Vim Cheatsheet

Quick reference for Vim commands covering modes, movement, editing, search/replace, file operations, window management, visual mode, and macros

93 commands

i

Enter insert mode before cursor

i

a

Enter insert mode after cursor

a

I

Insert at beginning of line

I

A

Append at end of line

A

o

Open new line below and insert

o

O

Open new line above and insert

O

Esc

Return to normal mode

Esc

v

Enter visual mode (character)

v

V

Enter visual mode (line)

V

Ctrl-v

Enter visual block mode

Ctrl-v

R

Enter replace mode

R

h / j / k / l

Move left/down/up/right

5j

w

Move to next word start

3w

b

Move to previous word start

2b

e

Move to end of word

e

0

Move to beginning of line

0

$

Move to end of line

$

^

Move to first non-blank character

^

gg

Go to first line of file

gg

G

Go to last line of file

G

:{n}

Go to line number n

:42

Ctrl-f

Scroll down one page

Ctrl-f

Ctrl-b

Scroll up one page

Ctrl-b

%

Jump to matching bracket

%

f{char}

Jump to next char in line

fa

t{char}

Jump to before next char in line

ta

x

Delete character under cursor

x

dd

Delete (cut) entire line

3dd

dw

Delete word

dw

d$

Delete to end of line

d$

d0

Delete to beginning of line

d0

yy

Yank (copy) entire line

5yy

yw

Yank word

yw

p

Paste after cursor

p

P

Paste before cursor

P

u

Undo last change

u

Ctrl-r

Redo last undo

Ctrl-r

r{char}

Replace character under cursor

ra

cc

Change entire line

cc

cw

Change word

cw

C

Change to end of line

C

J

Join line below to current

J

~

Toggle case of character

~

>>

Indent line

>>

<<

Unindent line

<<

.

Repeat last command

.

/{pattern}

Search forward for pattern

/error

?{pattern}

Search backward for pattern

?warning

n

Move to next search match

n

N

Move to previous search match

N

:s/old/new/

Replace first match in current line

:s/foo/bar/

:s/old/new/g

Replace all matches in current line

:s/foo/bar/g

:%s/old/new/g

Replace all matches in file

:%s/foo/bar/g

:%s/old/new/gc

Replace all in file with confirmation

:%s/foo/bar/gc

*

Search forward for word under cursor

*

#

Search backward for word under cursor

#

:noh

Clear search highlighting

:noh

:w

Save file

:w

:w {file}

Save as specified filename

:w newfile.txt

:q

Quit

:q

:q!

Force quit without saving

:q!

:wq

Save and quit

:wq

:x

Save and quit (if modified)

:x

ZZ

Save and quit (same as :x)

ZZ

:e {file}

Open file for editing

:e ~/.vimrc

:r {file}

Insert file contents

:r header.txt

:set number

Show line numbers

:set number

:set paste

Enable paste mode

:set paste

:set syntax=on

Enable syntax highlighting

:set syntax=on

:split

Horizontal split

:split file.txt

:vsplit

Vertical split

:vsplit file.txt

Ctrl-w w

Switch to next window

Ctrl-w w

Ctrl-w h/j/k/l

Move to window in direction

Ctrl-w l

Ctrl-w =

Equalize window sizes

Ctrl-w =

Ctrl-w q

Close current window

Ctrl-w q

:tabnew

Open new tab

:tabnew file.txt

gt

Go to next tab

gt

gT

Go to previous tab

gT

:tabclose

Close current tab

:tabclose

v + motion

Select characters then operate

vw

V + motion

Select lines then operate

V5j

d (visual)

Delete selection

vwd

y (visual)

Yank selection

Vjy

> (visual)

Indent selection

V5j>

< (visual)

Unindent selection

V5j<

gv

Reselect last visual selection

gv

q{reg}

Start recording macro to register

qa

q

Stop recording macro

q

@{reg}

Play back macro from register

@a

@@

Replay last macro

@@

"{reg}y

Yank to named register

"ayy

"{reg}p

Paste from named register

"ap

:reg

Show all register contents

:reg