VIM Cheatsheet for everyone

Modes

• Normal mode: The default mode for most commands.

• Insert mode: Used for entering text.

• Visual mode: Used for selecting text.

Basic Cursor Movements

• Character-based movements:

  • h: Move left

  • j: Move down

  • k: Move up

  • l: Move right

• Word-based movements:

  • w: Move to the start of the next word

  • e: Move to the end of the current word

  • b: Move to the start of the previous word

• Line-based movements:

  • gg: Go to the first line

  • G: Go to the last line

  • 0: Go to the beginning of the line

  • ^: Go to the first non-blank character of the line

  • $: Go to the end of the line

Editing

• Basic editing:

  • i: Enter insert mode before the cursor

  • a: Enter insert mode after the cursor

  • x: Delete the character under the cursor

  • dd: Delete the current line

  • dw: Delete from the cursor to the next word

  • de: Delete from the cursor to the end of the current word

  • diw: Delete the current word (regardless of cursor position)

• Yanking (copying):

  • y: Yank (copy) the selected text

  • yy: Yank the current line

  • yw: Yank the current word

• Pasting:

  • p: Paste the yanked text

  • P: Paste the yanked text before the cursor

• Undo/Redo:

  • u: Undo the last edit

  • <CTRL-r>: Redo the last undo

• Joining lines:

  • J: Join lines

Searching

• Basic searching:

  • /pattern: Search forward for a pattern

  • ?pattern: Search backward for a pattern

  • n: Go to the next search result

  • N: Go to the previous search result

• Word-based searching:

  • *: Search for the word under the cursor

  • #: Search backward for the word under the cursor

Visual Mode

• Line mode:

  • v: Enter visual line mode

• Block mode:

  • <CTRL-v>: Enter visual block mode

• Editing in visual mode:

  • J: Join lines

  • x: Cut selected text

  • y: Yank selected text

  • r: Replace selected text with a character

  • I: Enter insert mode at the beginning of the selected block

  • A: Enter insert mode at the end of the selected block

Other Commands

• Window navigation:

  • zz: Center the current line in the window

• Character searching:

  • f{char}: Find the next occurrence of the character

  • F{char}: Find the previous occurrence of the character

  • t{char}: Move to the character before the next occurrence of the character

  • T{char}: Move to the character before the previous occurrence of the character

• Brace/parenthesis matching:

  • %: Jump to the matching brace or parenthesis

  • [{: Jump to the opening brace or parenthesis

  • ]}: Jump to the closing brace or parenthesis

• Text manipulation:

  • ci{symbol}: Change text within the specified symbols

  • cit: Change text within HTML tags

  • gcc: Comment or uncomment the current line

  • gc{motion}: Comment or uncomment the selected lines

  • >>: Indent the current line

  • <<: Unindent the current line

• Number manipulation:

  • <CTRL-a>: Increment the number under the cursor

  • <CTRL-x>: Decrement the number under the cursor

• Marks:

  • m{mark}: Set a mark

  • {mark}: Go to the specified mark

Reference:

If you are looking for a tutorial on VIM. Check out this VIM course from Zero To Mastery Academy by Jayson Lennon.