This document provides a cheat sheet for commonly used Vim commands organized by category. It includes commands for modes, motions, text objects, searches, buffers, windows, tabs, marks, folds, diffs, recording macros, and more. Key customizations and tips are also included to improve the default Vim experience. The cheat sheet aims to be a concise yet comprehensive reference for Vim commands useful for programmers.

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2011
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Revision 2.0
Sept. 11, 2011
Vim 7.3+
:version Vim Cheat Sheet for Programmers May
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http:/michael.PeopleOfHonorOnly.com/vim/
HOW-TO make Vim not suck Out of the Box: :help statusline :set nocompatible ruler laststatus=2 showcmd showmode number Search :set incsearch ignorecase smartcase hlsearch Remove useless splash screen :set shortmess+=I
Best tips: http://vim.wikia.com/ Best scripts: http://www.vim.org/scripts/index.php :map <F9> :e $HOME/_vimrc<CR> :map <F6> :so $HOME/_vimrc<CR>
Ctrl ` Ctrl 1 Ctrl @ Ctrl 3 Ctrl 4 Ctrl 5 Ctrl ^ Ctrl 7 Ctrl 8 Ctrl 9 Ctrl 0 Ctrl _ Ctrl =
~ toggle case ! extern filter @•
play
macro #
prev
identifier $ ⇥ %
goto
match ^ soft ⇤ & repeat :s *
next
identifier (
begin
sentence )
end
sentence _ cur line + ↓
13 1 3 8 auto- 2
`• goto mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 hard ⇤ - ↑ = format
14 12 10 9
block select ^w• window… scroll line ↑ :redo ctags return scroll line ↓ half page ↑ Ctrl I prev mark ↑ Normal ctags identifier
end ↖ paragraph
Q ex mode W WORD ↘ E WORD ↘
R Replace T• ← until char Y copy line U undo line I insert ⇤ O open ⤒ P paste ⤒ { paragraph
} ↘
record end replace 0 0
Tab q• w word ↘ e r t• until char → y copy u undo i insert o open ⤓ p paste ⤓ [• misc. ]• misc.
↱
2
macro word ↘ char
7 10 15
incr. # half page ↓ page ↓ file/cursor info Ctrl H Ctrl J redraw Ctrl ; Ctrl ' Ctrl
goto eof / man page Bottom 0 ⇤
A append ⇥ S subst line D del ⇥ F• ← find char G goto line# H Top screen J Join lines K identifier L screen : Ex cmd line "• register | goto col#
0 6 "next" 16 goto mark
Caps a append s subst char d del f• find char → g• extra h ← j ↓ k ↑ l → ; '• •
↰
2
f/F/t/T ⇤
7,11 9,16 15
Ctrl ^ :suspend decr. # Normal / Cancel block select page ↑ ↓ Ctrl M Ctrl , Ctrl . Ctrl / Unused & Duplicate keys
4 select Middle 2 2 Ctrl-K Ctrl-S (free)
"prev"
Z• quit X ← del char C change ⇥ V B ↖ WORD N M < undent > indent ?• find ↖ 13 Ctrl-L (redraw)
Shift ⇧ lines find screen ` near dup of '
5 0 select find "prev" 16 repeat 14 Ctrl-Q = Ctrl-V
z• extra x del char → c change 2 v chars b ↖ word n "next" m• set mark , f/F/t/T
. cmd /• find ↘ 15 Ctrl-J = Ctrl-M = ^N
Legend: 16 The search direction is relative; next is the initial direction, previous is the opposite direction. n ; repeat same initial direction find. N , repeat opposite initial direction find. Note: ; , only searches cursor line, n N searches buffer.
