Vim is a very efficient text editor that I . This blog Cheatsheet covers Vim 8x shotcuts, but the latest can be found at devhints.io -- where I found this originally. Also see the bottom for more handy Vim links.

And after using this Cheatsheet you don't have to be the butt of any "Exit Vim" jokes, ever again:

Alt text

Note: For shortcut notation, see :help key-notation.

Getting started

Exiting

ShortcutDescription
:qClose file
:qaClose all files
------
:wSave
:wq / :xSave and close file
------
ZZSave and quit
ZQQuit without checking changes
ShortcutDescription
h j k lArrow keys
<C-U> / <C-D>Half-page up/down
<C-B> / <C-F>Page up/down

Words

ShortcutDescription
b / wPrevious/next word
ge / ePrevious/next end of word

Line

ShortcutDescription
0 (zero)Start of line
^Start of line (after whitespace)
$End of line

Character

| fc | Go forward to character c | | Fc | Go backward to character c |

Document

ShortcutDescription
ggFirst line
GLast line
:{number}Go to line {number}
{number}GGo to line {number}
{number}jGo down {number} lines
{number}kGo up {number} lines

Window

ShortcutDescription
zzCenter this line
ztTop this line
zbBottom this line
HMove to top of screen
MMove to middle of screen
LMove to bottom of screen
ShortcutDescription
nNext matching search pattern
NPrevious match
*Next whole word under cursor
#Previous whole word under cursor

Tab pages

ShortcutDescription
:tabedit [file]Edit file in a new tab
:tabfind [file]Open file if exists in new tab
:tabcloseClose current tab
:tabsList all tabs
:tabfirstGo to first tab
:tablastGo to last tab
:tabnGo to next tab
:tabpGo to previous tab

Editing

ShortcutDescription
aAppend
AAppend from end of line
iInsert
oNext line
OPrevious line
------
sDelete char and insert
SDelete line and insert
CDelete until end of line and insert
------
rReplace one character
REnter Replace mode
------
uUndo changes
<C-R>Redo changes

Exiting insert mode

ShortcutDescription
Esc / <C-[>Exit insert mode
<C-C>Exit insert mode, and abort current command

Clipboard

ShortcutDescription
xDelete character
------
ddDelete line (Cut)
yyYank line (Copy)
------
pPaste
PPaste before
------
"*p / "+pPaste from system clipboard
"*y / "+yPaste to system clipboard

Visual mode

ShortcutDescription
vEnter visual mode
VEnter visual line mode
<C-V>Enter visual block mode

In visual mode

ShortcutDescription
d / xDelete selection
sReplace selection
yYank selection (Copy)

See Operators for other things you can do.

Find & Replace

ShortcutDescription
:%s/foo/bar/gReplace foo with bar in whole document

Operators

Usage

Operators let you operate in a range of text (defined by motion). These are performed in normal mode.

| d | w | | Operator | Motion |

Operators list

ShortcutDescription
dDelete
yYank (copy)
cChange (delete then insert)
------
>Indent right
<Indent left
=Autoindent
------
g~Swap case
gUUppercase
guLowercase
------
!Filter through external program

See :help operator

Examples

Combine operators with motions to use them.

ShortcutDescription
dd(repeat the letter) Delete current line
dwDelete to next word
dbDelete to beginning of word
2ddDelete 2 lines
dipDelete a text object (inside paragraph)
(in visual mode) dDelete selection

See: :help motion.txt

Text objects

Usage

Text objects let you operate (with an operator) in or around text blocks (objects).

| v | i | p | | Operator | [i]nside or [a]round | Text object |

Text objects

ShortcutDescription
pParagraph
wWord
sSentence
------
[ ( { <A [], (), or {} block
' " `A quoted string
------
bA block [(
BA block in [{
tA XML tag block

Examples

ShortcutDescription
vipSelect paragraph
vipipipipSelect more
------
yipYank inner paragraph
yapYank paragraph (including newline)
------
dipDelete inner paragraph
cipChange inner paragraph

See Operators for other things you can do.

Diff

ShortcutDescription
gvimdiff file1 file2 [file3]See differences between files, in HMI

Misc

Folds

ShortcutDescription
zo / zOOpen
zc / zCClose
za / zAToggle
------
zvOpen folds for this line
------
zMClose all
zROpen all
------
zmFold more (foldlevel += 1)
zrFold less (foldlevel -= 1)
------
zxUpdate folds

Uppercase ones are recursive (eg, zO is open recursively).

ShortcutDescription
%Nearest/matching {[()]}
[( [{ [<Previous ( or { or <
])Next
------
[mPrevious method start
[MPrevious method end

Jumping

ShortcutDescription
<C-O>Go back to previous location
<C-I>Go forward
------
gfGo to file in cursor

Counters

ShortcutDescription
<C-A>Increment number
<C-X>Decrement

Windows

| z{height}<Cr> | Resize pane to {height} lines tall |

Tags

ShortcutDescription
:tag ClassnameJump 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 ClassnameFind definitions of Classname
:tjump ClassnameFind definitions of Classname (auto-select 1st)

Case

ShortcutDescription
~Toggle case (Case => cASE)
gUUppercase
guLowercase
------
gUUUppercase current line (also gUgU)
guuLowercase current line (also gugu)

Do these in visual or normal mode.

Marks

ShortcutDescription
`^Last position of cursor in insert mode
`.Last change in current buffer
`"Last exited current buffer
`0In 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
------
maMark this cursor position as a
`aJump to the cursor position a
'aJump to the beginning of the line with position a
d'aDelete from current line to line of mark a
d`aDelete from current position to position of mark a
c'aChange text from current line to line of a
y`aYank text from current position to position of a
------
:marksList all current marks
:delm aDelete mark a
:delm a-dDelete marks a, b, c, d
:delm abcDelete marks a, b, c

Misc

ShortcutDescription
.Repeat last command
]pPaste under the current indentation level
------
:set ff=unixConvert Windows line endings to Unix line endings

Command line

ShortcutDescription
<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

:center [width]
:right [width]
:left

See :help formatting

Calculator

ShortcutDescription
<C-R>=128/2Shows the result of the division : '64'

Do this in insert mode.

Exiting with an error

:cq
:cquit

Works like :qa, but throws an error. Great for aborting Git commands.

Spell checking

ShortcutDescription
:set spell spelllang=en_usTurn on US English spell checking
]sMove to next misspelled word after the cursor
[sMove to previous misspelled word before the cursor
z=Suggest spellings for the word under/after the cursor
zgAdd word to spell list
zwMark word as bad/mispelling
zu / C-X (Insert Mode)Suggest words for bad word under cursor from spellfile

See :help spell

Also see