834 Vim Commands: Vim Editor Cheat Sheet 2025

Access all 834 Vim commands in our ultimate Vim cheat sheet.

From basic text editing to advanced mode commands, cursor movements, and file operations – all organized by type.

List of All Vim Commands

Command	Function	Category	Mode
h	Move cursor left	Navigation	Normal
j	Move cursor down	Navigation	Normal
k	Move cursor up	Navigation	Normal
l	Move cursor right	Navigation	Normal
gj	Move cursor down (multi-line text)	Navigation	Normal
gk	Move cursor up (multi-line text)	Navigation	Normal
H	Move to top of screen	Navigation	Normal
M	Move to middle of screen	Navigation	Normal
L	Move to bottom of screen	Navigation	Normal
w	Jump forwards to start of word	Navigation	Normal
W	Jump forwards to start of WORD	Navigation	Normal
e	Jump forwards to end of word	Navigation	Normal
E	Jump forwards to end of WORD	Navigation	Normal
b	Jump backwards to start of word	Navigation	Normal
B	Jump backwards to start of WORD	Navigation	Normal
ge	Jump backwards to end of word	Navigation	Normal
gE	Jump backwards to end of WORD	Navigation	Normal
%	Jump to matching bracket	Navigation	Normal
0	Jump to start of line	Navigation	Normal
^	Jump to first non-blank char of line	Navigation	Normal
$	Jump to end of line	Navigation	Normal
g_	Jump to last non-blank char of line	Navigation	Normal
gg	Go to first line	Navigation	Normal
G	Go to last line	Navigation	Normal
{n}G	Go to line n	Navigation	Normal
{n}gg	Go to line n	Navigation	Normal
gd	Go to local declaration	Navigation	Normal
gD	Go to global declaration	Navigation	Normal
fx	Jump to next occurrence of x	Navigation	Normal
Fx	Jump to previous occurrence of x	Navigation	Normal
tx	Jump to before next occurrence of x	Navigation	Normal
Tx	Jump to after previous occurrence of x	Navigation	Normal
;	Repeat last f/t/F/T movement	Navigation	Normal
,	Repeat last f/t/F/T movement backwards	Navigation	Normal
}	Jump to next paragraph/function	Navigation	Normal
{	Jump to previous paragraph/function	Navigation	Normal
]]	Jump to next section	Navigation	Normal
[[	Jump to previous section	Navigation	Normal
][	Jump to end of section	Navigation	Normal
[]	Jump to end of previous section	Navigation	Normal
zz	Center cursor on screen	Navigation	Normal
zt	Position cursor at top of screen	Navigation	Normal
zb	Position cursor at bottom of screen	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+e	Scroll down one line	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+y	Scroll up one line	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+b	Scroll up one page	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+f	Scroll down one page	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+d	Scroll down half page	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+u	Scroll up half page	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+o	Jump to older position	Navigation	Normal
Ctrl+i	Jump to newer position	Navigation	Normal
g;	Go to older change	Navigation	Normal
g,	Go to newer change	Navigation	Normal
gi	Go to last insert position	Navigation	Normal
gv	Go to last visual selection	Navigation	Normal
g*	Search word under cursor (partial)	Navigation	Normal
g#	Search word under cursor backwards (partial)	Navigation	Normal
*	Search word under cursor	Navigation	Normal
#	Search word under cursor backwards	Navigation	Normal
x	Delete character under cursor	Editing	Normal
X	Delete character before cursor	Editing	Normal
dd	Delete current line	Editing	Normal
D	Delete from cursor to end of line	Editing	Normal
d{motion}	Delete text specified by motion	Editing	Normal
diw	Delete inner word	Editing	Normal
daw	Delete a word	Editing	Normal
dip	Delete inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
dap	Delete a paragraph	Editing	Normal
d$	Delete to end of line	Editing	Normal
d0	Delete to start of line	Editing	Normal
d^	Delete to first non-blank character	Editing	Normal
dG	Delete to end of file	Editing	Normal
dgg	Delete to start of file	Editing	Normal
cc	Change entire line	Editing	Normal
C	Change from cursor to end of line	Editing	Normal
c{motion}	Change text specified by motion	Editing	Normal
ciw	Change inner word	Editing	Normal
caw	Change a word	Editing	Normal
cip	Change inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
cap	Change a paragraph	Editing	Normal
c$	Change to end of line	Editing	Normal
c0	Change to start of line	Editing	Normal
c^	Change to first non-blank character	Editing	Normal
s	Delete character and enter insert mode	Editing	Normal
S	Delete line and enter insert mode	Editing	Normal
r{char}	Replace single character	Editing	Normal
R	Enter replace mode	Editing	Normal
yy	Yank (copy) current line	Editing	Normal
Y	Yank from cursor to end of line	Editing	Normal
y{motion}	Yank text specified by motion	Editing	Normal
yiw	Yank inner word	Editing	Normal
yaw	Yank a word	Editing	Normal
yip	Yank inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
yap	Yank a paragraph	Editing	Normal
p	Paste after cursor	Editing	Normal
P	Paste before cursor	Editing	Normal
]p	Paste and adjust indent	Editing	Normal
[p	Paste before and adjust indent	Editing	Normal
gp	Paste after and move cursor	Editing	Normal
gP	Paste before and move cursor	Editing	Normal
J	Join line below	Editing	Normal
gJ	Join line below without space	Editing	Normal
>>	Indent line	Editing	Normal
<<	Unindent line	Editing	Normal
==	Auto-indent line	Editing	Normal
>%	Indent a block	Editing	Normal
<%	Unindent a block	Editing	Normal
=%	Auto-indent a block	Editing	Normal
>ip	Indent inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
	Unindent inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
=ip	Auto-indent inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
gu{motion}	Make lowercase	Editing	Normal
gU{motion}	Make uppercase	Editing	Normal
g~{motion}	Toggle case	Editing	Normal
guu	Lowercase line	Editing	Normal
gUU	Uppercase line	Editing	Normal
g~~	Toggle case of line	Editing	Normal
u	Undo	Editing	Normal
U	Undo all changes on line	Editing	Normal
Ctrl+r	Redo	Editing	Normal
.	Repeat last change	Editing	Normal
~	Toggle case of character	Editing	Normal
g&	Repeat last substitute on all lines	Editing	Normal
gv	Reselect last visual selection	Editing	Normal
gq{motion}	Format text to textwidth	Editing	Normal
gwip	Format inner paragraph	Editing	Normal
gJ	Join lines without space	Editing	Normal
g/pattern/d	Delete lines matching pattern	Editing	Normal
v/pattern/d	Delete lines not matching pattern	Editing	Normal
i	Enter insert mode before cursor	Insert	Normal
I	Enter insert mode at line start	Insert	Normal
a	Enter insert mode after cursor	Insert	Normal
A	Enter insert mode at line end	Insert	Normal
o	Open new line below and insert	Insert	Normal
O	Open new line above and insert	Insert	Normal
gi	Insert at last insert position	Insert	Normal
gI	Insert at column 1	Insert	Normal
