Is there a built-in way to make Vim open a new buffer with file?I want open a file. :enew doesn't take any arguments and opens a blank buffer.:edit closes my existing buffer.Related (about :enew):How do I open a new buffer without opening it in a split? How do you open a new buffer in the current window?
A built-in way to make Vim open a new buffer with file?
buffers
I think you might be misunderstanding what you're seeing happen.  :edit does not close your current buffer.  It just replaces it in the current window.  If you type :buffers your previous buffer should still be listed.  It is still open and in Vim's memory.  The only way to make them go away is to run :bd or :bw (or :q of course).So, to answer your question: :e newfile.txtYour previous buffer is now the alternate file to the current buffer (:help alternate-file).  You can switch back to it using ctrl-^ or ctrl-6.There are commands similar to :edit:split - horizontal split:vsplit - vertical splitBoth of these commands (shortened :sp and :vs respectively) take an optional file argument like :edit does.  So, if you wanted to vertically split and create a new file in one command, you would type: :vs newfile.txtGive :help edit-intro a read to get an idea of how Vim handles files, and :help windows-intro to read up on windows, buffers, and tabs.