Vim Cheatsheet

vim-cheatsheet.md

Vim Cheatsheet

vim {filename}

General
:e {filename}	edit a file
:q	quit
:q!	quit without writing
:wa	write all changed files (save all changes), and keep working
:xa	exit all (save all changes and close Vim)
:qa	quit all (close Vim, but not if there are unsaved changes)
:qa!	quit all (close Vim without saving—discard any changes)
:wq	write the current file and quit.
:x	like ":wq", but write only when changes have been made.
ZZ	write current file, if modified, and quit (same as :x)
.	repeat command
u	undo
CTRL+R	redo
CTRL-N	autocomplete next matching word
CTRL+P	autocomplete previous matching word
g;	goes back to the location of the last edit. This is “pick up where I left off before going somewhere else”. It keeps track of your edit history so that you can go back five edits ago.
g,	moves you back forward in the edit history.
zR	open all folds .
zM	close all folds .
cck	Close the quickfix window.
lcl	Close the window showing the location list for the current window..
Explore	Opens netrw in the current window
Sexplore	Opens netrw in a horizontal split
Vexplore	Opens netrw in a vertical split

Navigation
h	move one character left
j	move one row down
k	move one row up
l	move one character right
w	move to beginning of next word
b	move to beginning of previous word
e	move to end of word
W	move to beginning of next word after a whitespace
B	move to beginning of previous word before a whitespace
E	move to end of word before a whitespace
f	move to the first...
t	move until the first...

All the above movements can be preceded by a count; e.g. 4j will move down 4 lines.

Navigation
0	move to beginning of line
$	move to end of line
^	move to first non-blank char of the line
_	same as above, but can take a count to go to a different line
g_	move to last non-blank char of the line (can also take a count as above)
gg	move to first line
G	move to last line
nG	move to n'th line of file (where n is a number)
H	move to top of screen
M	move to middle of screen
L	move to bottom of screen
)	jump forward one sentence
(	jump backward one sentence
}	jump forward one paragraph
{	jump backward one paragraph
zz	put the line with the cursor at the center
zt	put the line with the cursor at the top
zb	put the line with the cursor at the bottom of the screen
Ctrl-D	move half-page down
Ctrl-U	move half-page up
Ctrl-B	page up
Ctrl-F	page down
Ctrl-o	jump to last cursor position
Ctrl-i	jump to next cursor position
n	next matching search pattern
N	previous matching search pattern
*	next word under cursor
#	previous word under cursor
g*	next matching search pattern under cursor
g#	previous matching search pattern under cursor
%	jump to matching bracket { } [ ] ( )
Go	jump to end of the file with a new line appended

Marks
ma	set mark a at current cursor location
'a	jump to line of mark a (first non-blank character in line)
`a	jump to position (line and column) of mark a

Shell commands
:! cmd	execute cmd in the shell
:! cmd %	execute cmd in the shell on the current file (%)
Ctrl-Z	putting vim into the background type fg in your shell to bring vim back to the foreground
:w !cmd	write the current buffer to the stdin of an external command
:%!cmd	write the current buffer to the stdin of an external command and then replaces the current buffer with the output of the command.

Search
/	search for a pattern which will take you to the next occurrence.
?	search for a pattern which will take you to the previous occurrence.
n	for next match in forward
N	for previous match in backward

Insert / Delete
I	Insert at start
A	Append at end
D	Delete to end of line
;	Clear current line, to insert mode: S
o	Insert new line below
O	Insert new line above
x	Delete
X	Backspace X
r	Replace under cursor
d	Delete word (like d2w for deleting 2 words)

Copy / Paste
yy	Copy current line
p	Paste copied text after cursor

Comments
CTRL+V (select lines) I#	Comment
CTRL+V (select lines) X	Uncomment

Tabs
:tabedit {file}	edit specified file in a new tab
:tabfind {file}	open a new tab with filename given, searching the 'path' to find it
:tabclose	close current tab
:tabclose {i}	close i-th tab
:tabobly	close all other tabs (show only the current tab)
:tab ball	show each buffer in a tab (up to 'tabpagemax' tabs)
:tab help	open a new help window in its own tab page
:tab drop {file}	open {file} in a new tab, or jump to a window/tab containing the file if there is one
:tab split	copy the current window to a new tab of its own
:tabs	list all tabs including their displayed windows
:tabm 0	move current tab to first
:tabm	move current tab to last
:tabm {i}	move current tab to position i+1
:tabn	go to next tab
:tabp	go to previous tab
:tabfirst	go to first tab
:tablast	go to last tab
In normal mode, you can type:
gt	go to next tab
gT	go to previous tab
{i}gt	go to tab in position i