Ctrl+h	Delete character before cursor	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+w	Delete word before cursor	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+u	Delete all characters before cursor in line	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+j	Begin new line	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+t	Indent current line	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+d	Unindent current line	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+n	Insert next match of word before cursor	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+p	Insert previous match of word before cursor	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r {reg}	Insert contents of register	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r =	Insert result of expression	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r %	Insert current filename	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r #	Insert alternate filename	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r /	Insert last search pattern	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r :	Insert last command line	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+r .	Insert last inserted text	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+a	Insert previously inserted text	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+@	Insert previously inserted text and stop insert	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+o	Execute one normal mode command	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+v {char}	Insert character literally	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+v {number}	Insert character by decimal value	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+k {char1} {char2}	Insert character by digraph	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+l	Line completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+n	Keyword completion from current file	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+k	Dictionary completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+t	Thesaurus completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+i	Keyword completion from included files	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+]	Tag completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+f	File path completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+d	Definition completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+v	Vim command line completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+u	User defined completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+o	Omni completion	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x s	Spelling suggestions	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+e	Scroll window up	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+y	Scroll window down	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+e	Insert character from below	Insert	Insert
Ctrl+y	Insert character from above	Insert	Insert
Shift+Left	Move cursor left	Insert	Insert
Shift+Right	Move cursor right	Insert	Insert
Shift+Up	Move cursor up	Insert	Insert
Shift+Down	Move cursor down	Insert	Insert
Home	Move cursor to start of line	Insert	Insert
End	Move cursor to end of line	Insert	Insert
PageUp	Scroll window up	Insert	Insert
PageDown	Scroll window down	Insert	Insert
v	Enter character-wise visual mode	Visual	Normal
V	Enter line-wise visual mode	Visual	Normal
Ctrl+v	Enter block-wise visual mode	Visual	Normal
gv	Reselect last visual selection	Visual	Normal
o	Move cursor to other end of selection	Visual	Visual
O	Move cursor to other corner of block	Visual	Visual
aw	Select a word	Visual	Visual
iw	Select inner word	Visual	Visual
aW	Select a WORD	Visual	Visual
iW	Select inner WORD	Visual	Visual
as	Select a sentence	Visual	Visual
is	Select inner sentence	Visual	Visual
ap	Select a paragraph	Visual	Visual
ip	Select inner paragraph	Visual	Visual
ab	Select a block (())	Visual	Visual
ib	Select inner block (())	Visual	Visual
aB	Select a block ({})	Visual	Visual
iB	Select inner block ({})	Visual	Visual
at	Select a tag block (<>)	Visual	Visual
it	Select inner tag block (<>)	Visual	Visual
a’	Select a single quoted string	Visual	Visual
i’	Select inner single quoted string	Visual	Visual
a”	Select a double quoted string	Visual	Visual
i”	Select inner double quoted string	Visual	Visual
a`	Select a backtick string	Visual	Visual
i`	Select inner backtick string	Visual	Visual
a]	Select a [] block	Visual	Visual
i]	Select inner [] block	Visual	Visual
a>	Select a <> block	Visual	Visual
i>	Select inner <> block	Visual	Visual
d	Delete selection	Visual	Visual
y	Yank selection	Visual	Visual
c	Change selection	Visual	Visual
s	Substitute selection	Visual	Visual
r	Replace selection with character	Visual	Visual
>	Indent selection	Visual	Visual
<	Unindent selection	Visual	Visual
=	Auto-indent selection	Visual	Visual
~	Toggle case of selection	Visual	Visual
u	Make selection lowercase	Visual	Visual
U	Make selection uppercase	Visual	Visual
J	Join selected lines	Visual	Visual
:	Enter command line for selected lines	Visual	Visual
Ctrl+a	Increment number in selection	Visual	Visual
Ctrl+x	Decrement number in selection	Visual	Visual
g Ctrl+a	Increment numbers in selection	Visual	Visual
g Ctrl+x	Decrement numbers in selection	Visual	Visual
I	Insert at start of visual block	Visual	Visual Block
A	Append at end of visual block	Visual	Visual Block
c	Change visual block	Visual	Visual Block
C	Change till end of visual block	Visual	Visual Block
$	Extend block to end of lines	Visual	Visual Block
o	Move to other corner of block	Visual	Visual Block
O	Move to other corner horizontally	Visual	Visual Block
p	Paste over visual selection	Visual	Visual
P	Paste before visual selection	Visual	Visual
x	Delete visual selection	Visual	Visual
D	Delete till end of visual selection	Visual	Visual
Y	Yank visual selection	Visual	Visual
gq	Format selected text	Visual	Visual
gw	Format selected text and maintain cursor	Visual	Visual
g?	ROT13 encode selection	Visual	Visual
!	Filter selection through external command	Visual	Visual
:w	Write (save) file	File Operations	Command
:w filename	Write to filename	File Operations	Command
:w!	Force write	File Operations	Command
:q	Quit	File Operations	Command
:q!	Force quit	File Operations	Command
:wq	Write and quit	File Operations	Command
😡	Write if changed and quit	File Operations	Command
:wa	Write all buffers	File Operations	Command
:qa	Quit all buffers	File Operations	Command
:wqa	Write and quit all buffers	File Operations	Command
:e filename	Edit filename	File Operations	Command
:e!	Reload current file	File Operations	Command
:e#	Edit alternate file	File Operations	Command
:r filename	Read file into current buffer	File Operations	Command
:r !command	Read command output into buffer	File Operations	Command
:saveas filename	Save as filename	File Operations	Command
:f filename	Rename current file	File Operations	Command
:bn	Next buffer	Buffer	Command
:bp	Previous buffer	Buffer	Command
:bd	Delete buffer	Buffer	Command
:buffers	List all buffers	Buffer	Command
:ball	Load all buffers	Buffer	Command
:badd filename	Add file to buffer list	Buffer	Command
:set option	Set option	Settings	Command
:set option?	Show option value	Settings	Command
:set option&	Reset option to default	Settings	Command
:setlocal option	Set option for current buffer/window	Settings	Command
:map key command	Map key to command	Mapping	Command
:nmap key command	Map key in normal mode	Mapping	Command
:vmap key command	Map key in visual mode	Mapping	Command
:imap key command	Map key in insert mode	Mapping	Command
:unmap key	Remove mapping	Mapping	Command
:marks	Show all marks	Marks	Command
:jumps	Show jump list	Navigation	Command
:changes	Show changes list	History	Command
:reg	Show registers	Registers	Command
:ls	List buffers	Buffer	Command
