Vim

Vim

Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor

Exiting

:w	write (save) the file, but don’t exit
:wq	write (save) and quit
:x	write (save) and quit
:q	quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
:q!	quit and throw away unsaved changes
:qa	quit all buffers and windows
ZZ	write (save) current file, if modified, and quit
ZQ	quit without checking for changes

Cursor Movement

| h | move cursor left | | ——— | ————————————————————————————— | | j | move cursor down | | k | move cursor up | | l | move cursor right | | 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) | | 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 | go to the last line of the document | | nG | go to line number n | | :n | go to line number n | | '' | To the position before the latest jump, / where the last “m’” / “m" command was given. | | fx | jump to next occurrence of character x | | tx | jump to one character before the character x | | } | jump to next paragraph | | { | jump to previous paragraph | | H | jump to home (top) of screen | | L | jump to last line of screen | | M | jump to middle of screen | | 3, f, x | jump to 3rd instance of character x forward from cursor on current line. | | 3, F, x` | jump to 3rd instance of character x back from cursor on current line. |

Screen Movement

Ctrl u	move screen up by half page
Ctrl b	move screen up by one page
Ctrl d	move screen down by half page
Ctrl f	move screen down by one page
zz	center screen on cursor
zt	align top of screen with cursor
zb	align bottom of screen with cursor

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
Esc	exit insert mode

Editing

r	replace a single character
J	join line below to the current one
cc	change (replace) entire line
cw	change (replace) to the end of the word
c$	change (replace) to the end of the line
s	delete character and substitute text
S	delete line and substitute text (same as cc)
xp	transpose two letters (delete and paste)
u	undo
Ctrl r	redo
.	repeat last command

Cut and Paste

yy	yank (copy) a line
2yy	yank (copy) 2 lines
:n,Ny	yank lines n through N
yw	yank (copy) word
y$	yank (copy) to end of line
p	put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
P	put (paste) before cursor
dd	delete (cut) a line
2dd	delete (cut) 2 lines
:n,Nd	delete lines n through N
dw	delete (cut) word
D	delete (cut) to the end of the line
d$	delete (cut) to the end of the line
x	delete (cut) character

Search and Replace

*	search for word under cursor
/pattern	search for pattern
?pattern	search backward for pattern
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

Marking Text (Visual Mode)

v	start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank)
V	start linewise visual mode
vo	move to other end of marked area
Ctrl v	start visual block mode
vO	move to other corner of block
vaw	mark a word
vab	mark a block with ()
vaB	mark a block with {}
vib	mark inner block with ()
viB	mark inner block with {}
Esc	exit visual mode

Visual Commands

>	shift text right
<	shift text left
==	auto-indent current line
<<	shift current line left by shiftwidth
>>	shift current line right by shiftwidth
y	yank (copy) marked text
d	delete marked text
~	switch case

Working with Multiple Files

:e filename	edit a file in a new buffer
:ene	open a blank file for editing
:bnext / :bn	go to the next buffer
:bprev / :bp	go to the previous buffer
:bd	delete a buffer (close a file)
:sp filename	open a file in a new buffer and split window
:vs filename	open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window
Ctrl w, s	split window
Ctrl w, w	switch windows
Ctrl w, q	quit a window
Ctrl w, v	split window vertically
Ctrl w, h	move cursor to window left
Ctrl w, l	move cursor to window right
Ctrl w, k	move cursor to window above
Ctrl w, j	move cursor to window below
Ctrl w, r	rotate windows clockwise
Ctrl w, T	move current window to a new tab
:on	close all windows except current window
Ctrl w, \|	maximize width of active window
Ctrl w, 1, \|	minimize width of active window
Ctrl w, _	maximize height of active window
Ctrl w, 1, _	minimize height of active window
Ctrl w, =	equalize size of windows

Tabs

#gt	move to tab number #
Ctrl w, t	move the current split window into its own tab
:tabmove #	move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0)
:tabnew filename / :tabn filename	open a file in a new tab
:tabclose / :tabc	close the current tab and all its windows
:tabonly / :tabo	close all tabs except for the current one
gt / :tabnext / :tabn	move to the next tab
gT / :tabprev / :tabp	move to the previous tab

Registers

:reg / :registers	view all current registers
echo @r	access register r as a variable
"/	last search pattern register
"_	the black hole register
"0	last yank register
"1	last big delete register
"2-"9	big delete register stack
"+	system clipboard
"-	small delete register
"a-"z	named registers
"A-"Z	append registers
qr	record into register r

Additional Ex Commands

:mak / :make	run a compiler and enter quickfix mode
:!	execute external shell command
:r / :read	read external program output into current file
:x,ymz	move lines x through y to z (delete + put)
:x,ytz	yank lines x through y and put to z (yank + put)
:.	current line (cursor location)
:$	last line (bottom of file)
:0	first line (top of file)
:ls	list all open files
:%TOhtml	create html representation of current working buffer

Basic Configuration

:set nu	show line numbers
:set hid	lets you switch buffers without saving
:set hls	highlight search matches
:set sc	show commands as you type them
:set ru	show line and column number of the cursor

Folding Commands

zf#j	creates a fold from the cursor down # lines
zf/	string creates a fold from the cursor to string
zj	moves the cursor to the next fold
zk	moves the cursor to the previous fold
za	toggle a fold under cursor
zo	opens a fold at the cursor
zO	opens all folds at the cursor
zc	closes a fold under cursor
zm	increases the foldlevel by one
zM	closes all open folds
zr	decreases the foldlevel by one
zR	decreases the foldlevel to zero – all folds will be open
zd	deletes the fold at the cursor
zE	deletes all folds
[z	move to start of open fold
]z	move to end of open fold