Vi / Vim Shortcuts
by RedCoupe on Jun.15, 2011, under Web design / development
Im always forgetting the very useful vi shortcuts, so here’s a list of them:
ˆ = Control key
If you see a 10, this can be replaced by any number
| Operation | Keys |
|---|---|
| Return to Command mode from Insert, overwrite or append mode | Escape |
| Enter Insert mode | i |
| Enter overwRite mode | R |
| Enter append mode | a |
| Enter append mode at end of this line | A |
| Enter Insert mode on a new line after this | o |
| Enter Insert mode on a new line before this | O |
| Delete this word and enter Insert mode here | cw |
| Delete this line and enter Insert mode here | cc |
| Delete the next 10 lines and enter Insert mode here | 10cc |
| Move cursor left one character | left arrow or h |
| Move cursor left e.g. 10 characters | 10h |
| Move cursor down one line | down arrow or j |
| Move cursor down 10 lines | 10j |
| Move cursor up one line | up arrow or k |
| Move cursor right one character | right arrow or l |
| Save this file and continue | :w |
| Save this file and exit | :wq |
| Abort without saving changes to this file | :q! |
| Quit (no changes made) | :q |
| Save as a new file “new-file” | :w new-file |
| Load the file “myfile” into vi | :e myfile |
| Delete the character under the cursor | x or Del |
| Delete the current word (inc. space) | dw |
| Delete the next 10 words | 10dw |
| Delete the current line | dd |
| Delete the next 10 lines | 10dd |
| Delete rest of this line, right of the cursor | d$ |
| Yank the current line onto the clipboard | yy |
| Yank the current word onto the clipboard | yw |
| Paste the clipboard | p |
| Undo | u |
| Redo | ^r |
| Jump to the bottom of the file | G |
| Jump to e.g. the tenth line of the file | 10G |
| Jump to the top of the file | gg |
| Jump one page forward | ^f |
| Jump half a page forward | ^u |
| Jump one page back | ^b |
| Jump half a page back | ^d |
| Search for text from cursor | /text |
| Find next occurrence of text | n |
| Find previous occurrence of text | N |
| Start of next word | w |
| End of next word | e |
| Start of the tenth word forward | 10w |
| Start of next sentence | ) |
| Start of previous sentence | ( |
| Start of line | 0 (zero) |
| End of line | $ |
| Top of screen | H |
| Bottom of screen | L |
| Middle of screen | M |