Vim Cheat Sheet
Global
:h[elp] keyword -
open help for keyword
:sav[eas] file - save
file as
:clo[se] - close current
pane
:ter[minal] - open a
terminal window
K - open man page for word
under the cursor
Cursor movement
h - move cursor left
j - move cursor down
k - move cursor up
l - move cursor right
gj - move cursor down (multi-
line text)
gk - move cursor up (multi-line
text)
H - move to top of screen
M - move to middle of screen
L - move to bottom of screen
w - jump forwards to the start of
a word
W - jump forwards to the start of
a word (words can contain
punctuation)
e - jump forwards to the end of a
word
E - jump forwards to the end of a
word (words can contain
punctuation)
b - jump backwards to the start
of a word
B - jump backwards to the start
of a word (words can contain
punctuation)
ge - jump backwards to the end
of a word
gE - jump backwards to the end
of a word (words can contain
punctuation)
% - move to matching character
(default supported pairs: '()', '{}',
'[]' - use :h matchpairs in
vim for more info)
0 - jump to the start of the line
^ - jump to the first non-blank
character of the line
$ - jump to the end of the line
g_ - jump to the last non-blank
character of the line
gg - go to the first line of the
document
G - go to the last line of the
document
5gg or 5G - go to line 5
gd - move to local declaration
gD - move to global declaration
Editing
r - replace a single character.
R - replace more than one
character, until ESC is pressed.
J - join line below to the current
one with one space in between
gJ - join line below to the
current one without space in
between
gwip - reflow paragraph
g~ - switch case up to motion
gu - change to lowercase up to
motion
gU - change to uppercase up to
motion
cc - change (replace) entire line
c$ or C - change (replace) to the
end of the line
ciw - change (replace) entire
word
cw or ce - change (replace) to
the end of the word
s - delete character and
substitute text
S - delete line and substitute text
(same as cc)
xp - transpose two letters (delete
and paste)
u - undo
U - restore (undo) last changed
line
Ctrl + r - redo
. - repeat last command
Marking text (visual mode)
v - start visual mode, mark lines,
then do a command (like y-yank)
V - start linewise visual mode
o - move to other end of marked
area
Ctrl + v - start visual block
mode
O - move to other corner of block
aw - mark a word
ab - a block with ()
aB - a block with {}
at - a block with <> tags
ib - inner block with ()
iB - inner block with {}
it - inner block with <> tags
Esc - exit visual mode
Visual commands
> - shift text right
< - shift text left
y - yank (copy) marked text
Macros
qa - record macro a
q - stop recording macro
@a - run macro a
@@ - rerun last run macro
Cut and paste
yy - yank (copy) a line
2yy - yank (copy) 2 lines
yw - yank (copy) the characters
of the word from the cursor
position to the start of the next
word
yiw - yank (copy) word under
the cursor
yaw - yank (copy) word under
the cursor and the space after or
before it
y$ or Y - yank (copy) to end of
line
p - put (paste) the clipboard after
cursor
P - put (paste) before cursor
gp - put (paste) the clipboard
after cursor and leave cursor after
the new text
gP - put (paste) before cursor
and leave cursor after the new
text
dd - delete (cut) a line
2dd - delete (cut) 2 lines
dw - delete (cut) the characters
of the word from the cursor
position to the start of the next
word
diw - delete (cut) word under
the cursor
daw - delete (cut) word under
the cursor and the space after or
before it
:3,5d - delete lines starting
from 3 to 5
:g/{pattern}/d - delete
all lines containing pattern
:g!/{pattern}/d -
delete all lines not containing
pattern
d$ or D - delete (cut) to the end
of the line
x - delete (cut) character
Indent text
>> - indent (move right) line
one shiftwidth
<< - de-indent (move left) line
one shiftwidth
>% - indent a block with () or {}
(cursor on brace)
<% - de-indent a block with () or
{} (cursor on brace)
>ib - indent inner block with ()
>at - indent a block with <>
tags
Working with multiple files
:e[dit] file - edit a file in a new buffer
:bn[ext] - go to the next buffer
:bp[revious] - go to the previous buffer
:bd[elete] - delete a buffer (close a file)
:b[uffer]# - go to a buffer by index #
:b[uffer] file - go to a buffer by file
:ls or :buffers - list all open buffers
:sp[lit] file - open a file in a new buffer and split
window
:vs[plit] file - open a file in a new buffer and
vertically split window
:vert[ical] ba[ll] - edit all buffers as vertical
windows
:tab ba[ll] - edit all buffers as tabs
Ctrl + ws - split window
Ctrl + wv - split window vertically
Ctrl + ww - switch windows
Ctrl + wq - quit a window
Ctrl + wx - exchange current window with next one
Ctrl + w= - make all windows equal height & width
Ctrl + wh - move cursor to the left window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wl - move cursor to the right window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wj - move cursor to the window below (horizontal
split)
Ctrl + wk - move cursor to the window above (horizontal
split)
Ctrl + wH - make current window full height at far left
(leftmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wL - make current window full height at far right
(rightmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wJ - make current window full width at the very
bottom (bottommost horizontal window)
Ctrl + wK - make current window full width at the very top
(topmost horizontal window)
Diff
zf - manually define a fold up to motion
zd - delete fold under the cursor
za - toggle fold under the cursor
zo - open fold under the cursor
zc - close fold under the cursor
zr - reduce (open) all folds by one level
zm - fold more (close) all folds by one level
zi - toggle folding functionality
]c - jump to start of next change
[c - jump to start of previous change
do or :diffg[et] - obtain (get) difference (from other
buffer)
dp or :diffpu[t] - put difference (to other buffer)
:diffthis - make current window part of diff
:dif[fupdate] - update differences
