/VIM-Awesome-Cheatsheet

Cheatsheet for Vim

Creative Commons Zero v1.0 UniversalCC0-1.0

Vim Cheat Sheet

Table of Contents

Misc Commands

  • :h[elp] <keyword> - open help for <keyword> (don't use "<>")
  • :sav[eas] <file> - save <file> as
  • :clo[se] - close current pane
  • :ter[minal] - open a terminal window

Editor Actions

Single Letter Actions

  • K - open man page for word under the cursor

  • Tip: - Run vimtutor in a terminal to learn the first Vim commands.

  • h - move cursor left

  • j - move cursor down

  • k - move cursor up

  • l - move cursor right

  • H - move to top of screen

  • M - move to middle of screen

  • L - move to bottom of screen

  • w - jump forwards to the start of a word

  • W - jump forwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)

  • e - jump forwards to the end of a word

  • E - jump forwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation)

  • b - jump backwards to the start of a word

  • B - jump backwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)

  • % - move to matching character (default supported pairs: '()', '{}', '[]' - use :h matchpairs in vim for more info)

  • 0 - jump to the start of the line

  • ^ - jump to the first non-blank character of the line

  • $ - jump to the end of the line

  • ; - repeat previous f, t, F or T movement

  • , - repeat previous f, t, F or T movement, backwards

  • } - jump to next paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)

  • { - jump to previous paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)

Multiple Letter Actions

  • g_ - jump to the last non-blank character of the line
  • gg - go to the first line of the document
  • G - go to the last line of the document
  • 5gg or 5G- go to line 5
  • gd - move to local declaration
  • gD - move to global declaration
  • fx - jump to next occurrence of character x
  • tx - jump to before next occurrence of character x
  • Fx - jump to previous occurence of character x
  • Tx - jump to after previous occurence of character x
  • zz - center cursor on screen

Multiple Line Actions

  • gh - move cursor up to the pevious editor line
  • gj - move cursor down to the next editor line
  • g0 - jump to the beginning of the editor line
  • g^ - jump to the first non-blank character in the editor line
  • g$ - jump to the end of the editor line

Ctrl Actions

Moving Around

  • Ctrl + e - move screen down one line (without moving cursor)

  • Ctrl + y - move screen up one line (without moving cursor)

  • Ctrl + b - move back one full screen

  • Ctrl + f - move forward one full screen

  • Ctrl + d - move forward 1/2 a screen

  • Ctrl + u - move back 1/2 a screen

  • Tip: - Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines.

Insert Mode

  • Ctrl + h - delete the character before the cursor during insert mode
  • Ctrl + w - delete word before the cursor during insert mode
  • Ctrl + j - begin new line during insert mode
  • Ctrl + t - indent (move right) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
  • Ctrl + d - de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
  • Ctrl + n - insert (auto-complete) next match before the cursor during insert mode
  • Ctrl + p - insert (auto-complete) previous match before the cursor during insert mode
  • Ctrl + rx - insert the contents of register x

Window Actions

  • Ctrl + ws - split window
  • Ctrl + wv - split window vertically
  • Ctrl + ww - switch windows
  • Ctrl + wq - quit a window
  • Ctrl + wx - exchange current window with next one
  • Ctrl + w= - make all windows equal height & width
  • Ctrl + wh - move cursor to the left window (vertical split)
  • Ctrl + wl - move cursor to the right window (vertical split)
  • Ctrl + wj - move cursor to the window below (horizontal split)
  • Ctrl + wk - move cursor to the window above (horizontal split)

Editing Mode

Inserting and appending text

  • i - insert before the cursor
  • I - insert at the beginning of the line
  • a - insert (append) after the cursor
  • A - insert (append) at the end of the line
  • o - append (open) a new line below the current line
  • O - append (open) a new line above the current line
  • ea - insert (append) at the end of the word
  • Esc - exit insert mode

General Editing

  • r - replace a single character
  • J - join line below to the current one with one space in between
  • gJ - join line below to the current one without space in between
  • gwip - reflow paragraph
  • g~ - switch case up to motion
  • gu - change to lowercase up to motion
  • gU - change to uppercase up to motion
  • cc - change (replace) entire line
  • C - change (replace) to the end of the line
  • c$ - change (replace) to the end of the line
  • ciw - change (replace) entire word
  • cw - change (replace) to the end of the word
  • s - delete character and substitute text
  • S - delete line and substitute text (same as cc)
  • xp - transpose two letters (delete and paste)
  • u - undo
  • U - restore (undo) last changed line
  • Ctrl + r - redo
  • . - repeat last command

Marking text via visual mode

  • v - start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank)
  • V - start linewise visual mode
  • gv - start visual mode, recalling the previous selection
  • o - move to other end of marked area
  • Ctrl + v - start visual block mode
  • O - move to other corner of block
  • aw - mark a word
  • ab - a block with ()
  • aB - a block with {}
  • at - a block with <> tags
  • ib - inner block with ()
  • iB - inner block with {}
  • it - inner block with <> tags
  • Esc - exit visual mode
  • Tip: - Instead of b or B one can also use ( or { respectively.

Visual commands

  • > - shift text right
  • < - shift text left
  • y - yank (copy) marked text
  • d - delete marked text
  • ~ - switch case
  • u - change marked text to lowercase
  • U - change marked text to uppercase

Registers

  • :reg[isters] - show registers content

  • "xy` - yank into register x

  • "xp` - paste contents of register x

  • "+y` - yank into the system clipboard register

  • "+p` - paste from the system clipboard register

  • Tip - Registers are being stored in ~/.viminfo, and will be loaded again on next restart of vim.

