program Files\vim\vim71\gvim.exe"

There is a :winsize command, but it is deprecated (see :help winsize).