Vim Cheat Sheet · anguishedturtle.com

vim.md

Vim #

A modal editor: keys do different things depending on the mode. Press Esc to return to Normal mode, where most commands live. Commands compose, so a count and a motion combine: 3dw deletes three words.

Modes #

Key	Mode
`Esc`	Back to Normal mode
`i` `a`	Insert before / after the cursor
`I` `A`	Insert at line start / end
`o` `O`	Open a new line below / above
`v` `V`	Visual (character / line) select
`Ctrl-v`	Visual block select
`:`	Command-line mode

Motions #

Key	Moves to
`h` `j` `k` `l`	Left, down, up, right
`w` `b` `e`	Next word, back a word, end of word
`0` `^` `$`	Line start, first non-blank, line end
`gg` `G`	First line, last line
`{` `}`	Previous / next paragraph
`Ctrl-d` `Ctrl-u`	Half page down / up
`%`	Matching bracket
`f x` `t x`	Jump to / before next `x` on the line

Editing #

Key	Action
`x` `r`	Delete char / replace one char
`dd` `yy` `p`	Delete line, yank line, paste
`dw` `cw`	Delete / change a word
`d$` `c$`	Delete / change to end of line
`ciw` `ci"`	Change inner word / inside quotes
`>>` `<<`	Indent / outdent the line
`u` `Ctrl-r`	Undo / redo
`.`	Repeat the last change
`J`	Join the next line up

Text objects & marks #

Key	Selects
`iw` `aw`	Inner word / word plus its space
`i(` `a(`	Inside parentheses / parentheses included
`i"` `a"`	Inside quotes / quotes included
`it` `at`	Inside an HTML tag / tag included
`ip` `ap`	Inner paragraph / paragraph plus blank line
`ci(` `dat` `yip`	Change in parens, delete a tag pair, yank a paragraph

ma          set mark a on the current line
'a          jump to the mark's line     `a   jump to its exact spot
:marks      list all marks
Ctrl-o  Ctrl-i      back / forward through the jump list

Registers & macros #

Key	Action
`"ay` `"ap`	Yank into / paste from register `a`
`"+y` `"+p`	Copy to / paste from the system clipboard
`"0p`	Paste the last yank (deletes never touch register `0`)
`:registers`	View all registers
`qa` ... `q`	Record a macro into register `a`, stop with `q`
`@a` `@@`	Replay macro `a` / repeat the last replay
`5@a`	Replay macro `a` five times

Search & replace #

/pattern        search forward      ?pattern   search backward
n   N           next / previous match
*   #           search word under the cursor

:%s/old/new/g       replace all in the file
:%s/old/new/gc      ... with confirmation per match
:s/old/new/g        replace all on the current line
:noh                clear search highlight

:g/pattern/d        delete every line that matches
:g!/pattern/d       delete every line that does not match (:v/pattern/d is the same)

Buffers, windows, tabs #

:e file         open a file        :w   write     :q   quit    :wq  write+quit
:bn  :bp        next / prev buffer        :ls       list buffers
:sp  :vsp       split horizontal / vertical
Ctrl-w h/j/k/l  move between splits        Ctrl-w q  close split
:tabnew         new tab           gt  gT   next / prev tab

Survival #

Key	Action
`:q!`	Quit without saving
`ZZ`	Save and quit
`:w !sudo tee %`	Save a file you opened without sudo
`q:`	Open the command history window
`:help x`	Help for command `x`
`gg=G`	Re-indent the whole file
`Ctrl-o` `Ctrl-i`	Jump to older / newer cursor position