ViM Cheat Sheet

ViM - vi improved

• Key Points
• Shortcuts
• VimScript Style Guide

Key Points

• vi is the core editor available on every unix system
• basic knowledge of vi is a core skill for all unix / linux server administrators
• tonnes of plugins, highly extensible and widely used
• see my advanced .vimrc for all sorts of trips & tricks, hotkey linting and building, plugins etc.

vim testfile.txt

Starts in command mode. Below are mostly commands to remember since everything in insert mode is typed out literally.

Commands can often be used together in shorthand combinations or prefixed with a number to repeat the operation N times or for N lines.

Lowercase vs Capitals often do the opposite action / direction.

You can run the vimtutor command on unix or inside vim the command :help tutor to get an interactive tutorial.

Shortcuts

Keystrokes	Description
i	Enter insert mode to start typing
a	Enter insert mode after the current cursor position. Same as right and then i
I	Enter insert mode at beginning of line
A	Enter insert mode at end of line
yy	Copy entire line. 5yy copies the next 5 lines
dd	Delete entire line (also copies it in the buffer like yy)
dw	Delete until the next word. 3dw or d3w deletes the next 3 words
p	Paste last copied character after cursor, or last copied line underneath current line
P	Paste last copied line before current line, or last copied character before cursor
c	Change a character - deletes the character under the cursor and enters insert mode. Equivalent to x and then i
cw	Change word - deletes until the next word and enters insert mode
cc	Change line - deletes entire line and enters insert mode to type to replace it
c$ / C	Change until end of line - deletes to end of line and enters insert mode
o	Open a new line in insert mode below the current line
O	Open a new line in insert mode above the current line
Esc	Escape from insert mode back to command mode, or cancel the current combination of keystroke command
x	Delete the character under the cursor
u	Undo last character change
U	Undo all changes to last edited line
Ctrl + R	Redo
:help / :help topic	Open the help menu
Ctrl + ]	Jumps to the hyperlink (called tag in vim) denoted by |:something |
Ctrl + T	Go back from the hyperlink
:q	Quit / exit vim
:wq or ZZ	Write & quit
:w!	Force write
:q!	Force Quit, discarding changes
:wa	Write all open files
:wqa	Write all open files and quit
h / j / k / l	move cursor left / up / down / right, respectively. Just use the arrow keys on your keyboard instead, seriously
w	Jump forwards one word. Type 4w to jump forwards 4 words
b	Jump backwards one word
^ / 0	Jump to the start of the line. Remember ^ mean start of line anchor in regex too
$	Jump to the end of the line. Remember $ means the end of line anchor in regex too. 2$ takes you to the end of the next line
f	Search forwards on the current line for the next character you type and jumps there. Prefixing with a number will jump to the Nth occurrence
F	Search backwards on the current line for the next character you type and jump there
t	Search forwards until, same as f but stops cursor one character before
T	Search backwards until, same as F, but stops cursor one character after
gg	Jump to first line of file
G	Jump to last line of file
10G / :10	Jump to 10th line of file
|	Jump to column, without a prefix number jumps to start of line
Ctrl + G	Show the filename, line number and % through file in the bottom row status line
Ctrl + U	Jumps cursor up half a page
Ctrl + D	Jumps cursor down half a page
Ctrl + F	Moves the file forward down a page
Ctrl + B	Moves the file backwards up a page
.	Repeats the last command
J	Joins the current and next line
r	Replaces the character under the cursor with the next character you type. 5ra replaces the next 5 characters with aaaaa
~	Toggles the case of the character under the cursor. Hold to toggle through the letters of the word under the cursor

VimScript Style Guide

https://google.github.io/styleguide/vimscriptguide.xml