vim Starter Cheatsheet

Never use the arrow keys!

vim has three modes:

"insert mode" vs "normal mode" vs "visual mode"

Cursor Movement
Get around your file via the jkhl keys
j - move down a line
k - move up a line
h - move left a character
l - move right a character
wWbBeE - move to the next word, backwards, or end of word
0 - places you at the begining of a line
^ - places you at the begining of the first non-whitespace character
$ - places you at the end of the line
g_ - places you at the last non-whitespace character
1G OR gg - move to top, the first line of the file
12G - is the 12th line of the file
G - last line of the file

Normal mode: hit escape

use : (colon) for further actions

File commands
:w - Saves file
:w <filename> - saves file with <filename>
:q - quit file
:q! - quit without saving
:wq - save and quit the file

Normal mode editing commands
x - delete single character | <num>x - delete <num> characters
d - delete | dw - delete word | diw - delete in word | d$ - delete to end of line | dd - delete line | <num>dd - delete <num> lines
dd - delete entire line - everything
dG - delete from current line to the end of the file
s - substitute and places you in insert mode
r - replace - one time function - replaces a single characters with the next characters you type
S - delete entire line and place in insert mode
J - join two lines
. - repeats the last command
* - highlights each occurance of that word
~ - switch case of the current character - also works in visual mode - changes case of highlighted text
u - undo
:redo OR :red OR <CTRL>-R - redo

Find and Search

f OR F - finds an occurance of a character on the line your cursor is on

Example: fa would find the first "a" on the line you are on 3fa- would find the 3rd occurance of "a" on the line you are on

Find something and move to it
/pattern - search forward

Example: /something<enter> moves you to the fisrt occurance of that "something" n moves you to the next occurance - N moves you to the previous occurance

?pattern - search backward

Example: ?something<enter> moves you backward to the occurance of that "something" n moves you back further to the next item - N moves you to the next occurance

Insert mode:

Various ways to get into insert mode.
i - gets into insert mode at the cursor - start typing
a - gets into insert mode following the cursor
c - change | cw - change word | ciw - change in word | ci', ci", ci(, ci{ - change in ', " , (), {}
o - new line after cursor
O - new line before cursor

Cut and Pasting
In Normal mode
y - yank text | yy - yank line | Y - same as yy | <num>yy OR <num>Y - yanks <num> lines| yw - yank word | yiw - yank in word | <num>yw - yank <num> words | y$ - yank to end of line

In visual mode Y is lines and y is text or chars (it's wierd, but they are pretty much interchangable)

p - paste after | P - paste before

Example: 3Yp yanks three lines and pastes them after the current line
xp - deletes one character and pastes it after the delete. Good for swapping characters
("mkie" would become "mike" if I did xp with the cursor at the "k")

Using Registers

Registers are locations where you can store yanked or deleted text. Registers are accessed via " (double quote).
"<char>y - adds the yanked text to the register located at <char>

Example: "ay - loads the yanked text into the a register

"<char>p - pastes the text in register <char>

Example: "ap - pastes the text in register "a"

:reg - display the registers and their contents

Read output from a file or a command into your file
:read Myfile.txt - reads the contents of Myfile.txt into the current vim session
:read !ls - adds the output of the ls command to your current vim session

Using Marks

Marks allow you to "reference" a line/char in your file. Marks are accessed via ' (single quote).
m<char> - adds a mark named <char>

Example: ma - marks the line/char under the cursor

'<char> - takes you to the "mark" made earlier named <char>

Example: 'a - takes you to the line/char at mark "a" 3Y'ap - yanks three lines and pastes them at mark "a"

:marks - list all current marks

Using Macros

Macros are recordings of key commands that can be replayed
q<char> - starts recording a macro and saves in <char> register

After the above, start typing the commands you want to save, and when finished type <esc>q
Example: qb$x<esc>q - record a macro at register "b" which moves to the end of the line and deletes the last character

@<char> - executes the macro saved at register <char>

Example: @b - executes macro at register "b"

@@ - executes the macro again
<num>@<char> - execute the macro <num> times
:reg - see what macros are stored

Using Tabs

tab new - create a new tab
tabn - to to next tab
tabp - previous tab
tabs - list all tabs and their windows
tabm 0 - move current tab to first
tabm <number> - move tab to position
vim -p <filename1> <filename2> - open vim with filename1 in one tab, filename2 in a second tab, etc...

Visual Mode

In Normal mode type v
This allows you to highlight text and issue commands against the highlighted text- like d, c, y, s, x

Cool things you can do in Normal mode

:set number - adds line numbers to your vim
:set relativenumber - adds relative line numbers to vim
:set hlsearch - highlights searches
:set incsearch - highlights searches as you type them
:noh - clears the highlight until next search
:syntax on - syntax highlighting for certain files
:! run a shell command - does not put the ouput in the vim session
:r! - execute shell command and include output in your file.

Example: :r! date - inserts the date into your file.

:f - gives you information about the current file you are editing