Vim Cheat Sheet



Movement Commands:
- '0'           move to beginning of line where cursor is present
- 'w'           move to start of next word
- 'b'           move to beginning of current word
- 'j'           move down 
- 'k'           move up 

Insert / Append Commands:
- 'i'           insert before cursor
- 'a'           insert after cursor
- 'A'           insert at end of line
- 'o'           open a newline, below cursor
- 'ctrl-n'      insert next keyword
- 'ctrl-p'      insert next/previous keyword

Delete Commands:
- 'x'           delete character
- 'd$' or 'D'   delete from cursor to end of line
- 'dd'          delete whole line
- 'ce'          delete from cursor to end of word and enter Insert mode
- 'c$'          delete from cursor to end of line and enter Insert mode
- 'dw'          delete word 

Put Commands:
- 'P'           put text back after deletion or put line below cursor (using register contents 
                from dd) 
- 'p'           put line below cursor (using register contents from dd) 

Paste Commands:
- ':set paste'   paste pre-formatted text into vim (disable formatting)
- ':set nopaste' re-enable paste formatting

Undo / Redo Commands:
- 'u'      undo previous
- 'U'      undo line
- 'ctrl-r' redo

Replace Commands:
- 'r' replace (follow with char)

Status and File Position Commands:
- 'ctrl-g'  show location and file status
- 'gg'      move to top of file
- 'G'       move to bottom of file
- '-G'   move to line ‘’
- '/string' search for string (n for next, N for previous, ctrl-o return to previous position)
- '%'       move from cursor highlighted (,),{,},[ or ] to matching parenthesis or bracket

Substitution Commands:
- ':s/old/new'      substitute old word with new.  Use :s/old/new/g for global substitution (one line).
- ':#,#s/old/new/g' substitute phrases between two line #'s 
- ':%s/old/new/g'   substitute all occurrences in the file type 
- ':%s/old/new/gc'  ask for confirmation each time add 'c' 

Execute External Commands:
- ':![command]' execute any external command (for example browse files)

Save File Commands:
- 'SHIFT+zz'    saves file and exits (same as :wq)
- ':w FILENAME' saves current as "FILENAME"

Visual Mode Commands:   
- 'v'           enter Visual Mode
- 'v+selection' save selection with :w FILENAME

String manipulation:
- 'u' while in visual mode, transform selection to lower case
- 'U' while in visual mode, transform selection to upper case

Folding:
- 'zfj' create a fold from cursor ‘’ lines down 
- 'zj'     move cursor to next fold
- 'zk'     move cursor to previous fold
- 'zo'     open one fold under cursor
- 'zc'     close one fold under cursor
- 'zn'     open all folds   
- 'zN'     close all folds   

Marks:
- 'm' set mark to char
- ''' move cursor to beginning of line mark ‘’ 
- "`" move cursor to exact mark ‘’ (note backtick)

Macros:
- 'qw'     start recording macro using register ‘w’
- 'q'      stop recording macro
- '@w'     execute macro in register ‘w’
- '@w'  execute macro in register ‘w’ ‘’ times
- '@@'     execute previously executed macro
- '@@'  execute previously executed macro ‘’ times

Productivity Tips:
- visual aids
   - ':set cursorline' highlight line containing cursor. 
- search current word (both cycle)
   - '*' search next instance of current word
   - '#' search previous instance of current word

General Tips:
- save a file that needs root permission (must have sudo privileges)
   - ':w !sudo tee %'             
   -  same as above but without echo to stout
      - ':w !sudo tee > /dev/null %' 
- dealing with whitespaces
   - search and show all whitespaces
      - ':/\s' 
   - deleting trailing whitespaces
      - ':%s/\s\+$//'