learn.fttgsolutions.com · Cheat Sheets

Vim Cheat Sheet

Move. Edit. Repeat.

Motions (Horizontal)

h j k l	`h / j / k / l`	Move left, down, up, right — the arrow key equivalents.
Start of line	`0`	Jump to the very start of the current line.
First non-blank	`^`	Jump to the first non-blank character of the current line.
End of line	`$`	Jump to the end of the current line.
Previous word	`b`	Move backward to the start of the previous word.
Next word	`w`	Move forward to the start of the next word.
End of word	`e`	Move forward to the end of the current or next word.
Find character	`f{char}`	Jump forward to the next occurrence of a character on the line.
Find back	`F{char}`	Jump backward to the previous occurrence of a character on the line.

Motions (Vertical)

Half page up/down	`Ctrl+u / Ctrl+d`	Scroll half a page up or down.
Full page up/down	`Ctrl+b / Ctrl+f`	Scroll a full page up or down.
First line	`gg`	Jump to the first line of the file.
Last line	`G`	Jump to the last line of the file.
Go to line n	`:n or nG`	Jump to line number n.
Next empty line	`}`	Jump to the next blank line (paragraph forward).
Previous empty line	`{`	Jump to the previous blank line (paragraph backward).
Screen top/mid/bot	`H / M / L`	Jump to the top, middle, or bottom line visible on screen.
Center current line	`zz`	Scroll the screen so the current line is centered.

Insert Mode

Insert before cursor	`i`	Enter insert mode before the cursor.
Insert after cursor	`a`	Enter insert mode after the cursor.
Insert start of line	`I`	Enter insert mode at the first non-blank character of the line.
Insert end of line	`A`	Enter insert mode at the end of the current line.
New line below	`o`	Open a new line below the current line and enter insert mode.
New line above	`O`	Open a new line above the current line and enter insert mode.
Delete char & insert	`s`	Delete the character under the cursor and enter insert mode.
Delete line & insert	`S`	Delete the current line and enter insert mode.
Change to end of line	`C`	Delete from cursor to end of line and enter insert mode.
Last insert point	`gi`	Enter insert mode at the position of the last insert.
Exit insert mode	`Esc or Ctrl+[`	Return to normal mode from insert mode.

Save & Exit

Save	`:w`	Write (save) the current file.
Quit	`:q`	Close the current file (fails if unsaved changes exist).
Save and quit	`:wq or :x or ZZ`	Save the file and quit Vim.
Force quit	`:q! or ZQ`	Quit without saving, discarding all changes.
Save and quit all	`:wqa`	Save all open files and quit Vim.
Close all	`:qa`	Close all open files (fails if any have unsaved changes).
Force quit all	`:qa!`	Force quit all files, discarding all changes.
Save to file	`:w filename`	Write the current buffer to a specific file name.
Save as	`:sav filename`	Save the file under a new name and start editing it.
Write readonly file	`:w !sudo tee %`	Save a file that requires sudo permissions.

Editing (Normal Mode)

Replace character	`r{char}`	Replace the character under the cursor with another character.
Replace mode	`R`	Enter replace mode — typed characters overwrite existing ones.
Undo	`u`	Undo the last change. Prefix with a number to undo multiple times.
Undo line	`U`	Undo all changes made to the current line.
Redo	`Ctrl+r`	Redo the last undone change.
Join lines	`J`	Join the current line with the next line.
Repeat last command	`.`	Repeat the last normal-mode change command.

Cut, Copy & Paste

Delete character	`x`	Delete the character under the cursor (cuts to register).
Delete word	`dw`	Delete from cursor to the start of the next word.
Delete line	`dd`	Delete the entire current line.
Delete to end	`D`	Delete from cursor to the end of the line.
Yank (copy) line	`yy`	Copy the current line into the register.
Paste after	`p`	Paste the register contents after the cursor.
Paste before	`P`	Paste the register contents before the cursor.
Swap characters	`xp`	Transpose (swap) two characters.
Swap lines	`ddp`	Swap the current line with the line below.
Yank to clipboard	`"+y or "*y`	Yank (copy) selected text to the system clipboard.
Paste from clipboard	`"+p or "*p`	Paste from the system clipboard.

