Vim

The Ultimate Vim Keyboard Reference

Vim's philosophy is based on modal editing and composable commands. This means you combine operators with motions to perform complex tasks efficiently. Mastering this concept is the key to unlocking Vim's power.

Core Concepts

• Modes:

  • Normal: The default mode for navigation, manipulation, and entering other modes. Press Esc to return here.
  • Insert: For typing new text.
  • Visual: For selecting text (character, line, or block).
  • Command-Line: For running commands that start with : (e.g., save, quit), / (search), or ? (search).

• The Command Structure: [operator][count][motion]

  • Operator: An action, like d (delete) or y (yank/copy).
  • Count: A number to repeat the action/motion (e.g., 8).
  • Motion: A movement command (e.g., k for up, w for word).
  • Example: d2w means delete 2 words.

The Absolute Essentials

• Enter Insert Mode:
  • i: insert before the cursor.
  • a: append after the cursor.
  • I: Insert at the beginning of the line.
  • A: Append at the end of the line.
  • o: Open a new line below and enter Insert mode.
  • O: Open a new line above and enter Insert mode.
• Return to Normal Mode: Esc or Ctrl+[
• Undo/Redo: u (undo), Ctrl+r (redo).
• Saving & Quitting:
  • :w: write (save).
  • :q: quit.
  • :wq or :x: Write and quit.
  • :q!: Quit without saving changes.
  • :w [filename]: Write to a new file (Save As).

Movement (Normal Mode)

• Basic: h (left), j (down), k (up), l (right).
• With a Count: 8k (move up 8 lines), 4l (move right 4 characters).
• Word:
  • w: Move to the start of the next word.
  • b: Move back to the start of the previous word.
  • e: Move to the end of the current word.
  • W, B, E: Same as above, but for space-separated "WORDS".
• Line:
  • 0: Move to the first column of the line.
  • ^: Move to the first non-whitespace character.
  • $: Move to the end of the line.
• File & Screen:
  • gg: Go to the first line of the file.
  • G: Go to the last line of the file.
  • [number]G: Go to line [number] (e.g., 50G).
  • H: Move to the High/top of the screen.
  • M: Move to the Middle of the screen.
  • L: Move to the Low/bottom of the screen.
• Paging:
  • Ctrl+d / Ctrl+f: Move down/ forward a half/full page.
  • Ctrl+u / Ctrl+b: Move up/ backward a half/full page.
• Text Objects:
  • ( / ): Move to the previous/next sentence.
  • { / }: Move to the previous/next paragraph.
  • %: Jump to a matching bracket, parenthesis, or brace ([], (), {}).

Editing Text (Normal Mode)

• Delete/Cut (d):
  • dd: Delete the current line. 5dd deletes 5 lines.
  • dw: Delete one word.
  • d$: Delete to the end of the line.
  • x: Delete character under the cursor. 5x deletes 5 characters.
  • X: Backspace (delete character before the cursor).
  • "_d: Delete without copying (black hole register).
• Yank/Copy (y):
  • yy: Yank the current line. 2yy yanks 2 lines.
  • yw: Yank one word.
  • y$: Yank to the end of the line.
• Paste (p):
  • p: paste after the cursor.
  • P: Paste before the cursor.
• Change (c): Deletes text and enters Insert Mode.
  • cc or S: Change the entire line.
  • cw: Change word.
  • c$: Change to the end of the line.
  • s: Substitute one character and enter Insert mode.
• Replace (r):
  • r[char]: replace the character under the cursor with [char].
  • R: Enter Replace mode, overwriting text until Esc is pressed.
• Indentation:
  • >> / <<: Indent / un-indent the current line.
  • =motion: Auto-indent a range (e.g., =G, =}).
• Case Changing:
  • ~: Toggle case of the character under the cursor.
  • g~motion: Toggle case over a range.
  • gu[motion]: Lowercase over motion.
  • gU[motion]: Uppercase over motion.
• Other:
  • .: Repeat the last single change.
  • J: Join the line below to the current one.

Registers (Clipboards)

• "* / "+: System clipboard (copy/paste between Vim and OS).
• "0: Default yank register.
• "a–"z: Named registers.
• "_: Black hole register (delete without yanking).
• Use " + [register] with any command:
  • Example: "ap pastes from register a, "_dd deletes without overwriting yank.

Visual Mode (Selecting Text)

Enter from Normal Mode, then use a motion to select, and an operator (d, y, c, >) to act on the selection.

• Enter Modes:
  • v: Start visual mode (character-wise).
  • V: Start line-wise Visual mode.
  • Ctrl+v: Start block-wise (column) Visual mode.
• Example (Block Mode):
  1. Go to the first character of a block of lines you want to comment out.
  2. Press Ctrl+v.
  3. Press j several times to select down the column.
  4. Press I (Insert at beginning of line selection).
  5. Type your comment character (e.g., #).
  6. Press Esc. The character will be inserted on all selected lines.

Command-Line Mode

• Search (/, ?):
  • /pattern: Search forward.
  • ?pattern: Search backward.
  • n / N: Go to the next / previous occurrence.
  • * / #: Search forward / backward for the word currently under the cursor.
• Search and Replace:
  • :%s/old/new/g: In the whole file (%), substitute all (g) occurrences of old with new.
  • Flags: Add c for confirm each replacement (/gc). Add i for case-insensitive (/gi).
• Shell Commands: :! [command] (e.g., :!ls -la).
• Read File: :r [filename] (reads content of [filename] into the buffer).
• Help: :help [topic] (e.g., :help motion).
• Repeat Last Command: @: re-runs the last command-line command.

Window & Tab Management

• Window Splits:
  • :split or Ctrl+w s: Horizontal split.
  • :vsplit or Ctrl+w v: Vertical split.
  • Ctrl+w + h/j/k/l: Move between splits.
  • Ctrl+w w: Cycle through windows.
  • Ctrl+w q: Close the active window. :qa to quit all.
• Tabs:
  • :tabnew or :tabe [filename]: Open a new tab.
  • gt: Go to the next tab.
  • gT: Go to the previous tab.
  • [number]gt: Go to tab number [number].
  • :tabc: Close the current tab.

Advanced & Miscellaneous

• Macros:
  • q[register]: Start recording a macro into a register (e.g., qa).
  • q: Stop recording.
  • @[register]: Execute the macro (e.g., @a). @@ to repeat the last executed macro.
• Marks:
  • m[char]: Create a mark named [char] at the cursor position (e.g., ma).
  • `[char]: Jump to the exact position of the mark.
  • '[char]: Jump to the beginning of the line containing the mark.
• Repeat Tools:
  • .: Repeat the last change.
  • @@: Repeat the last macro.
  • @:: Repeat the last command-line command.
  • gv: Reselect the last visual selection.

Customization

• Your Config File:

  • Vim: ~/.vimrc
  • Neovim: ~/.config/nvim/init.vim

• Recommended Settings:

  set number              " Show line numbers
  set relativenumber      " Relative line numbers
  set tabstop=4           " Display width of tab character
  set shiftwidth=4        " Indent size
  set expandtab           " Convert tabs to spaces
  set clipboard=unnamedplus " Use system clipboard
  syntax on               " Enable syntax highlighting
  

• Example Mappings:

  nnoremap <Space> :nohlsearch<CR>   " Clear search highlight
  nnoremap <leader>w :w<CR>          " Save with <leader>w
  

  Your personal settings and custom keybinds live in ~/.vimrc (for Vim) or ~/.config/nvim/init.vim (for Neovim). Here you can set number for line numbers, change color schemes, and remap any key to any action.