Vim cheatsheet

Searchable reference of Vim motions, text objects, editing, search and replace, registers, macros, windows and buffers.

Section

248 of 248 entries

Vim keys and commands
Section	Keys	Description
Modes	i	Insert before the cursor.
Modes	a	Insert after the cursor (append).
Modes	I	Insert at the first non-blank character of the line.
Modes	A	Append at the end of the line.
Modes	o	Open a new line below and insert.
Modes	O	Open a new line above and insert.
Modes	gi	Insert where you last left insert mode.
Modes	Esc	Back to normal mode (Ctrl-[ does the same).
Modes	v	Visual mode, character-wise.
Modes	V	Visual mode, line-wise.
Modes	Ctrl-v	Visual block mode (columns).
Modes	R	Replace mode: typed characters overwrite existing ones.
Modes	:	Command-line mode for ex commands.
Motions	h j k l	Left, down, up, right.
Motions	w	Start of the next word.
Motions	W	Start of the next WORD (whitespace-separated).
Motions	b	Back to the start of the word.
Motions	B	Back to the start of the WORD.
Motions	e	End of the word.
Motions	ge	End of the previous word.
Motions	0	Start of the line.
Motions	^	First non-blank character of the line.
Motions	$	End of the line.
Motions	g_	Last non-blank character of the line.
Motions	gg	First line of the file.
Motions	G	Last line of the file.
Motions	{n}G	Go to line n, e.g. 42G (or :42).
Motions	{ }	Previous or next paragraph (blank line).
Motions	( )	Previous or next sentence.
Motions	%	Jump to the matching bracket: (), [] or {}.
Motions	f{char}	Forward to the next {char} on the line.
Motions	F{char}	Backward to the previous {char} on the line.
Motions	t{char}	Forward to just before {char}.
Motions	T{char}	Backward to just after {char}.
Motions	; ,	Repeat the last f, F, t or T forward or backward.
Motions	H M L	Top, middle or bottom of the screen.
Motions	Ctrl-d Ctrl-u	Scroll half a page down or up.
Motions	Ctrl-f Ctrl-b	Scroll a full page forward or back.
Motions	Ctrl-e Ctrl-y	Scroll the view one line without moving the cursor.
Motions	zz	Centre the cursor line on screen (zt top, zb bottom).
Motions	gj gk	Down or up by screen line when lines wrap.
Text objects	iw	Inner word, e.g. ciw changes the word under the cursor.
Text objects	aw	A word plus the space after it, e.g. daw.
Text objects	iW aW	Inner WORD or a WORD (whitespace-separated).
Text objects	is as	Inner sentence or a sentence.
Text objects	ip	Inner paragraph, e.g. yip copies the paragraph.
Text objects	ap	A paragraph plus the blank line after it.
Text objects	i" a"	Inside or around double quotes, e.g. ci" replaces a string.
Text objects	i' a'	Inside or around single quotes.
Text objects	i` a`	Inside or around backticks.
Text objects	i( a(	Inside or around parentheses (also ib and ab).
Text objects	i{ a{	Inside or around braces (also iB and aB).
Text objects	i[ a[	Inside or around square brackets.
Text objects	i< a<	Inside or around angle brackets.
Text objects	it at	Inside or around an XML/HTML tag, e.g. dit empties a tag.
Operators	d{motion}	Delete, e.g. dw, d$, dap. The text goes to the unnamed register.
Operators	c{motion}	Change: delete then enter insert mode, e.g. cw, ci(.
Operators	y{motion}	Yank (copy), e.g. yw, yi".
Operators	dd	Delete the line (3dd deletes three).
Operators	cc	Change the whole line.
Operators	yy	Yank the line.
Operators	>{motion}	Indent, e.g. >ip. >> indents the current line.
Operators	<{motion}	Unindent. << unindents the current line.
Operators	={motion}	Re-indent, e.g. =ip or gg=G for the whole file.
Operators	gu{motion}	Lowercase, e.g. guiw.
Operators	gU{motion}	Uppercase, e.g. gUiw.
Operators	g~{motion}	Toggle case.
Operators	gq{motion}	Reflow text to textwidth, e.g. gqip.