:cd path	Change directory	File Operations	Command
:pwd	Print working directory	File Operations	Command
:!command	Execute shell command	Shell	Command
:make	Run make command	Build	Command
:copen	Open quickfix window	Quickfix	Command
:cclose	Close quickfix window	Quickfix	Command
:cnext	Next quickfix item	Quickfix	Command
:cprev	Previous quickfix item	Quickfix	Command
:grep pattern files	Grep for pattern	Search	Command
:vimgrep pattern files	Vim internal grep	Search	Command
:%s/old/new/g	Replace old with new globally	Search/Replace	Command
:%s/old/new/gc	Replace with confirmation	Search/Replace	Command
:g/pattern/command	Execute command on matching lines	Global	Command
:v/pattern/command	Execute command on non-matching lines	Global	Command
:sort	Sort lines	Text Processing	Command
:retab	Convert tabs to spaces	Text Processing	Command
:source file	Source vimscript file	Scripting	Command
:syntax on/off	Toggle syntax highlighting	Display	Command
:highlight	Show highlight groups	Display	Command
:filetype on/off	Toggle filetype detection	Filetype	Command
:split	Split window horizontally	Window	Command
:vsplit	Split window vertically	Window	Command
:new	Create new window	Window	Command
:close	Close current window	Window	Command
:only	Close all windows except current	Window	Command
:tabnew	Create new tab	Tab	Command
:tabclose	Close current tab	Tab	Command
:tabnext	Go to next tab	Tab	Command
:tabprevious	Go to previous tab	Tab	Command
:undo number	Go to specific undo state	History	Command
:earlier time	Go to earlier state	History	Command
:later time	Go to later state	History	Command
:hardcopy	Print document	File Operations	Command
:mksession file	Save session to file	Session	Command
:source session	Load session from file	Session	Command
Ctrl+w s	Split window horizontally	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w v	Split window vertically	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w n	Create new window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w q	Quit current window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w c	Close current window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w o	Make current window only one	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w j	Move cursor to window below	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w k	Move cursor to window above	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w h	Move cursor to window left	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w l	Move cursor to window right	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w w	Move cursor to next window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w W	Move cursor to previous window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w p	Move cursor to previous window	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w r	Rotate windows downwards/rightwards	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w R	Rotate windows upwards/leftwards	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w x	Exchange current window with next	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w =	Make all windows equal size	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w _	Maximize window height	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w		Maximize window width	Window
Ctrl+w +	Increase window height	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w –	Decrease window height	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w >	Increase window width	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w <	Decrease window width	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w T	Move window to new tab	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w H	Move window to far left	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w L	Move window to far right	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w J	Move window to bottom	Window	Normal
Ctrl+w K	Move window to top	Window	Normal
:sb buffer	Split window and edit buffer	Buffer/Window	Command
:vert sb buffer	Vertically split window and edit buffer	Buffer/Window	Command
:buffers	List all buffers	Buffer	Command
:ls	List all buffers	Buffer	Command
:ball	Load all buffers in windows	Buffer	Command
:vertical ball	Load all buffers in vertical windows	Buffer	Command
:bn	Go to next buffer	Buffer	Command
:bp	Go to previous buffer	Buffer	Command
:bf	Go to first buffer	Buffer	Command
:bl	Go to last buffer	Buffer	Command
:bd	Delete current buffer	Buffer	Command
:bd!	Force delete current buffer	Buffer	Command
:bw	Wipe out current buffer	Buffer	Command
:badd file	Add file to buffer list	Buffer	Command
:bunload	Unload current buffer	Buffer	Command
:buffer num	Go to buffer num	Buffer	Command
:buffer file	Go to buffer file	Buffer	Command
:bdelete num	Delete buffer num	Buffer	Command
:bdelete file	Delete buffer file	Buffer	Command
:bufdo command	Execute command on all buffers	Buffer	Command
:tab sball	Open all buffers in tabs	Buffer/Tab	Command
:unhide	Open window for each loaded buffer	Buffer/Window	Command
:windo command	Execute command on all windows	Window	Command
:wincmd command	Execute window command	Window	Command
:resize n	Set window height to n	Window	Command
:vertical resize n	Set window width to n	Window	Command
:leftabove split	Split window, new window above	Window	Command
:rightbelow split	Split window, new window below	Window	Command
:leftabove vsplit	Split window, new window left	Window	Command
:rightbelow vsplit	Split window, new window right	Window	Command
:e	Reload current file	File	Command
:e filename	Edit filename	File	Command
:e!	Reload file, discard changes	File	Command
:enew	Create new empty buffer	File	Command
:find filename	Find and edit filename	File	Command
:w	Write current file	File	Command
:w filename	Write to filename	File	Command
:w!	Force write	File	Command
:w !sudo tee %	Write with sudo permissions	File	Command
:wn	Write and move to next file	File	Command
:wN	Write and move to previous file	File	Command
:wa	Write all changed buffers	File	Command
:wa!	Force write all buffers	File	Command
:saveas filename	Save file as filename	File	Command
:update	Write if buffer changed	File	Command
:write ++enc=encoding	Write with specific encoding	File	Command
:write ++ff=format	Write with specific format	File	Command
:write ++bin	Write in binary mode	File	Command
:read filename	Insert file contents	File	Command
:read !command	Insert command output	File	Command
:edit +num file	Open file at line num	File	Command
:edit +/pat file	Open file at pattern pat	File	Command
:edit #	Edit alternate file	File	Command
:browse e	Open file browser	File	Command
:cd path	Change working directory	File	Command
:cd –	Change to previous directory	File	Command
:pwd	Print working directory	File	Command
:file	Show current file info	File	Command
:file name	Set filename	File	Command
:filetype	Display filetype	File	Command
:filetype on/off	Toggle filetype detection	File	Command
gf	Go to file under cursor	File	Normal
gF	Go to file under cursor (with line number)	File	Normal
:oldfiles	List recently edited files	File	Command
:browse oldfiles	Browse recently edited files	File	Command
:mksession file	Save session to file	File	Command
:source file	Load session from file	File	Command
:mkview	Save view configuration	File	Command
