Global
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :h[elp] keyword | open help for keyword |
| :sav[eas] file | save file as |
| :clo[se] | close current pane |
| :ter[minal] | open a terminal window |
| K | open man page for word under the cursor |
Cursor movement
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| h | move cursor left |
| j | move cursor down |
| k | move cursor up |
| l | move cursor right |
| gj | move cursor down (multi-line text) |
| gk | move cursor up (multi-line text) |
| 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) |
| ge | jump backwards to the end of a word |
| gE | jump backwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation) |
| % | move cursor to matching character (default supported pairs: ‘()’, ‘()’, ‘[]’ - use :h matchpairs in vim for more info) |
| 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 |
| 5gg or 5G | go to line 5 |
| gd | move to local declaration |
| gD | move to global declaration |
| fx | jump to next occurrence of character x |
| tx | jump to before next occurrence of character x |
| Fx | jump to the previous occurrence of character x |
| Tx | jump to after previous occurrence of character x |
| ; | repeat previous f, t, F or T movement |
| , | repeat previous f, t, F or T movement, backwards |
| } | 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 |
| zt | position cursor on top of the screen |
| zb | position cursor on bottom of the screen |
| Ctrl + e | move screen down one line (without moving cursor) |
| Ctrl + y | move screen up one line (without moving cursor) |
| Ctrl + b | move screen up one page (cursor to last line) |
| Ctrl + f | move screen down one page (cursor to first line) |
| Ctrl + d | move cursor and screen down 1/2 page |
| Ctrl + u | move cursor and screen up 1/2 page |
Insert mode - inserting/appending text
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Ctrl + h | delete the character before the cursor during insert mode |
| Ctrl + w | delete word before the cursor during insert mode |
| Ctrl + j | add a line break at the cursor position during insert mode |
| Ctrl + t | indent (move right) line one shiftwidth during insert mode |
| Ctrl + d | de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth during insert mode |
| Ctrl + n | insert (auto-complete) next match before the cursor during insert mode |
| Ctrl + p | insert (auto-complete) previous match before the cursor during insert mode |
| Ctrl + rx | insert the contents of register x |
| Ctrl + ox | Temporarily enter normal mode to issue one normal-mode command x. |
| Esc or Ctrl + c | exit insert mode |
Editing
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| r | replace a single character. |
| R | replace more than one character, until ESC is pressed. |
| J | join line below to the current one with one space in between |
| gJ | join line below to the current one without space in between |
| gwip | reflow paragraph |
| g~ | switch case up to motion |
| gu | change to lowercase up to motion |
| gU | change to uppercase up to motion |
| cc | change (replace) entire line |
| c$ or C | change (replace) to the end of the line |
| ciw | change (replace) entire word |
| cw or ce | change (replace) to the end of the word |
| s | delete character and substitute text (same as cl) |
| S | delete line and substitute text (same as cc) |
| xp | transpose two letters (delete and paste) |
| u | undo |
| U | restore (undo) last changed line |
| Ctrl + r | redo |
| . | repeat last command |
Marking text (visual mode)
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Ctrl + v | start visual block mode |
| O | move to other corner of block |
| aw | mark a word |
| ab | a block with () |
| aB | a block with () |
| at | a block with <> tags |
| ib | inner block with () |
| iB | inner block with () |
| it | inner block with <> tags |
| Esc or Ctrl + c | exit visual mode |
Visual commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| > | shift text right |
| < | shift text left |
| y | yank (copy) marked text |
| d | delete marked text |
| ~ | switch case |
| u | change marked text to lowercase |
| U | change marked text to uppercase |
Registers
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :reg[isters] | show registers content |
| “xy | yank into register x |
| “xp | paste contents of register x |
| “+y | yank into the system clipboard register |
| “+p | paste from the system clipboard register |
Marks and positions
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :marks | list of marks |
| ma | set current position for mark A |
| `a | jump to position of mark A |
| y`a | yank text to position of mark A |
| `0 | go to the position where Vim was previously exited |
| `” | go to the position when last editing this file |
| `. | go to the position of the last change in this file |
| “ | go to the position before the last jump |
| :ju[mps] | list of jumps |
| Ctrl + i | go to newer position in jump list |
| Ctrl + o | go to older position in jump list |
| :changes | list of changes |
| g, | go to newer position in change list |