Macro Register name (0-9a-zA-Z) required :help cmdline :r file insert file :help tags :map :Explore<CR> manually type <,C,R,> :buffer #
Op Motion req.; act between cursor & dst :w save :gui switch to GUI :ts list active tags §0 "• before del/copy/paste to use register :buffers list
Cmd Command :q quit :q! quit w/o save ^] jump to tag under cursor "+x cut to system clipboard reg. '+' :new blank file/buffer
Ins Command and enter insert mode :e <file> edit file in new buffer ^t restore cursor before tag jump "+gP paste from system clipboard :bn next file
Move Moves cursor or defines range for op :source % exec cmds in cur file ^p complete word 1 Number before any action repeats it :bp prev file
Find Search (↖ = reverse, ↘ = forward) :exec '...' do cmd :ta Foo manual jump to tag 'Foo' 2p paste twice 3. repeat thrice :bd close file
tag ctags / diffs / folding :help movement 2 Repeat op to act on current line :bd! force close
Code Code formatting, whitespace, etc. soft ^ ⇤ Start of Line 1st non-whitespace :help diff yy copy line dd del line :set lines=#
Extra Extended functionality; req. extra chars hard 0 ⇤ Start of Line column 0 [c prev diff :hi DiffAdd guifg=#rrggbb << undent line >> indent line :set columns=#
• Char arg req. g z Z ^w ' " ` … $ ⇥ End of Line ]c next diff :hi DiffChange guibg=#rrggbb 3 # highlight words under cursor :winpos # # GUI
Modes :help modes | move col 0 #| move col # :diffupdate :hi DiffText gui=none 4 ZZ save & quit ZQ quit w/o save Windows
n Normal Esc ^[ ^c ^b page ↑ ^f page ↓ resync :hi DiffDelete 5 zz center cursor line in window :help windows
i Insert a i r s ^u ½ page ↑ ^d ½ page ↓ zh scroll left zl scroll right ^w• or :wincmd •
v Visual v V ^v ^q ^e scroll line ↑ ^y scroll line ↓ :help folding :help changes zt scroll top zb scroll bottom w! :switch to next
o Op pending c d y < > 1g start of file 0g end of file zR fold remove :changes §6 gg top of file c! :close!
n! :new
c Command Line : / ? ! #g goto line # G end of file zo fold open g; older change gf open file under cursor
s! :split horz.
horz.
word Foo ( src , ␢ dst , ␢ len ); [[ begin this func { zc fold close g, newer change 7 ^a incr # under cursor (Dec / Hex) v! :vsplit vertical
Note: There is no whitespace in-between 'Foo(src,' but before/after 'dst,' ]] begin next func { zi invert all ^x decr # under cursor (Dec / Hex) o! :only maximize
maximize
WORD Foo ( src , ␢ dst , ␢ len ); :set matchpairs=(:),{:},[:],<:>,?:: zr fold reduce :help syntax 8 * start a "new" search =! all same size
h! move to win ←
Startup % goto matching { } < > [ ] zm fold more :syntax enable Insert mode
9 ^p prev auto-complete ^n
j! move to win ↓
vim <filename> +123 goto line 123 :help range :set filetype= next k! move to win ↑
vim <file> … -t Foo edit at tag 'Foo' :s/Foo/Bar find Foo replace w/ Bar :help recording c cpp sh make perl python 10 ^d undent ^t indent l! move to win →
vim <file> … -c "/Foo" cmd: find 'Foo' & edit :s/Foo/Bar/g ...all instances on line q• start recording Note:
chose
only
ONE
type! §11 ^x• ^f filename completion !
:sp [<filename>]
GUI vim -g or gvim start GUI ver. :%s/Foo/Bar apply to whole file @• playback convert <eol> ^s spelling :set spell! edit in split window
GUI Linux :set guifont=ProggyTinyTT 12 .,.+# cur line, cur line + # lines q stop recording :set fileformat= ^k dictionary ]s next bad Cursor Bookmarks
GUI OSX :set guifont=ProggyTiny:h11 $ last line '< start of select @@ repeat unix or dos or mac ^t thesaurus :help spell :marks ` ' ^o
diff gvimdiff <file1> <file2> [<file3>] '> end of select then :w to convert 12 ^r• paste register 0-9a-zA-Z or … ma mark local 'a'
bug Broken Keys Ctrl-I = Tab, Ctrl-[ = ESC Code = < > << >> :set tabstop=# set tab stop every #th col + clipboard (or '*') :help c_CTRL-R 'A goto global 'A'
Vim is still unable to map certain keys for your own use… :set backspace=indent,eol,start :set expandtab! toggle hard/soft tabs " last del/copy % filename '' prev location
§ Caps, Ctrl-1, Ctrl-Shift-1, Ctrl-I, Ctrl-, etc. allow backspace join lines :set listchars=… tab:>-:trail:-,nbsp:%,eol:$ :set numbers! toggle line numbers File / Directory
0 See: src/ops.c -c "/valid_yank_reg" for "• reg. names :set shiftwidth=# indent width for ai :set list! toggle whitespace :set wrap! toggle linewrap display :Explore or :e .
6 See: src/normal.c -c "/nv_cmds" for g• extra cmds :set autoindent! toggle auto-indent :set colorcolumn=80 visible right margin indicator :set showmatch highlite matching () :set browsedir=…
11 See: src/edit.c -c "/ctrl_x_msgs" for ^x• insert cmds :set lisp lisp indent mode noremap + :s/^////<CR> block comment noremap - :s/^////<CR> uncomment one of buffer last
:set number!