:loadview	Load view configuration	File	Command
:hardcopy	Print document	File	Command
:TOhtml	Convert to HTML	File	Command
:earlier time	Revert to earlier state	File	Command
:later time	Revert to later state	File	Command
:recover	Recover swap file	File	Command
:preserve	Preserve swap file	File	Command
:DiffOrig	Diff with original file	File	Command
ZZ	Write if changed and quit	File	Normal
ZQ	Quit without checking changes	File	Normal
😡	Write if changed and quit	File	Command
:exit	Same as 😡	File	Command
:wq	Write and quit	File	Command
:xit	Same as 😡	File	Command
:q	Quit	File	Command
:q!	Force quit	File	Command
:qa	Quit all	File	Command
:qa!	Force quit all	File	Command
:wqa	Write all and quit	File	Command
:xa	Same as :wqa	File	Command
/pattern	Search forward for pattern	Search	Normal
?pattern	Search backward for pattern	Search	Normal
n	Repeat search forward	Search	Normal
N	Repeat search backward	Search	Normal
*	Search forward for word under cursor	Search	Normal
#	Search backward for word under cursor	Search	Normal
g*	Search forward for partial word under cursor	Search	Normal
g#	Search backward for partial word under cursor	Search	Normal
gd	Go to local declaration	Search	Normal
gD	Go to global declaration	Search	Normal
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all occurrences in file	Replace	Command
:%s/old/new/gc	Replace all occurrences with confirmation	Replace	Command
:s/old/new/g	Replace all occurrences in line	Replace	Command
:s/old/new/gc	Replace all occurrences in line with confirmation	Replace	Command
:{range}s/old/new/g	Replace in range	Replace	Command
:g/pattern/s/old/new/g	Replace in lines matching pattern	Replace	Command
:v/pattern/s/old/new/g	Replace in lines not matching pattern	Replace	Command
:&&	Repeat last substitute	Replace	Command
:~	Repeat last substitute with last search pattern	Replace	Command
:g/pattern	List lines matching pattern	Search	Command
:v/pattern	List lines not matching pattern	Search	Command
:vimgrep pattern files	Search in multiple files	Search	Command
:grep pattern files	External grep search	Search	Command
:lgrep pattern files	External grep search (location list)	Search	Command
:copen	Open quickfix window	Search	Command
:lopen	Open location list window	Search	Command
:cnext	Next quickfix item	Search	Command
:cprev	Previous quickfix item	Search	Command
:cfirst	First quickfix item	Search	Command
:clast	Last quickfix item	Search	Command
:lnext	Next location list item	Search	Command
:lprev	Previous location list item	Search	Command
:lfirst	First location list item	Search	Command
:llast	Last location list item	Search	Command
:cdo command	Execute command on each quickfix item	Search	Command
:ldo command	Execute command on each location list item	Search	Command
:noh	Clear search highlighting	Search	Command
:set hlsearch	Enable search highlighting	Search	Command
:set nohlsearch	Disable search highlighting	Search	Command
:set incsearch	Enable incremental search	Search	Command
:set noincsearch	Disable incremental search	Search	Command
:set ignorecase	Enable case-insensitive search	Search	Command
:set noignorecase	Disable case-insensitive search	Search	Command
:set smartcase	Enable smart case search	Search	Command
:set nosmartcase	Disable smart case search	Search	Command
gn	Select next search match	Search	Normal
gN	Select previous search match	Search	Normal
:promptfind	Open GUI find dialog	Search	Command
:promptrepl	Open GUI replace dialog	Search	Command
m{a-zA-Z}	Set mark {a-zA-Z} at cursor position	Marks	Normal
‘{a-zA-Z}	Jump to line of mark {a-zA-Z}	Marks	Normal
`{a-zA-Z}	Jump to position of mark {a-zA-Z}	Marks	Normal
:marks	List all marks	Marks	Command
:delmarks {marks}	Delete specified marks	Marks	Command
:delmarks!	Delete all marks for current buffer	Marks	Command
”	Jump to last jump position	Marks	Normal
“	Jump to exact last jump position	Marks	Normal
‘.	Jump to position of last change	Marks	Normal
`.	Jump to exact position of last change	Marks	Normal
‘[	Jump to start of last changed/yanked text	Marks	Normal
‘]	Jump to end of last changed/yanked text	Marks	Normal
‘<	Jump to start of last visual selection	Marks	Normal
‘>	Jump to end of last visual selection	Marks	Normal
‘0	Jump to position where Vim was last exited	Marks	Normal
‘1-‘9	Jump to positions of last 9 files exited	Marks	Normal
“{a-z}	Use register {a-z} for next delete/yank/put	Registers	Normal
“{A-Z}	Append to register {a-z}	Registers	Normal
“”	Unnamed register (last delete/yank)	Registers	Normal
“0	Yank register	Registers	Normal
“1-“9	Delete registers (historical)	Registers	Normal
“:	Last command register	Registers	Normal
“.	Last inserted text register	Registers	Normal
“%	Current filename register	Registers	Normal
“#	Alternate filename register	Registers	Normal
“/	Last search pattern register	Registers	Normal
“=	Expression register	Registers	Normal
“*	System clipboard register (X11 primary)	Registers	Normal
“+	System clipboard register (X11 clipboard)	Registers	Normal
“_	Black hole register	Registers	Normal
:reg	Display contents of all registers	Registers	Command
:reg {arg}	Display contents of specified registers	Registers	Command
Ctrl+r {reg}	Insert contents of register in insert mode	Registers	Insert
@{reg}	Execute contents of register as macro	Registers	Normal
“xy{motion}	Yank {motion} text into register x	Registers	Normal
“xp	Put contents of register x after cursor	Registers	Normal
“xP	Put contents of register x before cursor	Registers	Normal
:let @x = “string”	Set register x to “string”	Registers	Command
:let @x .= “string”	Append “string” to register x	Registers	Command
:let @/ = “pattern”	Set search pattern	Registers	Command
:let @” = “string”	Set unnamed register	Registers	Command
:let @* = “string”	Set system clipboard	Registers	Command
:let @+ = “string”	Set system clipboard (X11)	Registers	Command
“%	Name of current file	Registers	Normal
“#	Name of alternate file	Registers	Normal
“.	Last inserted text	Registers	Normal
“:	Last command-line	Registers	Normal
“/	Last search pattern	Registers	Normal
“=	Result of expression	Registers	Normal
“*	GUI selection	Registers	Normal
“+	GUI clipboard	Registers	Normal
“~	Drop register	Registers	Normal
“_	Black hole	Registers	Normal
aw	A word	Text Object	Normal/Visual
iw	Inner word	Text Object	Normal/Visual
aW	A WORD	Text Object	Normal/Visual
iW	Inner WORD	Text Object	Normal/Visual
as	A sentence	Text Object	Normal/Visual
is	Inner sentence	Text Object	Normal/Visual
ap	A paragraph	Text Object	Normal/Visual
ip	Inner paragraph	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a] or a[	A [] block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i] or i[	Inner [] block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a) or ab	A () block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i) or ib	Inner () block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a> or a<	A <> block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i> or i<	Inner <> block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a} or aB	A {} block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i} or iB	Inner {} block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
at	A tag block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
