Vim

Vim Command Guide

This guide covers the most useful Vim commands for real day-to-day work.

1. Vim Modes

Mode	What it does	Enter	Exit
Normal	Navigate, edit, run commands	`Esc`	N/A
Insert	Type text	`i`, `a`, `o`, `I`, `A`, `O`	`Esc`
Visual	Select text	`v`, `V`, `Ctrl-v`	`Esc`
Command-line	Run `:` commands, search	`:`, `/`, `?`	`Enter` or `Esc`

2. Open, Save, Quit

Command	Action
`vim file.txt`	Open file
`:e file.txt`	Open another file
`:w`	Save
`:w newname.txt`	Save as
`:q`	Quit
`:q!`	Quit without saving
`:wq`	Save and quit
`:x`	Save and quit only if changed
`ZZ`	Save and quit (Normal mode)
`:wa`	Save all open files
`:qa`	Quit all
`:qa!`	Force quit all

3. Movement (Core Productivity)

Basic movement

Command	Action
`h` `j` `k` `l`	Left, down, up, right
`w` / `W`	Next word start
`b` / `B`	Previous word start
`e` / `E`	End of word
`0`	Start of line
`^`	First non-blank in line
`$`	End of line
`gg`	Start of file
`G`	End of file
`42G`	Go to line 42
`%`	Jump to matching `()[]{}`

Fast character and line jumps

Command	Action
`fX`	Find character `X` forward
`FX`	Find character `X` backward
`tX`	Move before `X`
`TX`	Move after `X` backward
`;`	Repeat last `f/F/t/T`
`,`	Repeat last `f/F/t/T` opposite direction

Screen movement

Command	Action
`Ctrl-d` / `Ctrl-u`	Half-page down/up
`Ctrl-f` / `Ctrl-b`	Full-page down/up
`zz`	Center current line
`zt`	Current line to top
`zb`	Current line to bottom
`H` / `M` / `L`	Top/middle/bottom visible line

4. Insert and Replace

Command	Action
`i`	Insert before cursor
`a`	Insert after cursor
`I`	Insert at first non-blank
`A`	Insert at end of line
`o`	New line below
`O`	New line above
`rX`	Replace one character with `X`
`R`	Replace mode (overwrite until `Esc`)

5. Editing Operators (Most Important Concept)

Pattern: operator + motion Example: dw = delete to next word.

Operators

Command	Action
`d`	Delete
`c`	Change (delete then insert)
`y`	Yank (copy)
`gU`	Uppercase
`gu`	Lowercase
`>`	Indent right
`<`	Indent left
`=`	Auto-indent

High-value combos

Command	Action
`dd`	Delete line
`cc`	Change entire line
`yy`	Yank line
`D`	Delete to end of line
`C`	Change to end of line
`x`	Delete character under cursor
`X`	Delete character before cursor
`s`	Substitute char and enter Insert
`J`	Join line below with space
`gJ`	Join without adding space

6. Text Objects (Essential)

Pattern: operator + text object Examples: ciw, di(, ya".

Command	Action
`iw` / `aw`	Inner word / around word
`iW` / `aW`	Inner WORD / around WORD
`i"` / `a"`	Inside quotes / around quotes
`i'` / `a'`	Inside single quotes / around
`i(` / `a(`	Inside parentheses / around
`i[` / `a[`	Inside brackets / around
`i{` / `a{`	Inside braces / around
`it` / `at`	Inside tag / around tag
`ip` / `ap`	Inner paragraph / around paragraph

7. Visual Mode

Command	Action
`v`	Character-wise selection
`V`	Line-wise selection
`Ctrl-v`	Block (column) selection
`o`	Switch selection end
`gv`	Reselect previous visual selection
`d` / `c` / `y`	Delete/change/yank selection
`>` / `<`	Indent selection
`gU` / `gu`	Upper/lowercase selection

8. Copy, Paste, Registers, Clipboard

Command	Action
`p` / `P`	Paste after / before cursor
`"ayy`	Yank line into register `a`
`"ap`	Paste register `a`
`:reg`	Show registers
`"+y`	Yank to system clipboard
`"+p`	Paste from system clipboard

9. Undo, Redo, Repeat

Command	Action
`u`	Undo
`Ctrl-r`	Redo
`.`	Repeat last change
`5.`	Repeat last change 5 times
`g-` / `g+`	Move older/newer in undo tree

