🟩Vim

Exiting

\

:q
Close file

:qa

Close all files

:w

Save

:wq / :x

Save and close file

ZZ

Save and quit

ZQ

Quit without checking changes

\

h j k l
Arrow keys

<C-U> / <C-D>

Half-page up/down

<C-B> / <C-F>

Page up/down

Words

\

b / w
Previous/next word

ge / e

Previous/next end of word

Line

\

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

\

gg
First line

G

Last line

:{number}

Go to line {number}

{number}G

Go to line {number}

{number}j

Go down {number} lines

{number}k

Go up {number} lines

Window

\

zz
Center this line

zt

Top this line

zb

Bottom this line

H

Move to top of screen

M

Move to middle of screen

L

Move to bottom of screen

\

n
Next matching search pattern

N

Previous match

*

Next whole word under cursor

#

Previous whole word under cursor

Tab pages

\

:tabedit [file]
Edit file in a new tab

:tabfind [file]

Open file if exists in new tab

:tabclose

Close current tab

:tabs

List all tabs

:tabfirst

Go to first tab

:tablast

Go to last tab

:tabn

Go to next tab

:tabp

Go to previous tab

Editing

\

a
Append

A

Append from end of line

i

Insert

o

Next line

O

Previous line

s

Delete char and insert

S

Delete line and insert

C

Delete until end of line and insert

r

Replace one character

R

Enter Replace mode

u

Undo changes

<C-R>

Redo changes

Exiting insert mode

\

Esc / <C-[>
Exit insert mode

<C-C>

Exit insert mode, and abort current command

Clipboard

\

x
Delete character

dd

Delete line (Cut)

yy

Yank line (Copy)

p

Paste

P

Paste before

"*p / "+p

Paste from system clipboard

"*y / "+y

Paste to system clipboard

Visual mode

\

v
Enter visual mode

V

Enter visual line mode

<C-V>

Enter visual block mode

In visual mode

\

d / x
Delete selection

s

Replace selection

y

Yank selection (Copy)

See Operators for other things you can do.

Find & Replace

\

#

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

\

d
Delete

y

Yank (copy)

c

Change (delete then insert)

>

Indent right

<

Indent left

=

Autoindent

g~

Swap case

gU

Uppercase

gu

Lowercase

!

Filter through external program

See :help operator

Examples

Combine operators with motions to use them.

dd
(repeat the letter) Delete current line

dw

Delete to next word

db

Delete to beginning of word

2dd

Delete 2 lines

dip

Delete a text object (inside paragraph)

(in visual mode) d

Delete 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

\

p
Paragraph

w

Word

s

Sentence

[ ( { <

A [], (), or {} block

' " `

A quoted string

b

A block [(

B

A block in [{

t

A XML tag block

Examples

\

vip
Select paragraph

vipipipip

Select more

yip

Yank inner paragraph

yap

Yank paragraph (including newline)

dip

Delete inner paragraph

cip

Change inner paragraph

See Operators for other things you can do.

Diff

\

#

Misc

Folds

\

zo / zO
Open

zc / zC

Close

za / zA

Toggle

zv

Open folds for this line

zM

Close all

zR

Open all

zm

Fold more (foldlevel += 1)

zr

Fold less (foldlevel -= 1)

zx

Update folds

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

\

%
Nearest/matching {[()]}

[( [{ [<

Previous ( or { or <

])

Next

[m

Previous method start

[M

Previous method end

Jumping

\

<C-O>
Go back to previous location

<C-I>

Go forward

gf

Go to file in cursor

Counters

\

<C-A>
Increment number

<C-X>

Decrement

Windows

\

Tags

\

:tag Classname
Jump 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 Classname

Find definitions of Classname

:tjump Classname

Find definitions of Classname (auto-select 1st)

Case

\

~
Toggle case (Case => cASE)

gU

Uppercase

gu

Lowercase

gUU

Uppercase current line (also gUgU)

guu

Lowercase current line (also gugu)

Do these in visual or normal mode.

Marks

\

`^
Last position of cursor in insert mode

`.

Last change in current buffer

`"

Last exited current buffer

`0

In 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

ma

Mark this cursor position as a

`a

Jump to the cursor position a

'a

Jump to the beginning of the line with position a

d'a

Delete from current line to line of mark a

d`a

Delete from current position to position of mark a

c'a

Change text from current line to line of a

y`a

Yank text from current position to position of a

:marks

List all current marks

:delm a

Delete mark a

:delm a-d

Delete marks a, b, c, d

:delm abc

Delete marks a, b, c

Misc

\

.
Repeat last command

]p

Paste under the current indentation level

:set ff=unix

Convert Windows line endings to Unix line endings

Command line

\

<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

\

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

\

:set spell spelllang=en_us
Turn on US English spell checking

]s

Move to next misspelled word after the cursor

[s

Move to previous misspelled word before the cursor

z=

Suggest spellings for the word under/after the cursor

zg

Add word to spell list

zw

Mark word as bad/mispelling

zu / C-X (Insert Mode)

Suggest words for bad word under cursor from spellfile

See :help spell

Vim Cheat Sheet

Global

• :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

Tip Run vimtutor in a terminal to learn the first Vim commands.

Cursor movement

◇ 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 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 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

Tip Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines.

Insert mode - inserting/appending text

◇ 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 - begin new line 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

◇ 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 ◇ 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)

◇ 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

Tip Instead of b or B one can also use ( or { respectively.

Visual commands

◇ > - 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

◇ :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

Tip Registers are being stored in ~/.viminfo, and will be loaded again on next restart of vim. Tip Special registers:  0 - last yank " - unnamed register, last delete or yank % - current file name # - alternate file name * - clipboard contents (X11 primary) + - clipboard contents (X11 clipboard) / - last search pattern : - last command-line . - last inserted text - - last small (less than a line) delete = - expression register _ - black hole register

Marks and positions

◇ :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

Tip To jump to a mark you can either use a backtick (`) or an apostrophe ('). Using an apostrophe jumps to the beginning (first non-blank) of the line holding the mark.

Macros

◇ qa - record macro a ◇ q - stop recording macro ◇ @a - run macro a ◇ @@ - rerun last run macro

Cut and paste

◇ 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 Tip You can also use the following characters to specify the range: e.g. :.,$d - From the current line to the end of the file :.,1d - From the current line to the beginning of the file :10,$d - From the 10th line to the beginning of the file

◇ :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

◇ >> - 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

◇ :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

◇ /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

◇ :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

◇ :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

◇ :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

◇ 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

Tip The commands for folding (e.g. za) operate on one level. To operate on all levels, use uppercase letters (e.g. zA). Tip To view the differences of files, one can directly start Vim in diff mode by running vimdiff in a terminal. One can even set this as git difftool.

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