Buffers
:ls	list of all listed buffers
:ls!	list of all listed and unlisted buffers
:badd {filename}	add a new buffer for a file without opening it
:b{i}	open i-th buffer
:ball	open all buffers in windows
:vertical ball	open all buffers in vertical windows
:bn	next buffer
:bp	previous buffer
:b#	alternate buffer
:bd	delete a buffer
:sb	split window and edit buffer
:vertical sb	vertical split window and edit buffer
:vert sb N	Open buffer N as a vertical split
:r {filename}	read a file into the current buffer
:sp {filename}	open a file in a horizontal split
:vsp {filename}	open a file in a vertical split

Windows
CTRL-W =	make all split screens have the same width
CTRL-W >	resize the width of the current window by a single column
CTRL-W <	resize the width of the current window by a single column
CTRL-W +	resize the height of the current window by a single row
CTRL-W -	resize the height of the current window by a single row
CTRL-W r	rotate window

Popupmenu
:help popupmenu-keys	help about the popup menu keys
:help popupmenu-completion	help about the popup menu state
CTRL-Y	Yes: Accept the currently selected match and stop completion
CTRL-E	End completion, go back to what was there before selecting a match
CTRL-P	Select the previous match
CTRL-N	Select the next match

Various Nifty commmands ;)

• Pretty print JSON: :%!python -m json.tool

Registers

All text cut and copy operations are saved into registers. If you have cut text and then cut something else, you haven’t lost the first cut – just type :reg (short for :registers) to see all of the registers. You can then type the name of the register and then p, such as "3p, to paste whatever you cut three or four operations prior.

It’s a good habit to use registers for longer-term copies and pastes. If there’s anything you want to save “in the clipboard” for a while, you cut or copy it to register a , such as with "ay (copy) or "ad (cut). That way, no matter how many operations later, you're still able to paste what you wanted with "ap.

Macros

Hit qa to record keystrokes to register a, hit q when you’re finished, hit @a to play the macro in register a and @@ to repeat the last macro.

Substitute

Search and replace

Global

The power of g

THE BEST VIM COMMANDS

If you already use Vim, but don’t use the following commands to their fullest, you’re not living right.

• CTRL-] jumps to the location of the definition of the function under the cursor, and CTRL-t gets you back. Go as deep as you want — hitting CTRL-t until it doesn’t work anymore will get you back where you started. (You’ll need a tags file to make this work.) This is fully 1/2 of the value of an IDE like Eclipse for me, built in, with less screen clutter.
• The other half of an IDE is tab-completion of long variable or function names. This is done in Vim with CTRL-n and CTRL-p to scroll up and down the possible list. If you are using a tags file, or if you have the file with the other definitions open in Vim, it will complete the name for you.
• gg=G jumps to the top of the document (gg) and auto-indents it (=) until the end of the document (G). This makes all your open and close braces line up, and makes it very easy to spot the one that you forgot.
• u undoes the last command. CTRL-r redoes. :earlier 2m reverts to the state that it was two minutes ago. If you end up undoing, editing, and then want to undo some previous changes, you can. g+ and g- will step up and down the undo tree. It gets complicated.
• / and f, the search commands, are vital as a motion in a compound command. df, deletes everything up to the first comma. d/foo lets you delete until the first (interactive) match on “foo”. This can replace many other movements if you’re so inclined.
• :r reads in a file. :! runs a command in the shell. :r! pastes the output of a command into your document. :r!ls whatever* is often faster than typing in a filename. I’m not going to get started on how UNIXy the ability to run your text through arbitrary shell scripts is.

References

• EDITOR WARS: THE REVENGE OF VIM