10. Search and Replace

Search navigation

Command	Action
`/pattern`	Search forward
`?pattern`	Search backward
`n` / `N`	Next / previous match
`*` / `#`	Search current word forward/backward
`:nohlsearch` or `:noh`	Clear highlighted matches

Substitute

Command	Action
`:s/old/new/`	Replace first match in current line
`:s/old/new/g`	Replace all matches in current line
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all matches in file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace all with confirm
`:'<,'>s/old/new/g`	Replace in visual selection

Useful search settings

Command	Action
`:set hlsearch`	Highlight matches
`:set incsearch`	Show match while typing
`:set ignorecase`	Case-insensitive by default
`:set smartcase`	Case-sensitive when uppercase used

11. Buffers, Windows, Tabs

Buffers (open files in memory)

Command	Action
`:ls` or `:buffers`	List buffers
`:bnext` / `:bprev`	Next/previous buffer
`:b 3`	Switch to buffer 3
`:bd`	Delete current buffer
`:e!`	Reload file, discard unsaved edits

Windows (splits)

Command	Action
`:split`	Horizontal split
`:vsplit`	Vertical split
`Ctrl-w h/j/k/l`	Move between splits
`Ctrl-w w`	Cycle splits
`Ctrl-w q`	Close split
`Ctrl-w o`	Keep only current split
`Ctrl-w =`	Equalize split sizes
`Ctrl-w +` / `Ctrl-w -`	Resize height
`Ctrl-w >` / `Ctrl-w <`	Resize width

Tabs

Command	Action
`:tabnew`	New tab
`:tabedit file.txt`	Open file in new tab
`gt` / `gT`	Next/previous tab
`:tabn` / `:tabp`	Next/previous tab
`:tabclose`	Close tab
`:tabonly`	Keep only current tab

12. Marks, Jumps, Change Navigation

Command	Action
`ma`	Set mark `a`
`a	Jump to exact mark position
`'a`	Jump to mark line
`:marks`	List marks
`Ctrl-o` / `Ctrl-i`	Back/forward in jump list
`g;` / `g,`	Older/newer in change list

13. Macros (Automation)

Command	Action
`qa`	Start recording macro in register `a`
`q`	Stop recording
`@a`	Run macro in register `a`
`@@`	Re-run last macro
`10@a`	Run macro 10 times

14. Indentation and Formatting

Command	Action
`>>` / `<<`	Indent/unindent line
`>G`	Indent from cursor to end of file
`=%`	Re-indent matching block
`gg=G`	Re-indent whole file

15. Folding

Command	Action
`za`	Toggle fold
`zo` / `zc`	Open/close fold
`zR` / `zM`	Open all / close all folds
`zf{motion}`	Create fold over motion
`zd`	Delete one fold

16. Command-line Ranges and Global Edits

Command	Action
`:1,10d`	Delete lines 1-10
`:%d`	Delete all lines
`:g/pattern/d`	Delete lines matching pattern
`:v/pattern/d`	Delete lines not matching pattern
`:%!sort`	Filter whole file through `sort` command

17. Line Endings and `^M`

^M means carriage return (\r) is present.

Command	Action
`:set ff?`	Show file format (`unix` or `dos`)
`:%s/\r$//`	Remove trailing `\r` on all lines
`:set ff=unix`	Save with LF endings
`:set ff=dos`	Save with CRLF endings
`:set list`	Show invisible characters
`:set nolist`	Hide invisible characters

18. Built-in Help

Command	Action
`:help`	Open help
`:h {topic}`	Help for topic
`:h :s`	Help for substitute command
`:h w`	Help for `w` motion
`:h text-objects`	Help for text objects
`Ctrl-]`	Jump to help tag under cursor
`Ctrl-o`	Jump back from help

19. Minimal Starter Vim Config

Use _vimrc on Windows, ~/.vimrc on Linux/macOS.

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set number
set relativenumber
set hlsearch
set incsearch
set ignorecase
set smartcase
set expandtab
set shiftwidth=2
set tabstop=2
set autoindent
set clipboard=unnamedplus
set undofile

## 20. High-ROI Commands to Memorize First

1. i, a, o, Esc
2. w, b, 0, $, gg, G
3. dd, yy, p, u, Ctrl-r
4. ciw, di(, yi"
5. /pattern, n, :%s/old/new/gc
6. :w, :q, :wq, :q!
7. :vsplit, Ctrl-w h/j/k/l
8. qa, @a, .

Linux

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