How to exit vim

Below are some simple methods for exiting vim.

For real vim (and hacking) tips, follow hakluke and tomnomnom on twitter.

The simple way

Credit: @tomnomnom

:!ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

The ps-less way

Credit: @tomnomnom

:!kill -9 $(find /proc -name "cmdline" 2>/dev/null | while read procfile; do if grep -Pa '^vim\x00' "$procfile" &>/dev/null; then echo $procfile; fi; done | awk -F'/' '{print $3}' | sort -u)

The ps-less way using status files

Credit: @hakluke

:!find /proc -name status | while read file; do echo "$file: "; cat $file | grep vim; done | grep -B1 vim | grep -v Name | while read line; do sed 's/^\/proc\///g' | sed 's/\/.*//g'; done | xargs kill -9

The ps-less process tree way

Credit: @kpumuk

:!grep -P "PPid:\t(\d+)" /proc/$$/status | cut -f2 | xargs kill -9

The pythonic way

Credit: @hakluke

:py3 import os,signal;from subprocess import check_output;os.kill(int(check_output(["pidof","vim"]).decode
('utf-8')),signal.SIGTERM)

The Colon-less way

Credit: @w181496

In insert mode:

<C-R>=system("ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9")

The remote way

Credit: @eur0pa

In vi:

:%!( key="kill-vi-$RANDOM"; nc -l 8888 | if grep $key; then pgrep '^vi$' | xargs kill; fi; ) &

Remotely:

$ while true; do curl http://vi-host:8888/kill-vi-$RANDOM; done

vi will eventually exit

Locally (the cheaty, lazy way, why even bother):

$ curl "http://localhost:8888/$(ps aux | grep -E -o 'kill-vi-[0-9]+')"

The hardware way

Credit: @Jorengarenar

Pull the plug out

The timeout way

Credit: @aarongorka

Before running vim, make sure to set a timeout:

$ timeout 600 vim

Never forget to set a timeout again:

$ alias vim='timeout 600 vim'

Make sure to save regularly.

The Russian Roulette timeout way

When you want to spice things up a bit:

$ timeout $RANDOM vim

The physics way

Credit: @eyemyth

Accumulate a sufficient amount of entropy.

The reboot way

Credit: @tctovsli In vi:

:!sudo reboot

The using vim against itself way (executing the buffer)

Open Vim to empty buffer and type:

i:qa!<esc>Y:@"<cr>

The AppleScript way

Credit: @dbalatero In Mac terminal vi:

Replace "iTerm" with your terminal application of choice:

:let script="activate application \"iTerm\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n  keystroke \":\"\n  keystroke \"q\"\n  keystroke \"a\"\n  keystroke \"!\"\n  key code 36\nend tell" | call writefile(split(script, "\n", 1), '/tmp/exit-vim.scpt', 'b') | !osascript /tmp/exit-vim.scpt

The Mac Activity Monitor way

Credit: @dbalatero

let script="activate application \"Activity Monitor\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n\tkeystroke \"f\" using {option down, command down}\n\tkeystroke \"vim\"\n\n\ttell process \"Activity Monitor\"\n\t\ttell outline 1 of scroll area 1 of window 1\n\t\t\tselect row 1\n\n\t\t\tkeystroke \"q\" using {option down, command down}\n\t\t\tkey code 36\n\t\tend tell\n\tend tell\nend tell\n" | call writefile(split(script, "\n", 1), '/tmp/exit-vim.scpt', 'b') | !osascript /tmp/exit-vim.scpt

The Passive Way

Walk away.

The Passive-Agressive Way

!bash -c "💣(){ 💣|💣& };💣"

...then walk away. (n.b. That's a fork bomb, please don't try at home.)