it	Inner tag block	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a”	A double quoted string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i”	Inner double quoted string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a’	A single quoted string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i’	Inner single quoted string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
a`	A backtick string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
i`	Inner backtick string	Text Object	Normal/Visual
d{motion}	Delete text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
c{motion}	Change text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
y{motion}	Yank text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
>{motion}	Indent text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
<{motion}	Unindent text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
={motion}	Auto-indent text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
g~{motion}	Toggle case of text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
gu{motion}	Make text specified by {motion} lowercase	Operator	Normal
gU{motion}	Make text specified by {motion} uppercase	Operator	Normal
!{motion}	Filter text through external command	Operator	Normal
gq{motion}	Format text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
gw{motion}	Format text specified by {motion} and keep cursor	Operator	Normal
g?{motion}	ROT13 encode text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
zf{motion}	Create fold for text specified by {motion}	Operator	Normal
g@{motion}	Call function set by ‘operatorfunc’	Operator	Normal
diw	Delete inner word	Operation	Normal
ciw	Change inner word	Operation	Normal
yiw	Yank inner word	Operation	Normal
daw	Delete a word	Operation	Normal
caw	Change a word	Operation	Normal
yaw	Yank a word	Operation	Normal
di(	Delete inside parentheses	Operation	Normal
ci(	Change inside parentheses	Operation	Normal
yi(	Yank inside parentheses	Operation	Normal
da(	Delete around parentheses	Operation	Normal
ca(	Change around parentheses	Operation	Normal
ya(	Yank around parentheses	Operation	Normal
dit	Delete inside tag	Operation	Normal
cit	Change inside tag	Operation	Normal
yit	Yank inside tag	Operation	Normal
dat	Delete around tag	Operation	Normal
cat	Change around tag	Operation	Normal
yat	Yank around tag	Operation	Normal
q{a-z}	Start recording macro into register {a-z}	Macro	Normal
q	Stop recording macro	Macro	Normal
@{a-z}	Execute macro in register {a-z}	Macro	Normal
@@	Execute last executed macro	Macro	Normal
{count}@{a-z}	Execute macro {count} times	Macro	Normal
:reg {a-z}	Show contents of macro register	Macro	Command
“ap	Paste contents of macro register to edit	Macro	Normal
“{a-z}yy	Yank current line into macro register	Macro	Normal
:let @a=”	Clear macro register a	Macro	Command
:let @a.=’commands’	Append to macro register a	Macro	Command
qa	Start recording into register a	Macro	Normal
q	End recording	Macro	Normal
:normal @a	Execute macro on each line in range	Macro	Command
:argdo normal @a	Execute macro on each file in argument list	Macro	Command
:bufdo normal @a	Execute macro on each buffer	Macro	Command
:windo normal @a	Execute macro on each window	Macro	Command
:tabdo normal @a	Execute macro on each tab	Macro	Command
:global/pattern/normal @a	Execute macro on matching lines	Macro	Command
“ap	Paste macro contents	Macro	Normal
“{reg}yy	Yank line into register	Macro	Normal
:let @a=@b	Copy macro from register b to a	Macro	Command
:let @a=@a[1:]	Remove first character of macro	Macro	Command
:let @a=@a[:-2]	Remove last character of macro	Macro	Command
:break	Break out of macro execution	Macro	Command
:continue	Continue macro execution	Macro	Command
:return	Return from macro execution	Macro	Command
:silent normal @a	Execute macro silently	Macro	Command
:verbose normal @a	Execute macro verbosely	Macro	Command
:while condition	Start while loop in macro	Macro	Command
:endwhile	End while loop in macro	Macro	Command
:if condition	Start if condition in macro	Macro	Command
:endif	End if condition in macro	Macro	Command
:for item in list	Start for loop in macro	Macro	Command
:endfor	End for loop in macro	Macro	Command
zf{motion}	Create fold	Folding	Normal
zF	Create fold for [count] lines	Folding	Normal
:{range}fo[ld]	Create fold for range	Folding	Command
zd	Delete fold at cursor	Folding	Normal
zD	Delete fold at cursor recursively	Folding	Normal
zE	Eliminate all folds	Folding	Normal
zo	Open fold under cursor	Folding	Normal
zO	Open fold under cursor recursively	Folding	Normal
zc	Close fold under cursor	Folding	Normal
zC	Close fold under cursor recursively	Folding	Normal
za	Toggle fold under cursor	Folding	Normal
zA	Toggle fold under cursor recursively	Folding	Normal
zv	View cursor line (open folds)	Folding	Normal
zx	Update folds and open cursor fold	Folding	Normal
zX	Update folds	Folding	Normal
zm	Fold more (reduce foldlevel)	Folding	Normal
zM	Close all folds	Folding	Normal
zr	Fold less (increase foldlevel)	Folding	Normal
zR	Open all folds	Folding	Normal
zi	Toggle folding	Folding	Normal
[z	Move to start of current fold	Folding	Normal
]z	Move to end of current fold	Folding	Normal
zj	Move downwards to start of next fold	Folding	Normal
zk	Move upwards to end of previous fold	Folding	Normal
zn	Disable folding	Folding	Normal
zN	Enable folding	Folding	Normal
:set foldmethod=manual	Set manual folding	Folding	Command
:set foldmethod=indent	Set indent folding	Folding	Command
:set foldmethod=marker	Set marker folding	Folding	Command
:set foldmethod=syntax	Set syntax folding	Folding	Command
:set foldmethod=expr	Set expression folding	Folding	Command
:set foldmethod=diff	Set diff folding	Folding	Command
:set foldlevel=n	Set fold level to n	Folding	Command
:set foldcolumn=n	Show fold column of width n	Folding	Command
:set foldminlines=n	Minimum lines for a fold	Folding	Command
:set foldnestmax=n	Maximum fold nesting	Folding	Command
:set foldtext=string	Set text displayed for closed folds	Folding	Command
:set foldmarker=str,str	Set fold markers	Folding	Command
:set foldignore=char	Set chars to ignore in indent folding	Folding	Command
:set foldenable	Enable folding	Folding	Command
:set nofoldenable	Disable folding	Folding	Command
zj	Move downwards to next fold	Folding	Normal
zk	Move upwards to previous fold	Folding	Normal
[z	Move to start of current open fold	Folding	Normal
]z	Move to end of current open fold	Folding	Normal
:fold	Create fold for current line	Folding	Command
:foldclose	Close fold	Folding	Command
:foldopen	Open fold	Folding	Command
:diffsplit {filename}	Split window and show diff	Diff	Command
:vert diffsplit {filename}	Vertical split and show diff	Diff	Command
:diffpatch {patchfile}	Apply patch and show diff	Diff	Command
:diffthis	Make current window part of diff	Diff	Command
:diffoff	Turn off diff mode	Diff	Command
:diffoff!	Turn off diff mode in all windows	Diff	Command
:diffupdate	Update diff colors	Diff	Command
do	Diff obtain (get change from other window)	Diff	Normal
dp	Diff put (put change to other window)	Diff	Normal
]c	Jump to next change	Diff	Normal
[c	Jump to previous change	Diff	Normal
:diffget	Get changes from other window	Diff	Command
:diffput	Put changes to other window	Diff	Command
:diffget //2	Get changes from file 2 in 3-way diff	Diff	Command
