vim_basics.md

Vim Cheat Sheet

CRITICAL

Key	Function
esc	Command Mode
i	Insert Mode
v	Visual (Select) Mode
:	Enter Command

Global (COMMAND MODE)

Key	Function
:q	Quit
:q!	Force Quit (Discard Changes)
:wq	Save and Quit
:w	Save

Cursor movement (COMMAND MODE)

Key	Function
h	move cursor left
j	move cursor down
k	move cursor up
l	move cursor right
w	jump forwards to the start of a word
e	jump forwards to the end of a word
b	jump backwards to the start of a word
0	jump to the start of the line
^	jump to the first non-blank character of the line
$	jump to the end of the line
gg	go to the first line of the document
G	go to the last line of the document
5G	go to line 5
fx	jump to next occurrence of character x
Fx	jump to previous occurence of character x

• Tip: Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines.

Entering Insert mode (inserting/appending text)

Key	Function
i	insert before the cursor
I	insert at the beginning of the line
a	insert (append) after the cursor
A	insert (append) at the end of the line
o	append (open) a new line below the current line
O	append (open) a new line above the current line
esc	exit insert mode

Editing

Key	Function
r	replace a single character
J	join line below to the current one with one space in between
ci[	Change "inside" [ and ] (other brackets work too, or quotes)
cc	change (replace) entire line
cw	change (replace) to the end of the word
c$	change (replace) to the end of the line
s	delete character and substitute text
u	undo
Ctrl + r	redo
.	repeat last command

• Think in "sentences"
• "Change Inside Parens" = ci(

Selecting Text (VISUAL mode)

Key	Function
v	start visual mode
V	start line visual mode
>	shift text right
<	shift text left
y	yank (copy) marked text
d	delete marked text
~	switch case
esc	exit visual mode

• Tip: Once in VISUAL MODE normal movement commands work to move selection cursor

Cut and paste

Key	Function
yy	yank (copy) a line
2yy	yank (copy) 2 lines
yw	yank (copy) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
y$	yank (copy) to end of line
p	put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
P	put (paste) before cursor
dd	delete (cut) a line
2dd	delete (cut) 2 lines
dw	delete (cut) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
D	delete (cut) to the end of the line
d$	delete (cut) to the end of the line
ci[	Change "inside" [ and ] (other brackets work too, or quotes)
x	delete (cut) a single character

• Think in "sentences"
  • "Delete Inside Parens" = di(
  • "Select (visual) inside quotes, yank (copy), move down 5 lines, and put (paste)" = vi"5jp

Search and replace

Key	Function
/pattern	search for pattern
?pattern	search backward for pattern
n	repeat search in same direction
N	repeat search in opposite direction
:%s/old/new/g	replace all old with new throughout file
:%s/old/new/gc	replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations
:nohl	remove highlighting of search matches

Macros

Key	Function
qa	record macro a
After qa then q	stop recording macro a
@a	run macro a
@@	rerun last run macro