The Microsoft Way

Credit: @cheezmeister

!powershell.exe /c "get-process gvim | stop-process"

The C way

Credit: @dbalatero

:let script=['#define _POSIX_SOURCE', '#include <signal.h>', '', "int main() {", "  kill(" . getpid() . ", SIGKILL);", '  return 0;', '}'] | call writefile(script, '/tmp/exit_vim.c', 'b') | execute "!gcc /tmp/exit_vim.c -o /tmp/exit_vim" | execute "! /tmp/exit_vim"

The Emacs way

Credit: @dbalatero

:let command='emacs --batch --eval=''(shell-command "kill -9 ' . getpid() . '")'' --kill' | execute "!" . command

The Vim way

Credit: @david50407

:let command='vim ''+\\!kill -9 ' . getpid() . ''' +qall -es' | execute "!" . command

The Client-Server way

Credit: @tartansandal

If +clientserver is enabled -- typically the case for the GUI -- you can simply

:!gvim --remote-send ':q\!<CR>'

The Yolo Way

Credit: @ryanc

Don't run this, it could break your computer.

:!echo b | sudo tee -a /proc/sysrq-trigger

The Abstinence Method

Credit: @ryanc

$ alias vim=/bin/true

The shortest way

Credit: @MasterDevX

:!x=$(echo "c"); x=$x$(echo "G"); x=$x$(echo "t"); x=$x$(echo "p"); x=$x$(echo "b"); x=$x$(echo "G"); x=$x$(echo "w"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "L"); x=$x$(echo "V"); x=$x$(echo "N"); x=$x$(echo "U"); x=$x$(echo "T"); x=$x$(echo "1"); x=$x$(echo "A"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "d"); x=$x$(echo "m"); x=$x$(echo "l"); x=$x$(echo "t"); x=$x$(echo "C"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "="); x=$x$(echo "="); $(echo $x | base64 --decode)

The suspend way

Credit: @theBenRaskin

^Z ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

The Minimal, Open-Source way

Credit: @Jbwasse2

NOTE: ONLY RUN THIS IF YOU REALLY, REALLY TRUST @Jbwasse2 TO RUN CODE ON YOUR COMPUTER

:silent !git clone https://github.com/Jbwasse2/exit_vim_script.git ^@ source exit_vim_script/exit_vim

The Webmaster Way

Credit: @dosisod

:!echo "<?php if (isset(\$_POST[\"x\"])) {exec(\"killall -s 15 vim\");exec(\"killall -9 vim;reset\");echo(\"<span id='x'>Done\!</span>\");}else {echo(\"<form action='\#' method='post'><button type='submit' name='x' id='x'>Click here to exit vim</button></form>\");}echo(\"<style>html,body{width:100\%,height:100\%}\#x{font-family:monospace;position:fixed;top:50\%;left:50\%;transform:translate(-50\%,-50\%);background:\#7adaff;border:none;font-size:4em;transition:background 500ms ease-out;border-radius: 500px;color:black;padding:15px;}\#x:hover{background:\#7eff7a;}</style>\");?>">index.php;php -S 0.0.0.0:1234&disown;firefox --new-window 0.0.0.0:1234&disown

The Docker way

Credit: @tartansandal

If you run Vim in a docker container like:

docker run --rm -it --name my-vim -v `pwd`:/root thinkca/vim

then you would normally exit vim by stopping the associated container:

docker stop my-vim

The Kernel way

Credit: @idoasher

run vim as root and run this when you want to exit:

:!printf "\#include <linux/init.h>\n\#include <linux/module.h>\n\#include <linux/sched/signal.h>\n\#include <linux/string.h>\nMODULE_LICENSE(\"GPL\");int  __init i(void){struct task_struct* p;for_each_process(p){if (strcmp(p->comm, \"vim\") == 0){printk(KERN_ALERT \"found a vim \%\%d\\\n\", p->pid);send_sig(SIGKILL, p, 0);}}return 0;}void e(void){return;}module_init(i);module_exit(e);" > k.c; printf "ifneq (\$(KERNELRELEASE),)\n\tobj-m   := k.o\nelse\n\tKERNELDIR ?= /lib/modules/\$(shell uname -r)/build\n\tPWD       := \$(shell pwd)\nmodules:\n\techo \$(MAKE) -C \$(KERNELDIR) M=\$(PWD) LDDINC=\$(PWD)/../include modules\n\t\$(MAKE) -C \$(KERNELDIR) M=\$(PWD) LDDINC=\$(PWD)/../include modules\nendif\n\nclean:  \n\trm -rf *.o *~ core .depend *.mod.o .*.cmd *.ko *.mod.c \\\\\n\t.tmp_versions *.markers *.symvers modules.order\n\ndepend .depend dep:\n\t\$(CC) \$(CFLAGS) -M *.c > .depend\n\nifeq (.depend,\$(wildcard .depend))\n\tinclude .depend\nendif" >Makefile; make; insmod k.ko; rmmod k.ko; make clean; rm k.c Makefile