Operators	!{motion}{filter}	Filter lines through a shell command, e.g. !ip sort.
Operators	dG	Delete to the end of the file.
Operators	d/{pattern}	Delete up to the next match of a pattern.
Operators	{n}{operator}{motion}	Counts multiply: 2d3w deletes six words.
Editing	x	Delete the character under the cursor.
Editing	X	Delete the character before the cursor.
Editing	r{char}	Replace one character.
Editing	s	Delete the character and insert (substitute).
Editing	S	Clear the line and insert (same as cc).
Editing	C	Change to the end of the line.
Editing	D	Delete to the end of the line.
Editing	J	Join the line below, with a space.
Editing	gJ	Join the line below, without adding a space.
Editing	~	Toggle the case of the character under the cursor.
Editing	p	Put (paste) after the cursor or below the line.
Editing	P	Put before the cursor or above the line.
Editing	]p	Put and adjust the indent to the current line.
Editing	u	Undo.
Editing	Ctrl-r	Redo.
Editing	.	Repeat the last change.
Editing	Ctrl-a Ctrl-x	Increment or decrement the number under or after the cursor.
Editing	xp	Swap two characters.
Editing	ddp	Swap the line with the one below.
Editing	:earlier 10m	Restore the file as it was 10 minutes ago (:later to go forward).
Insert mode	Ctrl-w	Delete the word before the cursor.
Insert mode	Ctrl-u	Delete everything typed on the line before the cursor.
Insert mode	Ctrl-t Ctrl-d	Indent or unindent the line.
Insert mode	Ctrl-n Ctrl-p	Complete a word from the open buffers (next or previous match).
Insert mode	Ctrl-x Ctrl-f	Complete a file name.
Insert mode	Ctrl-x Ctrl-l	Complete a whole line.
Insert mode	Ctrl-x Ctrl-o	Omni completion (language-aware, if the filetype supports it).
Insert mode	Ctrl-r {register}	Insert the contents of a register, e.g. Ctrl-r " or Ctrl-r +.
Insert mode	Ctrl-o {command}	Run one normal-mode command and return to insert mode.
Insert mode	Ctrl-v {char}	Insert a character literally, e.g. a real Tab.
Insert mode	Ctrl-v u{hex}	Insert a Unicode character by code, e.g. Ctrl-v u20ac for €.
Insert mode	Ctrl-k {char}{char}	Insert a digraph, e.g. Ctrl-k e: for ë (:digraphs lists them).
Visual mode	o	Move to the other end of the selection.
Visual mode	gv	Reselect the previous selection.
Visual mode	vip	Select the paragraph (any text object works after v).
Visual mode	y d c	Yank, delete or change the selection.
Visual mode	> <	Indent or unindent the selected lines.
Visual mode	u U	Lowercase or uppercase the selection.
Visual mode	J	Join the selected lines.
Visual mode	p	Replace the selection with the register; the old text goes into the unnamed register.
Visual mode	P	Replace the selection without overwriting the unnamed register.
Visual mode	r{char}	Replace every selected character with {char}.
Visual mode	Ctrl-v … I	Block mode: insert text before the block on every line, then press Esc.
Visual mode	Ctrl-v … $A	Block mode: append text at the end of every selected line.
Visual mode	Ctrl-v … c	Block mode: change the block on every line.
Visual mode	g Ctrl-a	Turn the selected numbers into an incrementing sequence.
Visual mode	:	Run an ex command on the selected lines (:'<,'>).
Search & replace	/{pattern}	Search forward.
Search & replace	?{pattern}	Search backward.
Search & replace	n N	Next or previous match.
Search & replace	* #	Search forward or backward for the whole word under the cursor.
Search & replace	g* g#	Like * and #, but also match inside longer words.
Search & replace	cgn	Change the next match; then press . to repeat on the following ones.
Search & replace	:noh	Clear search highlighting until the next search.
Search & replace	:s/old/new/	Replace the first match on the current line.
Search & replace	:s/old/new/g	Replace every match on the current line.
Search & replace	:%s/old/new/g	Replace in the whole file.
Search & replace	:%s/old/new/gc	Replace in the whole file, confirming each one.
Search & replace	:%s/\<word\>/new/g	Replace whole words only.
