The vim editor
Inserting text
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| i | Insert text before current cursor position |
| a | Append text after current cursor position |
| A | Append text at the end of the current line |
| o | Open new line below the current line |
| O | Open new line above the current line |
Navigating in vi
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| left arrow / h | move left 1 character |
| right arrow / l | more right 1 character |
| up arrow / k | move up 1 line |
| down arrow / j | move down 1 line |
| $ | move to the end of current line |
| 0 | move to beginning of current line |
Deleting text
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| x | delete character at current cursor position |
| dw | delete word or part of word to the right of cursor |
| dd | delete current line |
| D | Delete current line starting from the current cursor position |
Undoing and repeating
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| u | undo the last command |
| . (dot) | repeat the last command |
Search and replace text
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| /[string] | Search forward for string |
| ?[search] | Search backward for string |
| n | Find next occurrence of string |
| N | find previous occurrence of string |
| :%s/old/new | Search and replace first occurrence of string old with string new |
| :%s/old/new/g | Search and replace all occurrence of string old with string new |
| cw | Change the word staring from current cursor position |
| r | Replace character at current cursor position |
| R | Replace/overwrite text on current line |
Copying and Pasting text
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| yw | Yank the current word in buffer |
| yy | Yank the current line in buffer |
| p | Paste the yanked data below the current line |
| P | Paste the yanked data above the current line |
Saving and quiting
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| :w | Write change into the file without quitting |
| :w! | write change into the file even if you are not owner of the file |
| :wq | write change into the file and quit |
| :wq! | write change into the file and quit even if you are not owner of the file |
| :q | quits when no changes are made |
| :q! | quits without saving the changes made |