The Android way

Credit: @deletescape

Close the Termux app.

The extreme Android way

Credit: @deletescape

Run vim inside Termux and run this when you want to exit:

:!su -c killall zygote

The JavaScript way

const ps = require('ps-node');

ps.lookup({ command: 'vim' }, function(error, resultList) {
  resultList.forEach(function(process) {
    if (process) {
      ps.kill(process.pid);
    }
  });
});

The Kubernetes way

Credit: @Evalle

If you run Vim in Kubernetes pod like:

kubectl run --generator=run-pod/v1 --rm -it my-vim  --image=thinkca/vim

then you would normally exit Vim by deleting the associated Kubernetes pod:

kubectl delete po my-vim

The Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim... inside of Vim way

Credit: @maxattax97

:while 1 | execute "terminal vim" | call feedkeys("i:terminal vim\<CR>") | endwhile

Let "automatic garbage collector" do it for you

Credit: @artem-nefedov

Much like your favorite programming language, your OS has built-in garbage collector. It will close stuff for you, so you don't have to.

^Z
$ disown

Now it's not your problem anymore. Process will close automatically upon next reboot/shutdown.

The Product Manager way

Credit: @mqchen

Create new Jira issue.
Set priority to A - Critical.
Assign to random team member.

The Experienced Product Manager way

Credit: @mqchen

Create new Jira issue.
Set priority to A - Critical, Epic link and Components.
Write Given-When-Then acceptance criteras.
Schedule estimation workshop meeting.
Conduct estimation meeting with Planning Poker cards.
Prioritize in next sprint.
Assign to random team member.
Conduct acceptance test.
Review burn down chart together with the team.
Schedule retrospective.

The tmux way

Credit: @vcoutasso

Inside a tmux session:

Ctrl+B :kill-session

alternatively

Ctrl+B x y

Note that Ctrl+B is the default prefix. For different prefixes, the command must be adjusted accordingly.

The Intern way

Credit: @johnoct

Don't even try to exit on your own
Ask Senior right away

The debugger way

Credit: @serjepatoff

Linux

$ gdb `which vim`
(gdb) r <Enter>
Ctrl-Z q <Enter> y <Enter>

Mac

$ lldb `which vim`
(lldb) r <Enter>
Ctrl-C q <Enter> <Enter>

The test driven development way

Credit: @axelf4

:echom test_null_list()

erikdw/how-to-exit-vim

How to exit vim

The simple way

The ps-less way

The ps-less way using status files

The ps-less process tree way

The pythonic way

The Colon-less way

The remote way

The hardware way

The timeout way

The Russian Roulette timeout way

The physics way

The reboot way

The using vim against itself way (executing the buffer)

The AppleScript way

The Mac Activity Monitor way

The Passive Way

The Passive-Agressive Way

The Microsoft Way

The C way

The Emacs way

The Vim way

The Client-Server way

The Yolo Way

The Abstinence Method

The shortest way

The suspend way

The Minimal, Open-Source way

The Webmaster Way

The Docker way

The Kernel way

The Android way

The extreme Android way

The JavaScript way

The Kubernetes way

The Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim... inside of Vim way

Let "automatic garbage collector" do it for you

The Product Manager way

The Experienced Product Manager way

The tmux way

The Intern way

The debugger way

The test driven development way