Vim Commands Cheat Sheet
Vim is a powerful and popular text editor that runs on the command line. Using Vim you will navigate around on screen with a keyboard instead of a mouse. It has a steep learning curve, but it can greatly improve your productivity once you master it. Here are some basic Vim commands to help you get started:
Frequently used commands :
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i – insert before the cursor |
gg – move cursor to the top of page |
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Esc – exit insert mode |
yy – yank (copy) a line |
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: number – show line number |
p – (paste) the clipboard after the cursor |
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/pattern – search for pattern |
:q – quit (fails if there are unsaved changes) |
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n – repeat search in same direction |
:wq or : x or ZZ – write (save) and quit |
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$ – move cursor to end of line |
:w – write (save) the file, but don’t exit |
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GG – move cursor to bottom of page |
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commands to move the cursor:
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h – move cursor left
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L – move to bottom of screen
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j – move cursor down
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w – jump forwards to the start of a word
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k – move cursor up
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W – jump forwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
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l – move cursor right
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e – jump forwards to the end of a word
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gj – move cursor down (multi-line text)
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E – jump forwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation) |
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gk – move cursor up (multi-line text)
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b – jump backwards to the start of a word
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H – move to top of screen
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B – jump backwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
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M – move to middle of screen |
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commands for Editing:
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r – replace a single character.
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s – delete character and substitute text
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R – replace more than one character, until ESC is pressed.
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S – delete line and substitute text (same as cc)
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J – join line below to the current one with one space in between
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xp – transpose two letters (delete and paste)
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gJ – join line below to the current one without space in between
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u – undo
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cc – change (replace) entire line
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U – restore (undo) last changed line
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c$ or C – change (replace) to the end of the line
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Ctrl + r – redo
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ciw – change (replace) entire word |
. – repeat last command
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cw or ce – change (replace) to the end of the word
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commands for saving and exiting:
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:w – write (save) the file, but don’t exit
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:q – quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
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:w !sudo tee % – write out the current file using sudo
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:q! or ZQ – quit and throw away unsaved changes
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:wq or : x or ZZ – write (save) and quit
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:wqa – write (save) and quit on all tabs
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command for search and replace:
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/pattern – search for pattern
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n – repeat search in same direction
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?pattern – search backward for pattern
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N – repeat search in opposite direction
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commands for cut and paste:
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yy – yank (copy) a line |
y$ or Y – yank (copy) to end of line |
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2yy – yank (copy) 2 lines |
p – put (paste) the clipboard after cursor |
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yw – yank (copy) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word |
P – put (paste) before cursor |
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yiw – yank (copy) word under the cursor |
dd – delete (cut) a line |
Visual commands:
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> – shift text right
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~ – switch case
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< – shift text left
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u – change marked text to lowercase
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y – yank (copy) marked text
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U – change marked text to uppercase
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d – delete marked text
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