(cache)Vim cheatsheet

Getting started

Introduction

Vim is a very efficient text editor. This reference was made for Vim 8.0.

For shortcut notation, see :help key-notation.

Exiting

Shortcut	Description
`:q`	Close file
`:qa`	Close all files
`:w`	Save
`:wq` / `:x`	Save and close file
`ZZ`	Save and quit
`:q!` / `ZQ`	Quit without checking changes

Exiting insert mode

Shortcut	Description
`Esc` / `<C-[>`	Exit insert mode
`<C-C>`	Exit insert mode, and abort current command

Editing

Shortcut	Description
`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

Clipboard

Shortcut	Description
`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

Shortcut	Description
`v`	Enter visual mode
`V`	Enter visual line mode
`<C-V>`	Enter visual block mode

In visual mode

Shortcut	Description
`d` / `x`	Delete selection
`s`	Replace selection
`y`	Yank selection (Copy)

See Operators for other things you can do.

Find & Replace

Shortcut	Description
:%s/foo/bar/g	Replace foo with bar in whole document

Navigating

Directions

Shortcut	Description
`h` `j` `k` `l`	Arrow keys
`<C-U>` / `<C-D>`	Half-page up/down
`<C-B>` / `<C-F>`	Page up/down

Words

Shortcut	Description
`b` / `w`	Previous/next word
`ge` / `e`	Previous/next end of word

Line

Shortcut	Description
`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

Shortcut	Description
`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

Shortcut	Description
`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

Search

Shortcut	Description
`n`	Next matching search pattern
`N`	Previous match
`*`	Next whole word under cursor
`#`	Previous whole word under cursor

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

Shortcut	Description
`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.

Shortcut	Description
`d`d	(repeat the letter) Delete current line
`d`w	Delete to next word
`d`b	Delete to beginning of word
2`dd`	Delete 2 lines
`d`ip	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

Shortcut	Description
`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

Shortcut	Description
`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

Shortcut	Description
`gvimdiff file1 file2 [file3]`	See differences between files, in HMI

Misc

Tab pages

Shortcut	Description
`: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

Folds

Shortcut	Description
`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).

Shortcut	Description
`%`	Nearest/matching `{[()]}`
`[(` `[{` `[<`	Previous `(` or `{` or `<`
`])`	Next
`[m`	Previous method start
`[M`	Previous method end

Jumping

Shortcut	Description
`<C-O>`	Go back to previous location
`<C-I>`	Go forward
`gf`	Go to file in cursor

Counters

Shortcut	Description
`<C-A>`	Increment number
`<C-X>`	Decrement

Windows

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

Shortcut	Description
`: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

Shortcut	Description
`~`	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

Shortcut	Description
`^	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

Shortcut	Description
`.`	Repeat last command
`]p`	Paste under the current indentation level
`:set ff=unix`	Convert Windows line endings to Unix line endings

Command line

Shortcut	Description
`<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

Shortcut	Description
`<C-R>=128/2`	Shows 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

Shortcut	Description
`: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/misspelling
`zu` / `C-X (Insert Mode)`	Suggest words for bad word under cursor from spellfile

See :help spell

Also see

Vim cheatsheet (vim.rotrr.com)
Vim documentation (vimdoc.sourceforge.net)
Interactive Vim tutorial (openvim.com)

Getting started#

Introduction

Exiting

Exiting insert mode

Editing#

Editing

Clipboard

Visual mode

In visual mode

Find & Replace

Navigating#

Directions

Words

Line

Character

Document

Window

Search

Operators#

Usage

Operators list

Examples

Text objects#

Usage

Text objects

Examples

Diff

Misc#

Tab pages

Folds

Navigation

Jumping

Counters

Windows

Tags

Case

Marks

Misc

Command line

Text alignment

Calculator

Exiting with an error

Spell checking

Also see#

Getting started

Editing

Navigating

Operators

Text objects

Misc

Also see