Search & replace	:'<,'>s/old/new/g	Replace within the visual selection.
Search & replace	:%s//new/g	Replace the last search pattern.
Search & replace	:%s/\s\+$//e	Remove trailing whitespace (e: no error if none).
Search & replace	&	Repeat the last :s on the current line (g& on every line).
Search & replace	\v	Very magic: most punctuation is special, as in other regex flavours, e.g. /\v(foo\|bar)+.
Search & replace	\c	Make this search case-insensitive, e.g. /\cerror.
Search & replace	:set ignorecase smartcase	Case-insensitive search unless the pattern has an uppercase letter.
Search & replace	:g/{pattern}/d	Delete every line that matches.
Search & replace	:v/{pattern}/d	Delete every line that does not match (same as :g!).
Search & replace	:g/{pattern}/normal {keys}	Run normal-mode keys on every matching line.
Search & replace	:vimgrep /{pattern}/ */.js	Search files; results go to the quickfix list (:copen).
Search & replace	:cnext :cprev	Next or previous quickfix entry.
Search & replace	:cdo s/old/new/g \| update	Run a replacement on every quickfix entry and save.
Registers	"{a-z}y{motion}	Yank into a named register, e.g. "ayy.
Registers	"{A-Z}y{motion}	Append to a named register, e.g. "Ayy.
Registers	"{a-z}p	Put from a named register, e.g. "ap.
Registers	"+y "+p	Yank to or put from the system clipboard (needs +clipboard).
Registers	"y "p	Primary selection on X11; the clipboard on Windows and macOS.
Registers	"0p	Put the last yank, even after deleting something.
Registers	"1p … "9p	Put one of the last nine multi-line deletes.
Registers	"_d{motion}	Delete into the black hole register, keeping your registers intact.
Registers	".	Read-only: the last inserted text.
Registers	"%	Read-only: the current file name.
Registers	":	Read-only: the last ex command.
Registers	"/	The last search pattern.
Registers	"=	Expression register, e.g. "=6*7 Enter then p puts 42.
Registers	:reg	Show the contents of all registers (:reg a for one).
Registers	:let @a = "text"	Set a register from the command line.
Marks & jumps	m{a-z}	Set a mark local to the file.
Marks & jumps	m{A-Z}	Set a global mark that also remembers the file.
Marks & jumps	'{mark}	Jump to the line of a mark.
Marks & jumps	`{mark}	Jump to the exact position of a mark.
Marks & jumps	`.	Position of the last change.
Marks & jumps	''	Back to the line before the latest jump.
Marks & jumps	Ctrl-o Ctrl-i	Older or newer position in the jump list.
Marks & jumps	g; g,	Older or newer position in the change list.
Marks & jumps	:marks	List marks.
Marks & jumps	:jumps	Show the jump list.
Marks & jumps	gd	Go to the local definition of the word under the cursor.
Marks & jumps	gf	Open the file whose name is under the cursor.
Marks & jumps	Ctrl-]	Jump to the tag under the cursor (Ctrl-t to go back).
Macros	q{a-z}	Start recording a macro into a register.
Macros	q	Stop recording.
Macros	@{a-z}	Play a macro, e.g. @a.
Macros	@@	Repeat the last played macro.
Macros	{n}@{a-z}	Play a macro n times, e.g. 10@a.
Macros	q{A-Z}	Append more keys to an existing macro.
Macros	:'<,'>normal @a	Run a macro on every selected line.
Macros	@:	Repeat the last ex command.
Macros	"ap … "ayy	Edit a macro: put it as text, change it, yank it back (use 0"ay$ to skip the newline).
Windows	Ctrl-w s	Split horizontally (:split, or :sp {file}).
Windows	Ctrl-w v	Split vertically (:vsplit, or :vs {file}).
Windows	Ctrl-w h/j/k/l	Move to the window left, below, above or right.
Windows	Ctrl-w w	Cycle to the next window.
Windows	Ctrl-w q	Close the window (:q).
Windows	Ctrl-w o	Close every other window (:only).
Windows	Ctrl-w =	Make all windows the same size.
Windows	Ctrl-w _ Ctrl-w \|	Maximise height or width.
