vim cheatsheet.md

Vim Cheatsheet

Generally helpful stuff

Open a file for editing             :e path/to/file.txt
Return to Normal mode               ESC   or <CTRL>+C

Navigating around text

You have to be in Normal mode. Use ESC to get out of Visual, Replace, or Insert mode.

(cursor left)                       h
(cursor down)                       j
(cursor up)                         k
(cursor right)                      l
next word                           e
Jump to the first line              gg
Jump to the last line               G
Jump to a line number               lineno shift + g

Entering Text

Insert text before cursor               i
Insert text after cursor                a

Working with multiple files

Open a file in a horizontal split   :sp path/to/file.txt
Open a file in a vertical split     :vsp path/to/file.txt
Move to a split window page         <CTRL>+w and a direction key (h, j, k, or l)
Move to next window pane            <CTRL>w w
Make selected pane bigger           CTRL>w +  (yes, you need the shift key for the plus)
Make selected pane smaller          <CTRL>w -

Searching

Search for a word                           /<word>
Go to next match                            n
Find and replace on line                    :s/<find>/<replace>
Find and replace globally                   :%s/<find>/<replace>//gc
Go to first quote, replace text in quotes:  ci"

Manipulating text

cut the current line                dd
copy the current line               yy
paste below current line            p
paste above current line            P
Remove the character under cursor   x
Remove the character before cursor  X
Delete the word under cursor        de
Delete to the end of the line       d$

Remove five lines starting here     5dd
Copy five lines starting here       5yy 

indent this line                    >>
indent five lines starting here     5>>

Replace mode (overtype)             r

Visual Advanced selection

Visual mode                         v
Visual Line mode                    V
Visual Block mode                   <CTRL>v

Working with NERDTree

Open the NERDTree                   :NERDTree
Toggle the NERDTree on and off      :NERDTreeToggle
Open selected file                  <ENTER>
Open selected file in horiz. split  i
Open selected file in vert. split   v
File menu                           m
Help                                ?

Commands:

Run a command                           :!<command>
Open a shell                            :sh

Tasks

Combine Visual mode and cursor movement + Yank to copy or delete blocks

Remove 5 lines                      Vjjjdd  (Visual Line mode, highlights line 1, jj to go Down two lines, dd to delete)

Create a custom Map Leader key to make it easy to run your own commands. We'll make it easy to show and hide NERDtree with a simple shortcut. Add these two lines to your .vimrc file:

let mapleader = ","  
map <Leader>d :NERDTreeToggle<CR> :set number<CR>   

With that, you can open and close NERDTree with

,d

in Normal mode.