Visual Mode

Visual mode	`v`	Enter character-wise visual mode to select text.
Visual line mode	`V`	Enter line-wise visual mode to select whole lines.
Visual block mode	`Ctrl+v`	Enter block (column) visual mode to select a rectangle of text.
Select all	`ggVG`	Select the entire file.
Indent selection	`>`	Shift the selected text one indent level to the right.
Outdent selection	`<`	Shift the selected text one indent level to the left.
Delete selection	`d or x`	Cut the current visual selection.
Yank selection	`y`	Copy the current visual selection.

Operators

d — delete	`d{motion}`	Delete text covered by the motion (e.g. dw, dd, d$).
y — yank	`y{motion}`	Copy text covered by the motion (e.g. yy, yw, y$).
c — change	`c{motion}`	Delete text and enter insert mode (e.g. cw, cc, c$).
= — format	`={motion}`	Auto-indent code covered by the motion (e.g. gg=G for whole file).
gU — uppercase	`gU{motion}`	Convert text to uppercase (e.g. gUU for current line).
gu — lowercase	`gu{motion}`	Convert text to lowercase (e.g. guu for current line).
Count prefix	`{n}{operator}`	Repeat an operator n times (e.g. 3dd deletes 3 lines, 6yy copies 6).

Text Objects

Inner word	`iw`	Select the word under the cursor, without surrounding spaces.
Around word	`aw`	Select the word under the cursor, including surrounding spaces.
Inner quotes	`i" or i'`	Select text inside the nearest quote pair.
Around quotes	`a" or a'`	Select text including the surrounding quotes.
Inner brackets	`i( or i[ or i{`	Select text inside the nearest bracket pair.
Around brackets	`a( or a[ or a{`	Select text including the surrounding bracket pair.
Inner paragraph	`ip`	Select the current paragraph (text block between blank lines).
Inner tag	`it`	Select the content inside an HTML/XML tag.
Change inner word	`ciw`	Delete the word under the cursor and enter insert mode.
Change inner quotes	`ci"`	Delete the content inside quotes and enter insert mode.
Delete inner word	`diw`	Delete the word under the cursor.
Delete in quotes	`di"`	Delete everything inside the nearest quotes.

Search forward	`/{pattern}`	Search forward for a pattern. Press Enter to jump to the first match.
Search backward	`?{pattern}`	Search backward for a pattern.
Next match	`n`	Jump to the next match in the search direction.
Previous match	`N`	Jump to the previous match.
Search current word	`*`	Search forward for the word under the cursor.
Search word back	`#`	Search backward for the word under the cursor.
Case insensitive	`/foo\c`	Search with case-insensitive matching.
Regex search	`/\v\d+`	Search using a regular expression (\v enables 'very magic' mode).
Clear highlights	`:noh`	Clear search highlighting without cancelling the search pattern.

Search & Replace

Replace first (line)	`:s/old/new`	Replace the first occurrence of 'old' with 'new' on the current line.
Replace all (line)	`:s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences of 'old' on the current line.
Replace with confirm	`:s/old/new/gc`	Replace all on the current line, asking for confirmation each time.
Replace first (file)	`:%s/old/new`	Replace the first occurrence on every line in the file.
Replace all (file)	`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace every occurrence of 'old' with 'new' throughout the file.
Replace (confirm)	`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace all in file, asking for confirmation at each match.
Replace (ignore case)	`:%s/old/new/gi`	Replace all in file, ignoring case.
Replace in range	`:2,6s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences between lines 2 and 6.