:diffget //3	Get changes from file 3 in 3-way diff	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=iwhite	Ignore whitespace in diff	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=horizontal	Horizontal diff split	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=vertical	Vertical diff split	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=filler	Show filler lines	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=context:n	Set context lines	Diff	Command
:set diffexpr=MyDiff()	Set custom diff expression	Diff	Command
vimdiff file1 file2	Start vim in diff mode	Diff	Shell
:windo diffthis	Diff all windows	Diff	Command
:diffs	Show diff stats	Diff	Command
:diffo	Turn off diff mode	Diff	Command
:set noscrollbind	Disable scroll binding	Diff	Command
:set scrollbind	Enable scroll binding	Diff	Command
:set cursorbind	Enable cursor binding	Diff	Command
:set nocursorbind	Disable cursor binding	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=icase	Ignore case differences	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=iwhite	Ignore whitespace changes	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=iwhiteall	Ignore all whitespace	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=iwhiteeol	Ignore whitespace at EOL	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=filler	Show filler lines	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=context:3	Set context lines to 3	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=horizontal	Prefer horizontal splits	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=vertical	Prefer vertical splits	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=internal	Use internal diff	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=algorithm:patience	Use patience diff algorithm	Diff	Command
:set diffopt+=indent-heuristic	Use indent heuristic	Diff	Command
]c	Next difference	Diff	Normal
[c	Previous difference	Diff	Normal
:1,$+1diffget	Get all changes from other window	Diff	Command
:1,$+1diffput	Put all changes to other window	Diff	Command
Ctrl+]	Jump to tag under cursor	Tags	Normal
Ctrl+t	Jump back from tag	Tags	Normal
:tag {tag}	Jump to tag	Tags	Command
:tags	Show tag stack	Tags	Command
:tselect {tag}	Select from multiple tags	Tags	Command
:tjump {tag}	Jump to tag or select if multiple	Tags	Command
:tnext	Jump to next matching tag	Tags	Command
:tprev	Jump to previous matching tag	Tags	Command
:tfirst	Jump to first matching tag	Tags	Command
:tlast	Jump to last matching tag	Tags	Command
g]	Show all tags under cursor	Tags	Normal
:ptag {tag}	Preview tag	Tags	Command
:pclose	Close preview window	Tags	Command
:ptjump {tag}	Preview tag and jump	Tags	Command
Ctrl+n	Next completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+p	Previous completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+n	Keywords in current file	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+i	Keywords in included files	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+]	Tags completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+k	Dictionary completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+l	Whole line completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+f	File path completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+o	Omni completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+v	Command line completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+u	User defined completion	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x Ctrl+s	Spelling suggestions	Completion	Insert
Ctrl+x s	Spelling suggestions	Completion	Insert
:set spell	Enable spell checking	Spell	Command
:set nospell	Disable spell checking	Spell	Command
:set spelllang=en_us	Set spelling language	Spell	Command
]s	Next misspelled word	Spell	Normal
[s	Previous misspelled word	Spell	Normal
z=	Suggest corrections	Spell	Normal
zg	Add word to spell file	Spell	Normal
zw	Mark word as wrong	Spell	Normal
zug	Undo zg or zw	Spell	Normal
:spellr	Repeat last z=	Spell	Command
:spelldump	Create spell file	Spell	Command
:spellinfo	Show spell file info	Spell	Command
==	Format current line	Format	Normal
=%	Format code block	Format	Normal
gg=G	Format entire file	Format	Normal
:retab	Convert tabs to spaces	Format	Command
:set expandtab	Use spaces instead of tabs	Format	Command
:set noexpandtab	Use tabs	Format	Command
:set shiftwidth=n	Set indentation width	Format	Command
:set tabstop=n	Set tab width	Format	Command
gq{motion}	Format text to textwidth	Format	Normal
gw{motion}	Format text and keep cursor	Format	Normal
:left	Left align text	Format	Command
:center	Center align text	Format	Command
:right	Right align text	Format	Command
gR	Enter Replace mode	Special	Normal
gh	Enter Select mode	Special	Normal
gH	Enter Line Select mode	Special	Normal
Ctrl+v	Enter Visual Block mode	Special	Normal
Q	Enter Ex mode	Special	Normal
gQ	Enter Ex mode	Special	Normal
:terminal	Enter Terminal mode	Special	Command
:help {plugin-name}	Show plugin help	Plugin	Command
:scriptnames	List all loaded scripts	Plugin	Command
:packadd {plugin}	Load optional plugin	Plugin	Command
:packloadall	Load all plugins	Plugin	Command
:runtime {file}	Source runtime files	Plugin	Command
:Explore	Open file explorer	Netrw	Command
:Sexplore	Split and explore	Netrw	Command
:Vexplore	Vertical split and explore	Netrw	Command
:Texplore	Tab explore	Netrw	Command
:Lexplore	Left explorer toggle	Netrw	Command
%	Create new file	Netrw	Normal
d	Create new directory	Netrw	Normal
D	Delete file/directory	Netrw	Normal
R	Rename file/directory	Netrw	Normal
P	Open in previous window	Netrw	Normal
i	Cycle view mode	Netrw	Normal
gh	Toggle hidden files	Netrw	Normal
mf	Mark file	Netrw	Normal
mr	Mark files using regex	Netrw	Normal
mt	Current target directory	Netrw	Normal
mm	Move marked files	Netrw	Normal
mc	Copy marked files	Netrw	Normal
%	Jump between matching pairs	Matchit	Normal
g%	Jump backwards between matches	Matchit	Normal
[%	Jump to previous unmatched group	Matchit	Normal
]%	Jump to next unmatched group	Matchit	Normal
a%	Select between matching pairs	Matchit	Visual
:Man {topic}	View man page	Man	Command
K	View man page for word under cursor	Man	Normal
\K	View custom keywordprg for word	Man	Normal
:make	Run make command	Compiler	Command
:compiler {name}	Set compiler	Compiler	Command
:copen	Open quickfix window	Compiler	Command
:cclose	Close quickfix window	Compiler	Command
:cnext	Next error	Compiler	Command
:cprevious	Previous error	Compiler	Command
:cfirst	First error	Compiler	Command
:clast	Last error	Compiler	Command
:terminal	Open terminal window	Terminal	Command
Ctrl+w N	Terminal Normal mode	Terminal	Terminal
i or a	Return to Terminal mode	Terminal	Terminal-Normal
:term {cmd}	Run command in terminal	Terminal	Command
Ctrl+\ Ctrl+n	Enter Terminal-Normal mode	Terminal	Terminal
:TOhtml	Convert to HTML	Plugin	Command
:RefreshGuiFont	Refresh GUI font	Plugin	Command
:LoadProfiles	Load color profiles	Plugin	Command
:SaveProfiles	Save color profiles	Plugin	Command
:DoMatchParen	Enable match parentheses	Plugin	Command
:NoMatchParen	Disable match parentheses	Plugin	Command
:helptags ALL	Generate help tags	Plugin	Command
:runtime! plugin/*/.vim	Load all plugins	Plugin	Command
:verbose scriptnames	List scripts with source	Plugin	Command
:finish	Stop sourcing script	Plugin	Command
:profile start {file}	Start profiling	Plugin	Command
:profile func *	Profile all functions	Plugin	Command
:profile file *	Profile all files	Plugin	Command

