What do I change in my VIM config to do this? (remove the arrows)

Question

My files have this "invisible arrows" How do I disable this completely?

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This is my vim config. What do I have to change to do this?

set nohlsearch
set ai
set bg=dark
set showmatch
highlight SpecialKey ctermfg=DarkGray
set listchars=tab:>-,trail:~
set list
autocmd BufRead *.py set smartindent cinwords=if,elif,else,for,while,try,except,finally,def,class
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set expandtab
set autoindent
set smartindent
syntax on
set listchars=tab:>-
set listchars+=trail:.
set ignorecase
set smartcase
map <C-t><up> :tabr<cr>
map <C-t><down> :tabl<cr>
map <C-t><left> :tabp<cr>
map <C-t><right> :tabn<cr>
filetype indent on
filetype on
filetype plugin on
set pastetoggle=<F5>
imap <C-Right> <End>
imap <C-Left> <Home>
imap <C-Down> <PageDown>
imap <C-Up> <PageUp>

nmap <C-Right> <End>
nmap <C-Left> <Home>
nmap <C-Down> <PageDown>
nmap <C-Up> <PageUp>

Answer 1

The red arrows are a combination of these lines:

set listchars=tab:>-,trail:~
set list

The red arrows are your tab characters in the file being displayed when tab:>- for listchars and the list setting is on.

The simplest way to get rid of the red arrows is to change

set list

to

set nolist

Also try:

:help listchars

for info

Answer 2

Get rid of the listchars settings . Or just get rid of set list .

You can also toggle this from the command line. From normal mode:

:set list!

...will toggle list mode ( source ).