Macros

Record macro	`q{letter}`	Start recording a macro into register {letter} (e.g. qa records into 'a').
Stop recording	`q`	Stop recording the current macro.
Run macro	`@{letter}`	Execute the macro stored in register {letter}.
Run macro n times	`{n}@{letter}`	Execute a macro n times (e.g. 7@a runs macro 'a' seven times).
Repeat last macro	`@@`	Re-run the most recently executed macro.

Buffers

Edit file	`:e {file}`	Open a file in a new buffer.
Next buffer	`:bn`	Switch to the next buffer.
Previous buffer	`:bp`	Switch to the previous buffer.
Delete buffer	`:bd`	Remove the current file from the buffer list.
List buffers	`:ls`	List all currently open buffers.
Go to buffer	`:b {file}`	Switch to a buffer by file name.
Split open	`:sp {file}`	Open a file in a horizontal split.
Vertical split open	`:vs {file}`	Open a file in a vertical split.

Windows

Split horizontal	`Ctrl+w s`	Split the current window horizontally.
Split vertical	`Ctrl+w v`	Split the current window vertically.
Switch window	`Ctrl+w w`	Cycle focus to the next window.
Close window	`Ctrl+w q`	Close the focused window.
Move left/right	`Ctrl+w h / Ctrl+w l`	Move focus to the window on the left or right.
Move up/down	`Ctrl+w j / Ctrl+w k`	Move focus to the window above or below.
Equal size	`Ctrl+w =`	Make all windows equally sized.
Swap windows	`Ctrl+w x`	Swap the current window with the next one.

Tabs

New tab	`:tabe {file}`	Open a file in a new tab.
Close tab	`:tabc`	Close the current tab.
Close other tabs	`:tabo`	Close all tabs except the current one.
List tabs	`:tabs`	List all open tabs and their windows.
Next tab	`:tabn or gt`	Move to the next tab.
Previous tab	`:tabp or gT`	Move to the previous tab.
Go to tab n	`{n}gt`	Jump directly to tab number n.

Marks

Set mark	`m{letter}`	Mark the current cursor position with a letter (e.g. ma).
Jump to mark	`{letter}	Jump to the exact position of mark {letter}.
Jump to mark line	`'{letter}`	Jump to the beginning of the line containing mark {letter}.
Last insert position	`^	Jump to where the cursor was when insert mode was last exited.
Last change	`.	Jump to the position of the last change in the current buffer.
List marks	`:marks`	Show all current marks and their positions.
Delete mark	`:delm {letter}`	Delete a specific mark.

Folds

Open fold	`zo`	Open (expand) the fold under the cursor.
Close fold	`zc`	Close (collapse) the fold under the cursor.
Toggle fold	`za`	Toggle the fold under the cursor open or closed.
Open all folds	`zR`	Open every fold in the file.
Close all folds	`zM`	Close every fold in the file.

Miscellaneous

Toggle case	`~`	Toggle the case of the character under the cursor.
Uppercase word	`viw U`	Select the current word and convert it to uppercase.
Lowercase word	`viw u`	Select the current word and convert it to lowercase.
Increase number	`Ctrl+a`	Increment the number under the cursor.
Decrease number	`Ctrl+x`	Decrement the number under the cursor.
Go back (jump)	`Ctrl+o`	Jump back to the previous cursor location in the jump list.
Go forward (jump)	`Ctrl+i`	Jump forward in the jump list.
Go to file	`gf`	Open the file whose name is under the cursor.
Help	`:h {topic}`	Open Vim's built-in help for a topic.
Reload file	`:edit!`	Discard changes and reload the current file from disk.
Open terminal	`:ter`	Open a terminal window inside Vim.
Sort lines	`:sort`	Sort all lines in the file (or a selected range) alphabetically.
Shell command	`:!{cmd}`	Execute a shell command without leaving Vim.
Insert command output	`:r!{cmd}`	Insert the output of a shell command into the buffer.
Delete lines matching	`:g/foo/d`	Delete every line in the file that contains the pattern 'foo'.
Delete blank lines	`:g/^\s*$/d`	Remove all blank/whitespace-only lines from the file.