Basic Vim Commands

Let’s start with an easy set of Vim commands to open, save, and exit Vim.

:e filename	Open filename for edition
:w	Save file
:q	Exit Vim
:q!	Quit without saving
😡	Write file (if changes has been made) and exit
:sav filename	Saves file as filename
.	Repeats the last change made in normal mode

Moving in the File

While in command mode, the following set of commands will allow you to easily move the cursor in the file, jump to a particular line number, or set the cursor position at the beginning of the file.

k or Up Arrow	move the cursor position up one line
j or Down Arrow	move the cursor down one line
e	move the cursor to the end of the word
b	move the cursor to the begining of the word
0	move the cursor to the begining of the line
G	move the cursor to the end of the file
gg	move the cursor to the begining of the file
L	move the cursor to the bottom of the screen
:59	move cursor to line number 59. Replace 59 by the desired line number.
%	Move cursor to matching parenthesis
[[	Jump to function start
[{	Jump to block start

Cut, Copy & Paste

Here are some basic Vim commands to cut, copy and paste portions of text. All the commands below has to be ran in command mode.

y	Copy the selected text to clipboard
p	Paste clipboard contents
dd	Cut current line
yy	Copy current line
y$	Copy to end of line
D	Cut to end of line

Search

In command mode, you can easily search for any string within a file. This is extremely useful for developers and sysadmins alike.

/word	Search word from top to bottom
?word	Search word from bottom to top
*	Search the word under cursor
/cstring	Search STRING or string, case insensitive
/jo[ha]n	Search john or joan
/< the	Search the, theatre or then
/the>	Search the or breathe
/fred\|joe	Search fred or joe
/<dddd>	Search exactly 4 digits
/^n{3}	Find 3 empty lines
:bufdo /searchstr/	Search in all open files
bufdo %s/something/somethingelse/g	Search something in all the open buffers and replace it with somethingelse

Replace

Vim command line tool is extremely useful to replace many occurences of a string by another within a file. Using more advanced commands, there are a lot of search and replace options available.

