h # move cursor left j # move cursor down k # move cursor up l # move cursor right H # move to top of screen M # move to middle of screen L # move to bottom of screen w # jump forwards to the start of a word W # jump forwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation) e # jump forwards to the end of a word E # jump forwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation) b # jump backwards to the start of a word B # jump backwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation) 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 g_ # jump to the last non-blank character 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 tx # jump to before next occurrence of character x } # jump to next paragraph (or function/block, when editing code) { # jump to previous paragraph (or function/block, when editing code) zz # center cursor on screen 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
Insert mode - inserting/appending text
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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 ea # insert (append) at the end of the word Esc # exit insert mode
Editing
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r # replace a single character J # join line below to the current one 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 S # delete line and substitute text (same as cc) xp # transpose two letters (delete and paste) . # repeat last command u # undo Ctrl + r # redo
Marking text (visual mode)
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v # start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank) V # start linewise visual mode o # move to other end of marked area O # move to other corner of block aw # mark a word ab # a block with () aB # a block with {} ib # inner block with () iB # inner block with {} Esc # exit visual mode Ctrl + v # start visual block mode
Visual commands
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> # shift text right < # shift text left y # yank (copy) marked text d # delete marked text ~ # switch case
Cut and paste
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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 x # delete (cut) character
Search and replace
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/pattern # search for pattern ?pattern # search backward for pattern \vpattern # 'very magic' pattern: non-alphanumeric characters are interpreted as special regex symbols (no escaping needed) 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 :noh # remove highlighting of search matches
Search in multiple files
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:vimgrep /pattern/ {file} # search for pattern in multiple files :cn # jump to the next match :cp # jump to the previous match :copen # open a window containing the list of matches
Exiting
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:w # write (save) the file, but don't exit :w !sudo tee % # write out the current file using sudo :wq or :x or ZZ # write (save) and quit :q # quit (fails if there are unsaved changes) :q! or ZQ # quit and throw away unsaved changes
Working with multiple files
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:e file # edit a file in a new buffer :bnext or :bn # go to the next buffer :bprev or :bp # go to the previous buffer :bd # delete a buffer (close a file) :ls # list all open buffers :sp file # open a file in a new buffer and split window :vsp file # open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window Ctrl + ws # split window Ctrl + ww # switch windows Ctrl + wq # quit a window Ctrl + wv # split window vertically Ctrl + wh # move cursor to the left window (vertical split) Ctrl + wl # move cursor to the right window (vertical split) Ctrl + wj # move cursor to the window below (horizontal split) Ctrl + wk # move cursor to the window above (horizontal split)
Tabs
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:tabnew or :tabnew file # open a file in a new tab Ctrl + wT # move the current split window into its own tab gt or :tabnext or :tabn # move to the next tab gT or :tabprev or :tabp # move to the previous tab <number>gt # move to tab <number> :tabmove <number> # move current tab to the <number>th position (indexed from 0) :tabclose or :tabc # close the current tab and all its windows :tabonly or :tabo # close all tabs except for the current one :tabdo command# run the command on all tabs (e.g. :tabdo q - closes all opened tabs)
