Vim is a powerful and lightweight text editor that runs on virtually any platform and offers a rich set of features and customization options. However, Vim has a steep learning curve and can be intimidating for beginners or occasional users.
That’s where this Vim cheat sheet comes in handy. In this post, I’ve compiled a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide to the most essential Vim commands and techniques, organized by category and explained with examples and tips.
Moving by Characters, Words and Tokens
The basic keys for moving the cursor by one character are:
h – move the cursor left
j – move the cursor down
k – move the cursor up
l – move the cursor right
You can also use these keys with a number as a prefix to move in a specified direction multiple times. For example, if you run 5j the cursor moves down 5 lines.
b – move to the start of a word
B – move to the start of a token
w – move to the start of the next word
W – move to the start of the next token
e – move to the end of a word
E – move to the end of a token
For instance, you have the noun phrase “step-by-step” as part of a text and the cursor is placed at the end of it. The first time you press b, the cursor moves back to “step-by-step”. However, if you use B, the cursor moves all the way back to: “step-by-step” since there is no whitespace between these characters.
Moving by Lines
0 (zero) – jump to the beginning of the line
$ – jump to the end of the line
^ – jump to the first (non-blank) character of the line
#G / #gg / :# – move to a specified line number (replace # with the line number)
Moving by Screens
The following commands are used as a quick way to move within the text without scrolling.
Ctrl + b – move back one full screen
Ctrl + f – move forward one full screen
Ctrl + d – move forward 1/2 a screen
Ctrl + u – move back 1/2 a screen
Ctrl + e – move screen down one line (without moving the cursor)
Ctrl + y – move screen up one line (without moving the cursor)
Ctrl + o – move backward through the jump history
Ctrl + i – move forward through the jump history
H – move to the top of the screen (H=high)
M – move to the middle of the screen (M=middle)
L – move to the bottom of the screen (L=low)
Inserting Text
i – switch to insert mode before the cursor
I – insert text at the beginning of the line
a – switch to insert mode after the cursor
A – insert text at the end of the line
o – open a new line below the current one
O – open a new line above the current one
ea – insert text at the end of the word
Esc – exit insert mode; switch to command mode
Some of these commands switch between command and insert mode. By default, Vim launches in command mode, allowing you to move around and edit the file. To switch to command mode, use the Esc key.
On the other hand, the insert mode enables you to type and add text into the file. To move to insert mode, press i.
Editing Text
r – replace a single character (and return to command mode)
cc – replace an entire line (deletes the line and moves into insert mode)
C / c$ – replace from the cursor to the end of a line
cw – replace from the cursor to the end of a word
s – delete a character (and move into insert mode)
J – merge the line below to the current one with a space in between them
gJ – merge the line below to the current one with no space in between them
u – undo
Ctrl + r – redo
. – repeat last command
Cutting, Copying And Pasting
yy – copy (yank) entire line
#yy – copy the specified number of lines
dd – cut (delete) entire line
#dd – cut the specified number of lines
p – paste after the cursor
P – paste before the cursor
Marking Text (Visual Mode)
Apart from command mode and insert mode, Vim also includes visual mode. This mode is mainly used for marking text.
Based on the chunk of text you want to select, you can choose between three versions of visual mode: character mode, line mode, and** block mode**.
v – select text using character mode
V – select lines using line mode
Ctrl+v – select text using block mode
Once you have enabled one of the modes, use the navigation keys to select the desired text.
o – move from one end of the selected text to the other
aw – select a word
ab – select a block with ()
aB – select a block with {}
at – select a block with <>
ib – select inner block with ()
iB – select inner block with {}
it – select inner block with <>
Visual Commands
Once you have selected the desired text in visual mode, you can use one of the visual commands to manipulate it. Some of them include:
y – yank (copy) the marked text
d – delete (cut) the marked text
p – paste the text after the cursor
u – change the market text to lowercase
U – change the market text to uppercase
Search in File
***** – jump to the next instance of the current word
# – jump to previous instance of the current word
/pattern – search forward for the specified pattern
?pattern – search backward for the specified pattern
n – repeat the search in the same direction
N – repeat the search in the opposite direction
Saving and Exiting File
:w – save the file
:wq / :x / ZZ – save and close the file
:q – quit
:q!/ ZQ – quit without saving changes
**:w new_file_name **– save the file under a new name and continue editing the original
:sav – save the file under a new name and continue editing the new copy
:w !sudo tee % – write out the file using sudo and see command
Working with Multiple Files
:e file_name – open a file in a new buffer
:bn – move to the next buffer
:bp – go back to previous buffer
:bd – close buffer
:b# – move to the specified buffer (by number)
:b file_name – move to a buffer (by name)
:ls – list all open buffers
:sp file_name – open a file in a new buffer and split viewport horizontally
:vs file_name – open a file in a new buffer and split viewport vertically
:vert ba – edit all files as vertical viewports
:tab ba – edit all buffers as tabs
gt – move to next tab
gT – move to previous tab
Ctrl+ws – split viewport
Ctrl+wv – split viewport vertically
Ctrl+ww – switch viewports
Ctrl+wq – quit a viewport
Ctrl+= – make all viewports equal in height and width
Marks and Jumps
m[a-z] – mark text using character mode (from a to z)
M[a-z] – mark lines using line mode (from a to z)
`a - jump to position marked a
ya – yank text to position marked >a>`. – jump to last change in file
`0 – jump to position where Vim was last exited
`` – jump to last jump
:marks – list all marks
:jumps – list all jumps
:changes – list all changes
Ctrl+i – move to next instance in jump list
Ctrl+o – move to previous instance in jump list
g, – move to next instance in change list
g; – move to previous instance in change list
Macros
qa – record macro a
q – stop recording macro
@a – run macro a
@@ – run last macro again
Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced Vim user, this cheat sheet will help you master the most essential Vim commands and improve your editing skills.