Vim Cheat Sheet

Vim is a highly configurable text editor that is widely used for code editing and other text manipulation tasks. Below is a basic cheat sheet with commonly used Vim commands:

Modes

• Normal Mode (default):
  • Press Esc to enter Normal Mode.
• Insert Mode:
  • Press i to enter Insert Mode (start typing text).
  • Press I to insert at the beginning of the line.
  • Press a to append after the cursor.
  • Press A to append at the end of the line.
  • Press o to open a new line below the current line.
  • Press O to open a new line above the current line.
• Visual Mode:
  • Press v to enter Visual Mode.
  • Press V for line-wise Visual Mode.
  • Press Ctrl + v for block-wise Visual Mode.

Basic Navigation

• Move Cursor:
  • h, j, k, l: Left, down, up, right.
  • w, b: Move by word forward, backward.
  • ^, $: Move to the beginning, end of the line.
  • gg, G: Move to the beginning, end of the file.
• Scrolling:
  • Ctrl + u, Ctrl + d: Scroll half page up, down.
  • Ctrl + b, Ctrl + f: Scroll full page up, down.

Editing

• Copy, Cut, Paste:
  • yy: Copy (yank) line.
  • y$: Copy to the end of the line.
  • dd: Cut (delete) line.
  • D: Cut to the end of the line.
  • p: Paste after the cursor.
  • P: Paste before the cursor.
• Undo, Redo:
  • u: Undo.
  • Ctrl + r: Redo.
• Find and Replace:
  • :/pattern: Search for a pattern.
  • n: Move to the next match.
  • N: Move to the previous match.
  • :%s/old_text/new_text/g: Replace all occurrences.

Marking and Navigation

• Marking:
  • m{letter}: Set a mark at the cursor position.
  • ` {letter}: Jump to the mark.

Saving and Exiting

• Save and Quit:
  • :w: Save.
  • :q: Quit.
  • :wq or ZZ: Save and quit.
• Force Quit (Discard Changes):
  • :q!: Quit without saving.

Splitting Windows

• Horizontal Split:
  • :split or :sp: Split horizontally.
• Vertical Split:
  • :vsplit or :vsp: Split vertically.
• Switching Between Windows:
  • Ctrl + w + Arrow keys: Switch between windows.

File Explorer

• Open File Explorer:
  • :e .: Open file explorer.

Miscellaneous

• Repeat Last Command:
  • .: Repeat last command.
• Indentation:
  • >>: Indent current line.
  • <<: Unindent current line.
• Replace Mode:
  • R: Enter Replace Mode.

Help and Miscellaneous

• Help:
  • :help: Open help.

Exiting Vim (for beginners)

• Save and Quit:
  • Press Esc to enter Normal Mode.
  • Type :wq and press Enter.
• Quit without Saving:
  • Press Esc to enter Normal Mode.
  • Type :q! and press Enter.

Note

• Vim has a steep learning curve, and these are just basic commands.
• To explore more commands and features, refer to Vim’s extensive documentation and tutorials.
• Vim’s power lies in its efficiency and extensive set of features, so take time to learn and customize it according to your preferences.