VIM Text Editor

Modes

Unlike most editors, VIM does not let you type text right away. It starts in Normal mode, where key presses are commands instead of text input. You switch between modes depending on what you want to do.

$ vim textfile.txt

Key	Description
i	Enter Insert mode: type text freely
v	Enter Visual mode: select characters
V	Enter Visual Line mode: select whole lines
Ctrl+v	Enter Visual Block mode: select a rectangle
:	Enter Command-line mode: run commands
R	Enter Replace mode: overwrite existing text
Esc	Return to Normal mode

The best way to learn is the built-in interactive tutorial: run vimtutor in your terminal, it takes about 30 minutes.

File Management

All commands starting with : are typed in Command-line mode. Press Enter to execute them.

Key	Description
:e	Reload current file from disk
:e {file}	Open a file for editing
:w	Save current file
:w {file}	Save to a different file
:q	Quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
:q!	Quit and discard unsaved changes
:wq	Save and quit
:x	Save and quit (only writes if modified)

Navigation

These work in Normal mode. VIM uses h j k l instead of arrow keys, but arrow keys also work.

Key	Description
h	Move left
j	Move down
k	Move up
l	Move right
w	Jump to start of next word
W	Jump to start of next WORD (whitespace-separated)
e	Jump to end of word
b	Jump back to start of previous word
0	Jump to start of line
^	Jump to first non-blank character of line
$	Jump to end of line
{ / }	Jump to previous / next paragraph
%	Jump to the matching bracket
Ctrl+d	Scroll down half a page
Ctrl+u	Scroll up half a page
gg	Jump to first line of file
G	Jump to last line of file
{number}G	Jump to a specific line number
gk / gj	Move up / down one display line (wrapped lines)

Insertion

Each of these enters Insert mode from Normal mode, but places the cursor differently. Press Esc when done to return to Normal mode.

Key	Description
i	Insert before cursor
I	Insert at beginning of line
a	Append after cursor
A	Append at end of line
o	Open a new line below and start inserting
O	Open a new line above and start inserting
R	Replace mode: type over existing characters
:r {file}	Insert contents of a file below the cursor

Editing

VIM combines operators like d (delete), y (yank/copy), and c (change) with motions like w (word) or $ (end of line): dw deletes a word, c$ rewrites the rest of the line.

Key	Description
u	Undo last change
Ctrl+r	Redo last undone change
yy	Yank (copy) the current line
y{motion}	Yank text covered by a motion (e.g. yw for a word)
p	Paste after cursor
P	Paste before cursor
x	Delete character under cursor
r{char}	Replace the character under the cursor
dd	Delete current line
d{motion}	Delete text covered by a motion (e.g. dw for a word)
c{motion}	Delete text and enter Insert mode
J	Join the next line onto the current one
>> / <<	Indent / unindent the current line
.	Repeat the last change

Deleted and yanked text both land in the same register, so dd then p moves a line.

Counts & Text Objects

Prefix any command with a number to repeat it: 3dd deletes three lines, 2w jumps two words. Text objects describe what is *around* the cursor: i means inside, a includes the delimiters.

Key	Description
ciw	Change the word under the cursor
diw	Delete the word under the cursor
di"	Delete everything inside the quotes
ci(	Change everything inside the parentheses
da(	Delete the parentheses and their content
yip	Yank the current paragraph

Search and Replace

Press / or ? in Normal mode to start a search. Replace commands use the : command line.

Key	Description
/pattern	Search forward for pattern
?pattern	Search backward for pattern
n	Jump to next match
N	Jump to previous match
*	Search forward for the word under the cursor
#	Search backward for the word under the cursor
:s/foo/bar/	Replace first occurrence of foo with bar on current line
:s/foo/bar/g	Replace all occurrences of foo with bar on current line
:%s/foo/bar/g	Replace all occurrences of foo with bar in the entire file
:%s/foo/bar/gc	Replace all in file, asking for confirmation each time
:noh	Clear search highlighting

Multiple Windows

VIM can split the screen to show multiple files at once. Window commands start with Ctrl+w.

Key	Description
:split {file}	Split horizontally and open file
:vsplit {file}	Split vertically and open file
:sview {file}	Split horizontally and open file as read-only
Ctrl+w w	Cycle to the next window
Ctrl+w h j k l	Move to the window in that direction
Ctrl+w _	Maximize current window height
Ctrl+w =	Make all windows equal size
:hide	Close the current window
:only	Close all windows except the current one

Every open file lives in a buffer, whether it is visible or not.

Key	Description
:ls	List all open buffers
:b {number}	Switch to a buffer by its number
:bn / :bp	Switch to the next / previous buffer
:bd	Close (delete) the current buffer