The t* on the ruler means I am not. But t3 means the cursor is on tablevel 3 ~vimrc ----------------------- My Ruler ------------------------ r4,c13,t3 ~vimrc ----------------------- My Ruler ------------------------ r4,c14,t* If you want to change a tab level you can drag or push the first character of a line to a desired tab level (more on that later). This ruler replacement will let you know where you are, whether you like to use space tabs (see VimTip12) or regular tabs. My function is set to four space tabs stops and only goes 9 levels but can be easily modified.