Windows	Ctrl-w + Ctrl-w -	Taller or shorter by one line (prefix a count).
Windows	Ctrl-w > Ctrl-w <	Wider or narrower.
Windows	Ctrl-w r	Rotate windows.
Windows	Ctrl-w x	Exchange with the next window.
Windows	Ctrl-w H/J/K/L	Move the window to the far left, bottom, top or right.
Windows	Ctrl-w T	Move the window to a new tab.
Windows	:terminal	Open a terminal in a split (Ctrl-w N for normal mode inside it).
Buffers & tabs	:e {file}	Edit a file in the current window.
Buffers & tabs	:ls	List buffers.
Buffers & tabs	:b {n}	Switch to buffer n (:b {name} with partial names and Tab completion).
Buffers & tabs	:bn :bp	Next or previous buffer.
Buffers & tabs	:bd	Delete (close) the current buffer.
Buffers & tabs	Ctrl-^	Switch to the alternate (previous) buffer, same as :e #.
Buffers & tabs	:bufdo {command}	Run a command in every buffer, e.g. :bufdo update.
Buffers & tabs	:tabnew {file}	Open a file in a new tab.
Buffers & tabs	gt gT	Next or previous tab.
Buffers & tabs	{n}gt	Go to tab n.
Buffers & tabs	:tabclose	Close the tab.
Buffers & tabs	:tabonly	Close every other tab.
Buffers & tabs	:tabmove {n}	Move the tab to position n (0 is first).
Files & ex commands	:w	Write (save) the file.
Files & ex commands	:w {file}	Write to another file.
Files & ex commands	:wq	Write and quit (:x or ZZ only write if changed).
Files & ex commands	:q!	Quit without saving (ZQ).
Files & ex commands	:wa	Write all changed buffers.
Files & ex commands	:qa!	Quit everything, discarding changes.
Files & ex commands	:e!	Reload the file, discarding changes.
Files & ex commands	:w !sudo tee %	Save a file you opened without permission (Unix).
Files & ex commands	:saveas {file}	Save under a new name and keep editing that file.
Files & ex commands	:r {file}	Insert a file below the cursor.
Files & ex commands	:r !{command}	Insert the output of a shell command.
Files & ex commands	:!{command}	Run a shell command.
Files & ex commands	:%!{filter}	Filter the whole file through a command, e.g. :%!jq .
Files & ex commands	:5,10d	Delete lines 5 to 10.
Files & ex commands	:m +1	Move the current line down one (:m -2 moves it up).
Files & ex commands	:t.	Duplicate the current line.
Files & ex commands	:sort u	Sort lines and remove duplicates (:sort n for numbers).
Files & ex commands	:set number relativenumber	Show absolute and relative line numbers.
Files & ex commands	:set expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4	Indent with four spaces.
Files & ex commands	:retab	Convert tabs to spaces (or back) according to expandtab.
Files & ex commands	:set list	Show tabs, trailing spaces and line ends.
Files & ex commands	:set wrap!	Toggle line wrapping.
Files & ex commands	:set filetype={type}	Set the filetype, e.g. :set ft=json.
Files & ex commands	:set fileformat=unix	Use LF line endings when saving.
Files & ex commands	:set spell spelllang=en_gb	Spell checking; ]s and [s jump between errors, z= suggests.
Files & ex commands	:h {topic}	Open help, e.g. :h text-objects (Ctrl-] follows links).
Files & ex commands	q:	Open the command-line history in an editable window.
Folding	zf{motion}	Create a fold (manual or marker method), e.g. zfap.
Folding	zo zc	Open or close the fold under the cursor.
Folding	za	Toggle the fold under the cursor.
Folding	zO zC zA	Open, close or toggle recursively.
Folding	zR zM	Open or close every fold.
Folding	zd zE	Delete the fold under the cursor, or every fold.
Folding	zj zk	Move to the next or previous fold.
Folding	[z ]z	Move to the start or end of the open fold.
Folding	zv	Open just enough folds to show the cursor line.
Folding	zi	Toggle folding on and off.
Folding	:set foldmethod=indent	Fold by indentation (also syntax, marker, expr, manual).
Folding	:set foldlevel=99	Start with every fold open.