Table of Contents
VIM Commands
- you can start the VIM tutor by typing 'vimtutor' at a command prompt
make sure to read the reference_documents
Navigation
| h, j, k, l | move left, down, up, right |
| $ or END | jump to the end of the current line |
| <html>^</html> or HOME | jump to the beginning of the current line |
| Shift-G | go to end of file |
| <number> Shift-G | go to line <number> of file; i.e.: '1 Shift-g' to go to first line |
| Ctrl-e | scroll window downwards by line |
| Ctrl-y | scroll window upwards by line |
| Ctrl-f | scroll window page forward (down) |
| Ctrl-b | scroll window page back (up) |
| Ctrl-] | jump (follow) the keyword tag under the cursor |
| Ctrl-t | move back to the previous tag location |
Files
| Ctrl-g | show line/percentage location in file and file status |
| :q | quit |
| :q! | quit without saving changes |
| ZZ | immediately exit saving changes |
| ZQ | immediately exit without saving changes |
| :w | save changes |
| :wq | save changes and quit |
| :! <command> | execute an external command, such as dir, ls, etc… |
| :r <filename> | insert the contents of a file |
Search and Replace
| / <searchterm> | begin search for <searchterm> |
| n | continue searching the file for <searchterm> |
| Shift-N | search in the opposite direction |
| ? <searchterm> | begin backwards search for <searchterm> |
| % | find matching ), ], or } |
| :s/old/new | search and replace the first occurance of 'old' with 'new' in the current line |
| :s/old/new/g | search and replace all occurances of 'old' with 'new' in the current line |
| :#,#s/old/new/g | search and replace all occurances of 'old' with 'new' between the two line numbers (#,#) |
| :%s/old/new/g | search and replace all occurances of 'old' with 'new' in the whole file |
| :%s/old/new/gc | search and replace all occurances of 'old' with 'new' in the whole file, asking for confirmation each time |
Windows
| Ctrl-w w | switch to next window |
| Ctrl-w Shift-W | switch to previous window |
| Ctrl-w <number> - | reduce the height of the current window by <number> lines |
| Ctrl-w <number> + | increase the height of the current window by <number> lines |
| Ctrl-w s :split | create another window for the current buffer (horizontal) |
| Ctrl-w v :vsplit | create another window for the current buffer (vertical) |
| Ctrl-w c :close | close current window |
| Ctrl-w n :new | create a new window and start editing an empty file in it |
| Ctrl-w q :q :quit | quit current window; when quitting the last window, exit VIM |
Copy, Cut, Paste (yank, delete, put)
| p/P | put (paste below/above) |
| v/V | block select (characterwise/linewise) mode |
| [number]yy | yank <number> of lines into register (copy) |
| y | (after block select) yank (copy) |
| d | (after block select) delete (cut) |
| gv | restore previous selection (useful after indent if you need to indent again) |
|---|---|
| :reg | show current registers (like current clipboard entries) |
| “[char][command] | char: register to use, command: p/P/y (if yanking, you probably want to block select first) |
Editing
| i I | insert at cursor/insert at beginning of current line |
| gi | insert text in the same position as where insert mode was last stopped |
| a A | append at cursor/append at end of current line |
| o O | begin a new line below/above the current line |
| r R | replace one char under cursor/replace until escape is pressed |
| c<motion> | change with motion |
| C | change from cursor to end of line |
| cw | change word (delete remaining portion of the word, and begin editing) |
| c(same options as d) | change line, change word etc… |
| d<motion> | delete with motion |
| dd | delete line |
| de | delete word (no space) |
| dw | delete word |
| d$ | delete to end of line |
| d<html>^</html> | delete to beginning of line |
| u | undo |
| U | undo all for line |
| Ctrl-r | undo an undo (reverse direction) |
| > » | indent in block select mode, indent current line |
| < « | outdent in block select mode, outdent current line |
Motions
A motion is a command that moves the cursor. You can use motions with many other commands when not in insert mode.
| w e | to start/end of word |
| b | to beginning of word |
| 4j | 4 lines down |
| f{char} F{char} | forward on current line to the next occurrence of {char} inclusive/exclusive |
| t{char} T{char} | backward on current line to the previous occurrence of {char} inclusive/exclusive |
| ; | Repeat latest f, t, F or T [count] times |
| , | Repeat latest f, t, F or T in opposite direction [count] times |
| [number]gg [number]G | go to line number, or first line if [number] is excluded |
| ( ) | move sentences forward/backward |
| { } | move paragraphs forward/backward |
Text Object Selection
These commands word in Visual modes.
| aw | a word, trailing whitespace is included |
| iw | inner word |
| a[ a] | a [] block (use i for inner block) |
| a( a) ab | a () block (use i for inner block) |
| a< a> | a <> block (use i for inner block) |
| a{ a} | a {} block (use i for inner block) |
Marks
Various Commands
| ga | show value of character under the cursor in decimal, hex, and octal |
| g8 | show the hex values of the bytes used in the character under the cursor |
Code Completion
:help ins-completion
Abbreviations
:help abbreviations
You can use abbreviations to quickly enter a short sequence of characters that will be expanded into your defined sequence of characters. This can be useful to avoid typing monotonous things such as “document.getElementById” or to correct common spelling mistakes such as “teh” etc…
Examples:
| :ab de document.getElementById(' | now type de<space>, and de turns into document.getElementById(' |
Settings
| :se[t] | show all options that differ from their default value |
| :se[t] all | show all but terminal options |
| :se[t] {option}? | show value of option |
| :se[t] {option} | Toggle option: set, switch it on. Number option: show value. String option: show value. |
| :se[t] no{option} | Toggle option: Invert value. |
| :se[t] {option}& | Reset option to its default value. |
| :opt[ions] :bro[wse] se[t] | open a window for viewing and setting all options |
Saving Settings
| :mk[exrc] [file] :mk[exrc]! [file] | write, always write current key mappings and changed options to [file] |
| :mkv[imrc][!] [file] | (like :mk, but the default is .vimrc) |
Common Settings
(see above for usage)
| 'number' 'nu' | line numbers for each line |
| 'spell' | spell check |
| 'wrap' | line wrapping |
| 'list' | list mode (tabs as ctrl-i, end of line as $) |
| 'linebreak' 'lbr' | wrap at word |
| 'expandtab' 'et' | expand-tab (tabs expanded into spaces) |
| 'autoindent' 'ai' | auto-indent (copy indent from current line) |
| 'cindent' 'cin' | C program indenting |
| 'smartindent' 'si' | smart indenting (like cin, but supposed to work better and is less strict) |
| 'smarttab' 'sta' | |