| g; | go to older position in change list |
| Ctrl + ] | jump to the tag under cursor |
Macros
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| qa | record macro a |
| q | stop recording macro |
| @a | run macro a |
| @@ | rerun last run macro |
Cut and paste
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| yiw | yank (copy) word under the cursor |
| yaw | yank (copy) word under the cursor and the space after or before it |
| y$ or Y | yank (copy) to end of line |
| p | put (paste) the clipboard after cursor |
| P | put (paste) before cursor |
| gp | put (paste) the clipboard after cursor and leave cursor after the new text |
| gP | put (paste) before cursor and leave cursor after the new text |
| 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 |
| diw | delete (cut) word under the cursor |
| daw | delete (cut) word under the cursor and the space after or before it |
| :3,5d | delete lines starting from 3 to 5 |
| :g/(pattern)/d | delete all lines containing pattern |
| :g!/(pattern)/d | delete all lines not containing pattern |
| d$ or D | delete (cut) to the end of the line |
| x | delete (cut) character |
Indent text
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| >> | indent (move right) line one shiftwidth |
| << | de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth |
| >% | indent a block with () or () (cursor on brace) |
| <% | de-indent a block with () or () (cursor on brace) |
| >ib | indent inner block with () |
| >at | indent a block with <> tags |
| 3== | re-indent 3 lines |
| =% | re-indent a block with () or () (cursor on brace) |
| =iB | re-indent inner block with () |
| gg=G | re-indent entire buffer |
| ]p | paste and adjust indent to current line |
Exiting
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :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 |
| :wqa | write (save) and quit on all tabs |
Search and replace
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| /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[lsearch] | remove highlighting of search matches |
Search in multiple files
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
:vim[grep] /pattern/ ((file)) | search for pattern in multiple files e.g. :vim[grep] /foo/ */ |
| :cn[ext] | jump to the next match |
| :cp[revious] | jump to the previous match |
| :cope[n] | open a window containing the list of matches |
| :ccl[ose] | close the quickfix window |
Tabs
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :tabnew or :tabnew (page.words.file) | open a file in a new tab |
| Ctrl + wT | move the current split window into its own tab |
| gt or :tabn[ext] | move to the next tab |
| gT or :tabp[revious] | move to the previous tab |
| #gt | move to tab number # |
| :tabm[ove] # | move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0) |
| :tabc[lose] | close the current tab and all its windows |
| :tabo[nly] | close all tabs except for the current one |
| :tabdo command | run the command on all tabs (e.g. :tabdo q - closes all opened tabs) |
Working with multiple files
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :e[dit] file | edit a file in a new buffer |
| :bn[ext] | go to the next buffer |
| :bp[revious] | go to the previous buffer |
| :bd[elete] | delete a buffer (close a file) |
| :b[uffer]# | go to a buffer by index # |
| :b[uffer] file | go to a buffer by file |
| :ls or :buffers | list all open buffers |
| :sp[lit] file | open a file in a new buffer and split window |
| :vs[plit] file | open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window |
| :vert[ical] ba[ll] | edit all buffers as vertical windows |
| :tab ba[ll] | edit all buffers as tabs |
| Ctrl + ws | split window |
| Ctrl + wv | split window vertically |
| Ctrl + ww | switch windows |
| Ctrl + wq | quit a window |
| Ctrl + wx | exchange current window with next one |
| Ctrl + w= | make all windows equal height & width |
| 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) |
| Ctrl + wH | make current window full height at far left (leftmost vertical window) |
| Ctrl + wL | make current window full height at far right (rightmost vertical window) |
| Ctrl + wJ | make current window full width at the very bottom (bottommost horizontal window) |
| Ctrl + wK | make current window full width at the very top (topmost horizontal window) |
Diff
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| zf | manually define a fold up to motion |
| zd | delete fold under the cursor |
| za | toggle fold under the cursor |
| zo | open fold under the cursor |
| zc | close fold under the cursor |
| zr | reduce (open) all folds by one level |
| zm | fold more (close) all folds by one level |
| zi | toggle folding functionality |
| ]c | jump to start of next change |
| [c | jump to start of previous change |
| do or :diffg[et] | obtain (get) difference (from other buffer) |
| dp or :diffpu[t] | put difference (to other buffer) |
| :diffthis | make current window part of diff |
| :dif[fupdate] | update differences |
| :diffo[ff] | switch off diff mode for current window |