Vim cheatsheet | navigation, editing, insert mode, visual mode
Vim is an efficient text editor used in terminal (CLI). Vim is mostly used by programmers.
There is a new VIM fork called NeoVIM or nvim. It is great and modern with better capabilities. All things in this cheatsheet works on vim and nvim.
Exiting Vim ๐
:q: close file (if it is the only file in vim, vim will be exited too). (a.k.a quit vim):qa: close all files.:w: save. (a.k.a write file to the disk/storage):wqor:x: save and close file.ZZ: save and quit.ZQ: Quit without checking changes.:q!: Quit without saving any changes.
Navigating Vim ๐
Arrow keys ๐
normal arrow keys works fine, but VIM has its own arrow keys which are in near places to your fingers while you are typing.
h: left arrow. move one character to the left.j: down arrow. move one line downward (to the bottom).k: up arrow. move one line upward (to the top).l: right arrow. move one character to the right.<C-U>(CTRL + u): move half-page up.<C-D>(CTRL + d): move half-page down.<C-B>(CTRL + b): page up. move one screen height up in the current file.<C-F>(CTRL + f): page down. move one screen height down in the current file.
Navigating words ๐
b: previous word.w: next word.ge: previous end of word.e: next end of word.
Navigating lines ๐
0(zero): start of line.^(carret): start of line (after whitespace).$: end of line.
Navigating characters ๐
fc: go forward to characterc. For example:ffmeans go forward to the char f.Fc(capital F small c): go backward to characterc. For example:Fdmeans go backward to the char d.
Navigating a document / file ๐
gg: First line.G: Last line.:{number}: Go to line {number}. For example::221means go to line number 221 in the current document / file.{number}G: Go to line {number}.{number}j: Go down {number} lines.{number}k: Go up {number} lines.
Navigating Window ๐
zz: Center this line.zt: Top this line.zb: Bottom this line.H: Move to top of screen.M: Move to middle of screen.L: Move to bottom of screen.
Navigating the search results ๐
n: Next matching search pattern.N: Previous match.*: Next whole word under cursor.#: Previous whole word under cursor.
Navigating tab pages ๐
:tabedit [file]: Edit file in a new tab.:tabfind [file]: Open file if exists in new tab.:tabclose: Close current tab.:tabs: List all tabs.:tabfirst: Go to first tab.:tablast: Go to last tab.:tabn: Go to next tab.:tabp: Go to previous tab.
Editing in Vim ๐
a: Append.A: Append from end of line.i: Insert.o: Next line.O: Previous line.s: Delete char and insert.S: Delete line and insert.C: Delete until end of line and insert.r: Replace one character.R: Enter Replace mode.u: Undo changes.<C-R>: Redo changes.
Visual mode in Vim ๐
v: Enter visual mode.V: Enter visual line mode.<C-V>(CTRL+v): Enter visual block mode.In: visual mode.dorx: Delete selection.s: Replace selection.y: Yank selection (Copy).
See Operators โ for other things you can do.
Operators ๐
Usage ๐
Operators let you operate in a range of text (defined by motion). These are performed in normal mode.
d: do the motion ofw.
Operators list ๐
d: Delete.y: Yank (copy).c: Change (delete then insert).>: Indent right.<: Indent left.=: Autoindent.g~: Swap case.gU: Uppercase.gu: Lowercase.!: Filter through external program.
See :help operator.
Examples of operators usage ๐
Combine operators with motions to use them.
dd(repeat the letter): Delete current line.dw: Delete to next word.db: Delete to beginning of word.2dd: Delete 2 lines.dip: Delete a text object (inside paragraph).- (in visual mode)
d: Delete selection.
See: :help motion.txt.
Text objects ๐
Usage : how to use ๐
Text objects let you operate (with an operator) in or around text blocks (objects).
| Operator | [i]nside or [a]round | Text object |
|---|---|---|
| v | i | p |
all text objects ๐
p: Paragraph.w: Word.s: Sentence.[: A [] block.(: A () block.{: A {} block.<: A<>block.': A quoted string.": A quoted string.- ```: A quoted string.
b: A block[(.B: A block in[{.t: A XML tag block.
