Vim

Summary

Memorize keyboard shortcuts for the Vim editor. Most apply to vi also.

Conventions

The ^ means hold down the ctrl key. For example, ^w means hold down ctrl and press w. Also, pressing Enter is necessary after commands that begin with ~:~ but this is omitted for brevity.

Basics

Action	Type
start vim	vim (command)
start vim tutorial	vimtutor (command)
two "modes"	normal mode and insert mode
go into insert mode	i (see below for others)
go into normal mode	esc (or ^c or ^[)
cancel out of current command (or search, etc.)	esc (or ^c or ^[)
start learning	start learning

Cursor Movement

Getting around the screen...

 

Action	Key
left	h
right	l
up	k
down	j
beginning of line	0
end of line	$
start learning	start learning

 

Note that the arrow keys also work for moving around. Also, feel free to use the mouse to move around and select (won't work in a terminal window).

Editing

Once you've enter edit mode (usually via i or A) and insert some text, you'll usually want to press esc (or ^c or ^[) so you can again use the movement-related commands.

 

Action	Key
insert text	i
insert text at end of line	A (then start typing)
insert text after cursor	a
insert text in place of a word	cw (then start typing)
start learning	start learning

Saving and quitting, etc.

Action	Key
save file	:w
exit (saving file)	ZZ (or) :wq
exit (without saving file)	:q!
open myfile.txt (in current dir)	:e myfile.txt
browse current dir	:e .
start learning	start learning

Misc

Action	Key
undo	u
redo	^r
repeat (last action)	.
alternatives for escape	^c or ^[
down 3 lines	3j
go to line 3	3G
go back to previous "jump" locations	^o
start learning	start learning

 

Note that typing numbers before commands usually means "repeat the command this many times" (as in 3 j).

Searching

Action	Key
search	/
search (backward)	?
do previous search (while searching)	^p
do next search (while searching)	^n
see previous searches (while searching)	^f
go to next instance of a (on same line)	fa
find next instance of word	*
start learning	start learning

 

Incremental searching is a very cool feature. It means that the cursor will search forward as you type a search string (used with / search). Add "set incsearch" to your .vimrc file if incremental searching isn't enabled.

Movement II

Action	Key
right 1 word	w
left 1 word	b
right 1 word (to word end)	e
page down	^f
page up	^b
beginning of line text	^ (shift-6)
start learning	start learning

Movement III

Action	Key
beginning of file	gg
end of file	G
jump to matching parenthesis	%
backward or forward paragraph	{ or }
backward or forward sentence	( or )
start learning	start learning

Directories

Action	Key
view root dir
up one dir	- (while viewing dir)
toggle dir display mode	i (while viewing dir)
create dir	d (while viewing dir)
rename file or dir	R (while viewing dir)
start learning	start learning

Deleting

Action	Key
delete char	x
delete line	dd
delete word	dw
insert last deleted	P
delete until end of line	d$
start learning	start learning

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