| Command |
Action |
Notes |
| vim file +54 |
open file and go to line 54 |
any : command can be run using + on command line |
| vim -O file1 file2 |
open file1 and file2 side by side |
|
| Insert |
enter insert mode |
so you can start typing. Alternatively one can use i ora. |
| Esc |
leave insert mode |
so you can issue commands. Note in VIM the cursor keys & {Home, End, Page{up,down}} and Delete and Backspace work as expected in any mode, so you don't need to go back to command mode nearly as much as the origonal vi. Note even Ctrl+{left,right} jumps words like most other editors. Note also Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+c are equivalent to Esc and may be easier to type. Also Ctrl+o in insert mode will switch to normal mode for one command only and automatically switch back. |
| :command |
runs named command |
|
| :help word |
shows help on word |
Typing Ctrl+d after word shows all entries containing word |
| :echo &word |
shows value of word |
|
| windows |
| :e |
set buffer for current window |
you can optionally specify a new file or existing buffer number (#3 for e.g.). Note if you specify a directory a file browser is started. E.g. :e . will start the browser in the current directory (which can be changed with the :cd command). |
| :sp |
new window above |
ditto |
| :vs |
new window to left |
ditto |
| :q |
close current window |
|
| :qa |
close all windows |
add trailing ! to force |
| Ctrl+w {left,right,up,down} |
move to window |
|
| Ctrl+w Ctrl+w |
toggle window focus |
|
| Ctrl+w = |
autosize windows |
to new terminal size for e.g. |
| :ba |
new window for all buffers |
":vert ba" tiles windows vertically |
| buffers |
| :ls |
list buffers |
|
| gf |
open file under cursor |
|
| :bd |
delete buffer |
and any associated windows |
| :w |
save file |
Note :up[date] only writes file if changes made, but it's more awkward to type |
| :sav filename |
save file as filename |
Note :w filename doesn't switch to new file. Subsequent edits/saves happen to existing file |
| undo/redo |
| u |
undo |
|
| Ctrl+r |
redo |
|
| . |
repeat |
|
| navigation |
| gg |
Goto start of file |
|
| G |
Goto end of file |
|
| :54 |
Goto line 54 |
|
| 80| |
Goto column 80 |
|
| Ctrl+g |
Show file info |
including your position in the file |
| ga |
Show character info |
g8 shows UTF8 encoding |
| Ctrl+e |
scroll up |
Ctrl+x needed first for insert mode |
| Ctrl+y |
scroll down |
Ctrl+x needed first for insert mode |
| zt |
scroll current line to top of window |
|
| w |
Goto next word |
Note Ctrl+{right} in newer vims (which work also in insert mode) |
| b |
Goto previous word |
Note Ctrl+{left} in newer vims |
| [{ |
Goto previous { of current scope |
|
| % |
Goto matching #if #else,{},(),[],/* */ |
must be one on line |
| zi |
toggle folds on/off |
|
| bookmarks |
| m {a-z} |
mark position as {a-z} |
E.g. m a |
| ' {a-z} |
move to position {a-z} |
E.g. ' a |
| ' ' |
move to previous position |
|
| '0 |
open previous file |
handy after starting vim |
| selection/whitespace |
| v |
select visually |
use cursor keys, home, end etc. |
| Shift+v |
line select |
CTRL+v = column select |
| Delete |
cut selection |
|
| "_x |
delete selection |
without updating the clipboard or yank buffer. I remap x to this in my .vimrc |
| y |
copy selection |
|
| p |
paste (after cursor) |
P is paste before cursor |
| "Ay |
append selected lines to register a |
use lowercase a to initialise register |
| "ap |
paste contents of a |
|
| gq |
reformat selection |
justifies text and is useful with :set textwidth=70 (80 is default) |
| = |
reindent selection |
very useful to fix indentation for c code |
| > |
indent section |
useful with Shift+v% |
| < |
unindent section |
remember . to repeat and u to undo |
| :set list! |
toggle visible whitespace |
See also listchars in my .vimrc |
| clipboard shortcuts |
| dd |
cut current line |
|
| yy |
copy current line |
|
| D |
cut to end of line |
|
| y$ |
copy to end of line |
|
| search/replace |
| /regexp |
searches forwards for regexp |
? reverses direction |
| n |
repeat previous search |
N reverses direction |
| * |
searches forward for word under cursor |
# reverses direction |
| :%s/1/2/gc |
search for regexp 1 and replace with 2 in file |
c = confirm change |
| :s/1/2/g |
search for regexp 1 and replace with 2 in (visual) selection |
|
| programming |
| K |
lookup word under cursor in man pages |
2K means lookup in section 2 |
| :make |
run make in current directory |
|
| Ctrl+] |
jump to tag |
Ctrl+t to jump back levels. I map these to Alt+⇦⇨ in my .vimrc |
| vim -t name |
Start editing where name is defined |
|
| Ctrl+{n,p} |
scroll forward,back through autocompletions for word before cursor |
uses words in current file (and included files) by default. You can change to a dictionary for e.g: set complete=k/usr/share/dicts/words Note only works in insert mode |
| Ctrl+x Ctrl+o |
scroll through language specific completions for text before cursor |
"Intellisense" for vim (7 & later). :help compl-omni for more info. Useful for python, css, javascript, ctags, ... Note only works in insert mode |
| external filters |
| :%!filter |
put whole file through filter |
|
| :!filter |
put (visual) selection through filter |
|
| :,!command |
replace current line with command output |
|
| map <f9> :w<CR>:!python %<CR> |
run current file with external program |
|
