VimCheatSheet

General

• Configuration File: .vimrc (see :set commands)
• Different Modes ** normal ** command ** visual ** insert

Command	Explanation
F1	open help
:help [command]	open help, optionally for specific command
:help tutor	open help for tutor
ESC	leave mode/cancel operation
CTRL-c	synonym for ESC
CTRL-[	synonym for ESC
<number>	multiply command by <number>
CTRL+G	display status about file
.	repeat last command
q<alpha-character>	start recording of keystrokes, q stops the recoding
@<alpha-character>	replay keystrokes stored in register <alpha-character>
K	look up keyword under cursor (default: man)

Configuration

All Configurations can be disabled with no like :set nonumber.

Command	Explanation
:set number	turn on line numbering
:set hlsearch	turn on highlighting for search matches
:set incsearch	turn on incremental searches
:set autowrite	turn on writing on closing files like :q
:set hidden	closing a file will :hide that
:set switchbuf=<string>	control the switch buffer behavior (useopen, usetab, split, vsplit, newtab)
:set shiftwidth=<number>	set shiftwidth to <number> (default: tabstop)

Movement

Command	Explanation
h	move cursor left
j	move cursor down
k	move cursor up
l	move cursor right
w	move cursor forward one word
b	move cursor backward one word
0	move cursor to start of line
^	move cursor to first nonblank character in line
$	move cursor to end of line
G	move cursor to last line
<number>G	move cursor to line <number>
CTRL+U	move cursor half page up
CTRL+D	move cursor half page down
f<character>	move cursor to next <character>
F<character>	move cursor to last <character>
t<character>	move cursor before next <character>
T<character>	move cursor behind last <character>
:marks	show all marks
m<alpha-character>	mark the position and save in <alpha-character>
`<alpha-character>	go to mark saved in <alpha-character>
CTRL-]	jump to the definition (tag) under the cursor

Inseration

Command	Explanation
i	insert before cursor
a	insert after cursor
I	insert at beginning of line
A	insert at end of line
o	insert new line after current line
O	insert new line before current line
p	put saved changes after cursor/line
P	put saved changes before cursor/line
y<motion>	yank (copy) up to <motion>
yy	yank (copy) current line
Y	yank (copy) current line
:digraphs	shows available digraph character
CTRL+k	insert digraph (in insert mode)

Changing Text

Command	Explanation
u	undo last edit
CTRL+r	redo the last undo
J	join line with space
gJ	join line withou space
c<motion>	change all up to <motion> (exception is cw which acts as ce)
cc	change current line
C	change up to end of line (like c$)
r	replace character under cursor by a character
s	substitude (synonym for cl)
S	substitude line (synonym for cc)
~	change case (upper/lower characters)
!<motion><external commmand>	filter the selected area by <external command>
!!<external commmand>	filter the current line by <external command>
><motion>	indent all line in <motion>
>>	indent current line
<<motion>	reverse indent all line in <motion>
<<	reverse indent of current line
=<motion>	indents all lines in <motion> by indent program
==	indents current line by indent program

Deletion

Command	Explanation
x	delete character under cursor
dd	delete line
d<motion>	delete all up to <motion>

Files

Command	Explanation
:args	show which files are open
ZZ	writes and exit file (synonym for :wq)
:w[!]	writes file [ignores read-only mode]
:q[!]	exit file without writing [without warning]
:vi[!] [file]	close and open file
:view[!] [file]	close file and open new one in read-only mode
:e[!]	synonym for :vi
:n[!]	move to next file
:prev[!]	move to previous file
:N[!]	synonym for :prev
:first[!]	start edit of first file
:rewind[!]	synonym for :first
:last[!]	start edit of last file
CTRL-^	start edit of last edited file (register #)
CTRL-6	synonym for CTRL-^

Windows

Commands that close the file will also close the window.

Command	Explanation
:[size]split [+cmd] [file]	split the window horizontally
:[size]vsplit [+cmd] [file]	split the window vertically
:new	same as :split but opens a new file
:vnew	same as :vsplit but opens a new file
:sview	same as :split but opens in read-only mode
CTRL-Ww	jump to the next window
CTRL-Wj	jump to the lower window
CTRL-Wk	jump to the upper window
CTRL-Wh	jump to the left window
CTRL-Wl	jump to the right window
CTRL-Wc	close current window
CTRL-W+	increase window size
CTRL-W-	decrease window size
CTRL-W=	make all windows the same size
[size]CTRL-W_	make current window [size] (or maximal) lines

Buffers

Command	Explanation
:buffers	show all buffers
:buffer <number/file>	show buffer <number/file>
:sbuffer <number/file>	split window and show buffer
:bnext	show next buffer
:sbnext	split and show next buffer
:bprevious	show previous buffer
:sbprevious	split and show previous buffer
:bNext	synonym for :bprevious
:sbNext	synonym for :sbprevious
:blast	show last buffer
:sblast	split and show last buffer
:brewind	show first buffer
:sbrewind	split and show first buffer
:bmodified	show modified buffer
:sbmodified	split and show modified buffer

Searching

Command	Explanation
/<string>	forward search for <string>
?<string>	backward search for <string>
n	jump to next match
N	jump to next match reverse direction
:nohlsearch	clear highlighting for current search

Regular Expressions for Searches

Character	Explanation
^	start of line
$	end of line
.	single character
\<character>	turn of special meaning of <character>

Visual Mode

Switching from one visual mode to another is also possible.

Character	Explanation
v	enter visual cursor mode
V	enter visual line mode
CTRL-v	enter visual block mode
d	delete highlighted text
D	delete highlighted lines
y	yank highlighted text
Y	yank highlighted lines
c	change highlighted text
s	synonym for c
C	change highlighted lines
S	synonym for C
R	synonym for C
J	join highlighted lines separated by spaces
gJ	join highlighted lines without separatation
r	replace highlighted text by a character
K	look up highlighted text as a keyword
>	indent highlighted lines
<	reverse indent highlighted lines
=	indent highlighted lines by indent program
CTRL-]	jump to the definition (tag) of the highlighted text

Visual Block Mode

Character	Explanation
I	insert left from the block on each line
c	replace the block on each line
C	replace the block up to end of line on each line
A	insert right from the block on each line
r	replace the highlighted block
>	indent left from the block
<	indent right from the block

References

• ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/doc/book/vimbook-OPL.pdf