:%s/old/new/g	Replace all occurences of old by new in file
:%s/onward/forward/gi	Replace onward by forward, case unsensitive
:%s/old/new/gc	Replace all occurences with confirmation
:%s/^/hello/g	Replace the begining of each line by hello
:%s/$/Harry/g	Replace the end of each line by Harry
:%s/onward/forward/gi	Replace onward by forward, case unsensitive
:%s/ *$//g	Delete all white spaces
:g/string/d	Delete all lines containing string
:v/string/d	Delete all lines containing which didn’t contain string
:s/Bill/Steve/	Replace the first occurence of Bill by Steve in current line
:s/Bill/Steve/g	Replace Bill by Steve in current line
:%s/Bill/Steve/g	Replace Bill by Steve in all the file
:%s/^M//g	Delete DOS carriage returns (^M)
:%s/r/r/g	Transform DOS carriage returns in returns
:%s#<[^>]+>##g	Delete HTML tags but keeps text
:%s/^(.*)n1$/1/	Delete lines which appears twice
Ctrl+a	Increment number under the cursor
Ctrl+x	Decrement number under cursor
ggVGg?	Change text to Rot13

Case

Vim has some powerful commands to modify the case of text. All the commands below have to be run in command mode.

Vu	Lowercase line
VU	Uppercase line
g~~	Invert case
vEU	Switch word to uppercase
vE~	Modify word case
ggguG	Set all text to lowercase
gggUG	Set all text to uppercase
:set ignorecase	Ignore case in searches
:set smartcase	Ignore case in searches excepted if an uppercase letter is used
:%s/<./u&/g	Sets first letter of each word to uppercase
:%s/<./l&/g	Sets first letter of each word to lowercase
:%s/.*/u&	Sets first letter of each line to uppercase
:%s/.*/l&	Sets first letter of each line to lowercase

Read and Write Files

Vim is clearly one of the most powerful text editors available. This section shows how you can manipulate files, insert the content of a file into another, and export portions of a file into a new file.

:1,10 w outfile	Saves lines 1 to 10 in outfile
:1,10 w >> outfile	Appends lines 1 to 10 to outfile
:r infile	Insert the content of infile
:23r infile	Insert the content of infile under line 23

File Explorer

Vim features a built in file explorer, which allows you to explorer the content of your server without exiting the text editor.

:e .	Open integrated file explorer
:Sex	Split window and open integrated file explorer
:Sex!	Same as :Sex but split window vertically
:browse e	Graphical file explorer
:ls	List buffers
:cd ..	Move to parent directory
:args	List files
:args *.php	Open file list
:grep expression *.php	Returns a list of .php files contening expression
gf	Open file name under cursor

Interact With Unix

Vim is installed by default on most Unix based operating systems, including Mac OS and most GNU/Linux distros. It therefore feature various commands that allows you to interact with the OS.

:!pwd	Execute the pwd unix command, then returns to Vi
!!pwd	Execute the pwd unix command and insert output in file
:sh	Temporary returns to Unix
$exit	Retourns to Vi

Alignment

In command mode, you can quickly and easily align a file’s lines for better clarity.

:%!fmt	Align all lines
!}fmt	Align all lines at the current position
5!!fmt	Align the next 5 lines

Tabs and Windows

One of my favorite Vim options is the ability to use tabs to edit various files at the same time. The following Vim commands will let you open, close, and organize your tabs for better productivity.

:tabnew	Creates a new tab
gt	Show next tab
:tabfirst	Show first tab
:tablast	Show last tab
:tabm n(position)	Rearrange tabs
:tabdo %s/foo/bar/g	Execute a command in all tabs
:tab ball	Puts all open files in tabs
:new abc.txt	Edit abc.txt in new window

Window Spliting

Vim allows you to split the screen horizontally or vertically, so you can edit many files at once using the insert mode.

:e filename	Edit filename in current window
:split filename	Split the window and open filename
ctrl-w up arrow	Puts cursor in top window
ctrl-w ctrl-w	Puts cursor in next window
ctrl-w_	Maximize current window vertically
ctrl-w\|	Maximize current window horizontally
ctrl-w=	Gives the same size to all windows
10 ctrl-w+	Add 10 lines to current window
:vsplit file	Split window vertically
:sview file	Same as :split in readonly mode
:hide	Close current window
:nly	Close all windows, excepted current
:b 2	Open #2 in this window

Auto-Completion

Vim can use external dictionaries to provide auto-completion. This can be a real time saver, so pay attention to the commands below if you want to speed up your workflow.

Ctrl+n Ctrl+p (To be used in insert mode)	Complete word
Ctrl+x Ctrl+l	Complete line
:set dictionary=dict	Define dict as a dictionnary
Ctrl+x Ctrl+k	Complete with dictionnary

Marks

When editing large files, it can be tricky to move in the file and remember important sections. Happily, Vim allows its users to create marks that can easily be accessed later. No need to remember a dozen of line numbers anymore!

m {a-z}	Marks current position as {a-z}
‘ {a-z}	Move to position {a-z}
”	Move to previous position

Abbreviations

This little known trick lets you define abbreviations that can be reused later and as many times as needed.

:ab mail mail@provider.org

Define mail as abbreviation of mail@provider.org

Text Indentation

Text indentation is vital when it comes to code readability. Luckily, Vim has a set of commands for the text editor to indent your lines in a clear and readable manner.

:set autoindent	Turn on auto-indent
:set smartindent	Turn on intelligent auto-indent
:set shiftwidth=4	Defines 4 spaces as indent size
ctrl-t, ctrl-d	Indent/un-indent in insert mode
>>	Indent
<<	Un-indent
=%	Indent the code between parenthesis
1GVG=	Indent the whole file

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I Type Commands in Vim?

To type commands, you have to first activate Vim’s command mode. To do so, press the Esc key of your keyboard. You can then type any command of your choice.

How do I Start Typing Text in Vim?

Vim must be in insert mode for you to type text. Simply press the i key when in command mode to enter the insert mode.

On Which Hosting Plans Can You Use Vim?

Basically any Linux hosting will have Vim installed on the server. As long as you are able to access your server via SSH, you’ll be able to use Vim. Please refer to our best web hosting for developers guide to find out which hosts provide a SSH access.