A Vim Cheat Sheet for Commands I Keep Forgetting

Vim becomes useful once you stop treating every command as a separate keyboard shortcut. Motions describe where to go, operators describe what to do, and the two can be combined. Until that feels natural, a cheat sheet helps.

Press Esc if you are unsure which mode you are in. It is not elegant advice, but it works surprisingly often.

Move around

• h, j, k, l: move left, down, up, and right
• w: move forward by a word
• b: move backward by a word
• 0: move to the start of the line
• $: move to the end of the line
• gg: move to the start of the file
• G: move to the end of the file
• { and }: move by paragraph
• Ctrl-u and Ctrl-d: move half a screen up or down

Add a count to repeat many commands. 5j moves down five lines, while 3w moves forward three words.

Insert and edit text

• i: insert before the cursor
• I: insert at the start of the line
• a: append after the cursor
• A: append at the end of the line
• o: open a line below
• O: open a line above
• r: replace the character under the cursor
• x: delete the character under the cursor
• dd: delete the current line
• yy: yank the current line
• p: put the last yanked or deleted text after the cursor
• u: undo
• Ctrl-r: redo

Operators combine with motions. dw deletes to the next word, d$ deletes to the end of the line, and y} yanks to the next paragraph boundary. This is the part of Vim worth learning; memorising exotic commands can wait.

Select in visual mode

• v: select by character
• V: select by line
• Ctrl-v: select a rectangular block
• y: yank the selection
• d: delete the selection
• :s/old/new/g: replace every old in the selected lines

Search and replace

• /searchterm: search forward
• ?searchterm: search backward
• n: repeat the search in the same direction
• N: repeat it in the opposite direction
• :%s/old/new/g: replace every old in the file
• :%s/old/new/gc: do the same, but ask before each replacement

The final c has prevented enough ambitious replacements that I usually add it first and remove it only when I am certain.

Save, open, and quit

• :w: save
• :wq or :x: save and quit
• :q: quit when there are no unsaved changes
• :q!: quit and discard changes
• :e filename: edit another file
• :e!: reload the current file and discard unsaved changes

Splits, tabs, and useful settings

• :sp: split the window horizontally
• :vsp: split it vertically
• Ctrl-w w: move between windows
• :tabnew: open a tab
• gt and gT: move to the next or previous tab
• :set number: show line numbers
• :set nonumber: hide line numbers
• :set syntax=python: set Python syntax highlighting

Put lasting settings and mappings in .vimrc. Start with a small configuration you understand. Copying a giant setup on the first day is an efficient way to turn someone else’s editor into your own mystery.