Special registers

  •  0 - last yank
  •  " - unnamed register, last delete or yank
  •  % - current file name
  •  # - alternate file name
  •  * - clipboard contents (X11 primary)
  •  + - clipboard contents (X11 clipboard)
  •  / - last search pattern
  •  : - last command-line
  •  . - last inserted text
  •  - - last small (less than a line) delete
  •  = - expression register
  •  _ - black hole register

Marks and positions

  • :marks* - list of marks

  • ma - set current position for mark A

  • `a - jump to position of mark A

  • y`a - yank text to position of mark A

  • `0 - go to the position where Vim was previously exited

  • `" - go to the position when last editing this file

  • `. - go to the position of the last change in this file

  • `` -go to the position before the last jump

  • :ju[mps] - list of jumps

  • Ctrl + i - go to newer position in jump list

  • Ctrl + o - go to older position in jump list

  • :changes - list of changes

  • g, - go to newer position in change list

  • g; - go to older position in change list

  • Ctrl + ] - jump to the tag under cursor

  • Tip - To jump to a mark you can either use a backtick (`) or an apostrophe ('). Using an apostrophe jumps to the beginning (first non-black) of the line holding the mark.

Macros

  • qa - record macro a
  • q - stop recording macro
  • @a - run macro a
  • @@ - rerun last run macro

Cut and paste

  • yy - yank (copy) a line
  • 2yy - yank (copy) 2 lines
  • yw - yank (copy) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
  • y$ - yank (copy) to end of line
  • p - put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
  • P - put (paste) before cursor
  • dd - delete (cut) a line
  • 2dd - delete (cut) 2 lines
  • dw - delete (cut) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
  • D - delete (cut) to the end of the line
  • d$ - delete (cut) to the end of the line
  • x- delete (cut) character

Indent text

  • >> - indent (move right) line one shiftwidth
  • << - de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth
  • >% - indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
  • >ib - indent inner block with ()
  • >at - indent a block with <> tags
  • 3== - re-indent 3 lines
  • =% - re-indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
  • =iB - re-indent inner block with {}
  • gg=G - re-indent entire buffer
  • ]p - paste and adjust indent to current line

Exiting and Saving Files

  • :w - write (save) the file, but don't exit
  • :w!sudo tee % - write out the current file using sudo
  • :wq or :x or ZZ - write (save) and quit
  • :q - quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
  • :q! or ZQ - quit and throw away unsaved changes
  • :wqa - write (save) and quit on all tabs

Searching

Search and replace

  • /pattern - search for pattern
  • ?pattern - search backward for pattern
  • \vpattern - 'very magic' pattern: non-alphanumeric characters are interpreted as special regex symbols (no escaping needed)
  • n - repeat search in same direction
  • N - repeat search in opposite direction
  • :%s/old/new/g - replace all old with new throughout file
  • :%s/old/new/gc - replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations
  • :noh[lsearch] - remove highlighting of search matches

Search in multiple files

  • :vim[grep] /pattern/ {`{file}`}**** - search for pattern in multiple files ** e.g. :vim[grep] /foo/ **/*
  • :cn[ext] - jump to the next match
  • :cp[revious] - jump to the previous match
  • :cope[n] - open a window containing the list of matches
  • :ccl[ose] - close the quickfix window

Tabs

  • :tabnew or :tabnew {page.words.file} - open a file in a new tab
  • Ctrl + wT - move the current split window into its own tab
  • gt or :tabn[ext] - move to the next tab
  • gT or :tabp[revious] - move to the previous tab
  • #gt - move to tab number #
  • :tabm[ove] # - move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0)
  • :tabc[lose] - close the current tab and all its windows
  • :tabo[nly] - close all tabs except for the current one
  • :tabdo command - run the command on all tabs (e.g. :tabdo q - closes all opened tabs)

Working with multiple files

  • :e[dit] file - edit a file in a new buffer
  • :bn[ext] - go to the next buffer
  • :bp[revious] - go to the previous buffer
  • :bd[elete] - delete a buffer (close a file)
  • :b[uffer]# - go to a buffer by index #
  • :b[uffer] <file> - go to a buffer by <file> (_remove the "<>")
  • :ls or :buffers - list all open buffers
  • :sp[lit] <file> - open a <file> in a new buffer and split window
  • :vs[plit] <file> - open a <file> in a new buffer and vertically split window
  • :vert[ical] ba[ll] - edit all buffers as vertical windows
  • :tab ba[ll] - edit all buffers as tabs

Diff Operations

  • zf - manually define a fold up to motion
  • zd - delete fold under the cursor
  • za - toggle fold under the cursor
  • zo - open fold under the cursor
  • zc - close fold under the cursor
  • zr - reduce (open) all folds by one level
  • zm - fold more (close) all folds by one level
  • zi - toggle folding functionality
  • ]c- jump to start of next change
  • [c - jump to start of previous change
  • do or :diffg[et] - obtain (get) difference (from other buffer)
  • dp or :diffpu[t] - put difference (to other buffer)
  • :diffthis - make current window part of diff
  • :dif[fupdate] - update differences
  • :diffo[ff] - switch off diff mode for current window
  • Tip - The commands for folding (e.g. za) operate on one level. To operate on all levels, use uppercase letters (e.g. zA).
  • Tip - To view the differences of files, one can directly start Vim in diff mode by running vimdiff in a terminal. One can even set this as git difftool.