Vim Commands Cheat Sheet

A concise reference for the most common and essential Vim commands, from basic editing to advanced operations.

Exiting

Command	Description
:w	Write (save) the current file.
:wa	Write all open files.
:q	Quit the current file.
:qa	Quit all open files.
:q! / ZQ	Quit and discard any unsaved changes.
:wq / :x	Write (save) and quit.
ZZ	A shortcut for :wq.
:wqa	Write and quit all open files.

Modes

Command	Description
i	Insert mode (before cursor).
a	Append mode (after cursor).
o / O	Open a new line below/above and enter Insert mode.
v	Visual mode (character-wise).
V	Visual mode (line-wise).
<C-v>	Visual mode (block-wise).
:	Command-Line mode.
R	Replace mode.
Esc	Return to Normal mode.

Basic Movement

Command	Description
h j k l	Move left, down, up, right.
w / b	Move forward/backward by one word.
e	Move to the end of the current word.
0 / ^ or _	Move to the start / first non-blank char of the line.
$ / g_	Move to the end / last non-blank char of the line.
gg / G	Go to the first / last line of the file.
{n}G	Go to line number {n}.
H / M / L	Go to the High, Middle, or Low part of the screen.

Scroll the view

• Ctrl + e: Scrolls the screen down one line at a time.
• Ctrl + y: Scrolls the screen up one line at a time.
• Ctrl + f: Scrolls forward (down) a full page.
• Ctrl + b: Scrolls backward (up) a full page.
• Ctrl + d: Scrolls down a half-page.
• Ctrl + u: Scrolls up a half-page.

Reposition the cursor line

• zt: Moves the current line to the top of the screen.
• zz: Moves the current line to the center of the screen.
• zb: Moves the current line to the bottom of the screen.

Move hte cursor within the screen

• H: Moves the cursor to the top ("High") line of the screen.
• M: Moves the cursor to the middle line of the screen.
• L: Moves the cursor to the bottom ("Low") line of the screen.

Editing Text

Deleting, Changing, and Replacing

Command	Description
x	Delete character under the cursor.
d{motion}	Delete text over {motion}.
dd	Delete the current line.
D	Delete from cursor to the end of the line.
c{motion}	Change text over {motion}.
cc	Change the entire line.
C	Change to the end of the line.
r{char}	Replace the character under the cursor with {char}.
s	Substitute character and enter Insert mode.
.	Repeat the last change.
u / <C-r>	Undo / Redo the last change.

Yank (Copy) and Put (Paste)

The y command yanks (copies) text, and p puts (pastes) it.

Command	Description
y{motion}	Yank text over {motion}.
yy	Yank the current line.
Y	Yank the current line (same as yy).
p / P	Put (paste) after / before the cursor.

Changing Case

Command	Description
~	Switch case of the character under the cursor.
gU{motion}	Convert text over {motion} to UPPERCASE.
gu{motion}	Convert text over {motion} to lowercase.
gUU / guu	Make the entire line UPPERCASE / lowercase.

Search and Replace

Searching

Command	Description
/pattern	Search forward for pattern.
?pattern	Search backward for pattern.
* / #	Search forward/backward for the word under the cursor.
n / N	Go to the next / previous search match.

Replacing

Command	Description
:s/old/new/g	Replace all old with new on the current line.
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all old with new in the entire file.
:%s/old/new/gc	Replace throughout the file, with confirmation for each.

Working with Multiple Files (Buffers)

Command	Description
:e {file}	Edit a file in a new buffer.
:ls	List all open buffers.
:b{n}	Go to buffer number {n}.
:bn / :bp	Go to the next / previous buffer.
:bd	Buffer delete (close the current buffer).

Window Management

Command	Description
:sp {file}	Split the window horizontally.
:vsp {file}	Vertically split the window.
<C-w>s	Horizontal split.
<C-w>v	Vertical split.
<C-w>w	Switch to the next window.
<C-w>h/j/k/l	Move to the window left/down/up/right.
<C-w>q	Quit (close) the current window.
<C-w>=	Make all windows equal size.

Marks and Jumps

Marks are like bookmarks. Jumps are cursor movements that are saved in a list.

Command	Description
m{a-z}	Set a mark named {a-z} at the cursor position.
{a-z}	Jump to the line of mark {a-z}.
'a	Jump to the beginning of the line of mark a.
:marks	List all marks.
<C-o> / <C-i>	Jump to the older / newer position in the jump list.

Macros

Macros record a sequence of keystrokes that you can replay.

1. q{a-z} - Start recording a macro into register {a-z}.
2. Perform your sequence of commands.
3. q - Stop recording.
4. @{a-z} - Execute the macro from register {a-z}.
5. @@ - Replay the last executed macro.