Vim Cheatsheet

Modes (most important concept)

Mode	Key	Purpose
Normal	Esc	Navigate, manipulate text
Insert	i	Insert text
Visual	v	Select text
Visual Line	V	Select lines
Visual Block	Ctrl+v	Column/block selection
Command	:	Run commands

Open / Exit / Save

Action	Command
Open file	vim file.txt
Save	:w
Save & quit	:wq
Quit	:q
Quit without saving	:q!
Save all & quit	:wqa

Cursor Movement (Normal mode)

Basic

Key	Move
h j k l	left / down / up / right
w	next word
b	previous word
0	line start
^	first non-blank
$	line end

Fast movement

Key	Move
gg	file start
G	file end
5G	go to line 5
Ctrl+u	half page up
Ctrl+d	half page down

Insert Mode

Key	Action
i	insert before cursor
a	insert after cursor
I	insert at line start
A	insert at line end
o	new line below
O	new line above
Esc	back to normal

Editing Text

Delete

Command	Meaning
x	delete char
dd	delete line
dw	delete word
d$	delete to end of line
d0	delete to line start

Copy / Paste

Command	Meaning
yy	yank (copy) line
yw	yank word
p	paste after
P	paste before

Change

Command	Meaning
cw	change word
cc	change line
c$	change to line end

Undo / Redo

Command	Action
u	undo
Ctrl+r	redo

Visual Mode (Selection)

Key	Action
v	character select
V	line select
Ctrl+v	block select
y	copy selection
d	delete selection
> / <	indent / unindent

Search & Replace

Search

Command	Action
/word	search forward
?word	search backward
n	next match
N	previous match

Replace

:%s/old/new/g

Flags:

Flag	Meaning
g	global
c	confirm
i	case-insensitive

Example:

:%s/foo/bar/gc

File Navigation

Command	Action
:e file	open file
:ls	list buffers
:b2	switch buffer
:bd	close buffer

Windows & Splits

Command	Action
:split	horizontal split
:vsplit	vertical split
Ctrl+w w	switch window
Ctrl+w q	close window
Ctrl+w =	equal sizes

Tabs

Command	Action
:tabnew	new tab
gt	next tab
gT	previous tab
:tabclose	close tab

Indentation & Formatting

Command	Action
>> / <<	indent line
=	auto-format
gg=G	format entire file

Useful Power Moves (Must-Know)

Command	Why it's great
.	repeat last action
ci"	change inside quotes
di(	delete inside parentheses
%	jump between brackets
*	search word under cursor

Macros (Automation)

Command	Action
qa	record macro a
(do stuff)	perform actions to record
q	stop recording
@a	play macro
@@	repeat last macro

Vim Grammar (Golden Rule)

[number] + operator + motion

Examples:

• 3dw -> delete 3 words
• dG -> delete to end of file
• y$ -> copy to line end