Text objects by examples ๐
vip: Select paragraph.vipipipip: Select more paragraphs.yip: Yank inner paragraph. Yank means copy.yap: Yank paragraph (including newline). Yank means copy.dip: Delete inner paragraph.cip: Change inner paragraph.
See Operators โคด for other things you can do.
Folds ๐
zoorzO: Open.zcorzC: Close.zaorzA: Toggle.zv: Open folds for this line.zM: Close all.zR: Open all.zm: Fold more (foldlevel += 1).zr: Fold less (foldlevel -= 1).zx: Update folds.
Uppercase ones are recursive (eg, zO is open recursively).
more navigation ๐
%: Nearest/matching{[()]}. Navigate to the end of function.[(: Previous(.[{: Previous{.[<: Previous<.]): Next).[m: Previous method start.[M: Previous method end.
Jumping in Vim ๐
<C-O>(CTRL+o): Go back to previous location.<C-I>(CTRL+i): Go forward.gf: Go to file in cursor.
Counters ๐
<C-A>: Increment number.<C-X>: Decrement number.
Windows ๐
z{height}<Cr>: Resize pane to {height} lines tall.
Tags ๐
:tag Classname: Jump to first definition of Classname.<C-]>: Jump to definition.g]: See all definitions.<C-T>: Go back to last tag.<C-O> <C-I>: Back/forward.:tselect Classname: Find definitions of Classname.:tjump Classname: Find definitions of Classname (auto-select 1st).
Case ๐
You can do these in visual or normal mode.
~: Toggle case (Case => cASE).gU: Uppercase.gu: Lowercase.gUU: Uppercase current line (alsogUgU).guu: Lowercase current line (alsogugu).
Misc (more) ๐
.: Repeat last command.]p: Paste under the current indentation level.:set ff=unix: Convert Windows line endings to Unix line endings.
Command line ๐
<C-R><C-W>: Insert current word into the command line.<C-R>": Paste from " register.<C-X><C-F>: Auto-completion of path in insert mode.
Text alignment ๐
:center [width]:right [width]:left
See :help formatting.
Calculator ๐
Do this in insert mode.
<C-R>=128/2: Shows the result of the division : โ64โ.
Exiting with an error ๐
:cq:cquit
Works like :qa, but throws an error. Great for aborting Git commands.
Marks ๐
- ``^`: Last position of cursor in insert mode.
- ``.`: Last change in current buffer.
- ``"`: Last exited current buffer.
- ``0`: In last file edited.
'': Back to line in current buffer where jumped from.``: Back to position in current buffer where jumped from.- ``[`: To beginning of previously changed or yanked text.
- ``]`: To end of previously changed or yanked text.
- ``<`: To beginning of last visual selection.
- ``>`: To end of last visual selection.
ma: Mark this cursor position as a.- ``a`: Jump to the cursor position a.
'a: Jump to the beginning of the line with position a.d'a: Delete from current line to line of mark a.da`: Delete from current position to position of mark a.c'a: Change text from current line to line of a.ya`: Yank text from current position to position of a.:marks: List all current marks.:delm a: Delete mark a.:delm a-d: Delete marks a, b, c, d.:delm abc: Delete marks a, b, c.
Spell checking ๐
:set spell spelllang=en_us: Turn on US English spell checking.]s: Move to next misspelled word after the cursor.[s: Move to previous misspelled word before the cursor.z=: Suggest spellings for the word under/after the cursor.zg: Add word to spell list.zw: Mark word as bad/mispelling.zuorC-X(Insert Mode): Suggest words for bad word under cursor from spellfile.
See :help spell.
Common & Useful Examples ๐
$_: Delete the current line.vi(: highlight/select the text within ().vi": hightlight/select the text between “”.ceorcw: change the word.
More resources & learning sources ๐
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