Vim cheat sheet

Starting Vim

vim [file1] [file2] ...

Vim modality
- Normal mode
  - motions
    - arrow keys
    - word
    - line
    - window
    - file
  - searching
  - jumps and marks
  - edit
  - utilities
- Insert mode
- Command mode
Vimdiff

Vim modality

vim has 3 main modes:

Normal mode: For navigation and manipulation of text. This is the mode that vim will usually start in
Insert (edit) mode: For inserting new text, where you type into your file like other editors.
Command mode: For executing extra commands like the help, shell, ...

toc

Normal mode

motions

move around the text (file) by:

		           gg
		         <ctrl+b>
	             <ctrl+u>
		            -
		            k
		            ^
0 / ^ / B / b / h <   > l / e / E / w / W / $
                    v
                    +
                    j
                 <ctrl+d>
                 <ctrl+f>
                    G

toc

arrow keys

h: left
j: down
k: up
l: right

word

w: next word
W: next WORD
b: previous word
B: previous WORD
e: end of word
E: end of WORD

line

0: begin of line (column 0)
^: begin of line (non-blank)
$: end of line
- = k^: start of previous line
+ = j^: start of next line

window

H: top of window
M: middle of window
L: low (bottom) of window
zt: scroll to top
zz: scroll to middle
zb: scroll to bottom
<ctrl+b> / <ctrl+f>: previous / next page
<ctrl+u> / <ctrl+d>: previous / next half page

file

gg / G: go to begin / end of file
[num]gg / [num]G / :num<CR> : go to line num
gd: go to definition of current word
gf: go to the file (under the cursor)

toc

searching

searching in Normal Mode:

f[char] / F[char]: find forward / backward to next / previous char (exactly on char)
t[chat] / T[char]: up to forward / backward to next / previous char (next to the char)
, / ;: previous / next repeat for f/t/F/T action
* / #: find current word backward / forward
/[pattern] / ?[pattern]: search forward / backward by matching pattern
n / N: next / previous result
[I: show lines with matching word under cursor

toc

jumps and marks

<ctrl+o>: jump back
<ctrl+i>: jump forward
<ctrl+6>: jump to the buffer you just left
<ctrl+]>: jump to tag under cursor (if ./tags is available)
'': jump back to last jump
'.: jump to last edited line
{ / }: previous / next paragraph
%: matching (), {}, []
m[char] / '[char]: mark by / jump to [char]
m[CHAR] / '[CHAR]: mark by / jump to [CHAR] across the files.

toc

Edit

goto insert mode

these commands take you in Insert Mode:

i: insert at left of cursor
I -> insert at the line beginning (non-blank)
a: insert at right of cursor
A: insert at end of line
o: insert by adding new line below the cursor
O: insert by insert new line above the cursor
s: substitute at cursor and enter insert mode
S = ^DA = ddO: delete current line and enter insert mode
C = c$: change line from cursor to EOL

stay in command mode

editing the text without transition to Insert Mode:

.: repeat last command
~: swap case
x: delete char current char
r: replace char under the cursor
dd: delete current line
J: merge with the next line
D: delete line from cursor to the EOL
yy: yank/copy current line
u: undo
<ctrl+r>: redo

paste:

p: paste to the next line
P: paste above current line

visual mode:

v: into visual/select mode
V: into visual/select mode by line
<ctrl+v>: into visual/select mode by block

alignment:

=<CR>, ==: auto indent
><CR>, >>: shift right, increase indent
<<CR>, <<: shift left, decrease indent

toc

operators

operator are generally constructed as:

[operator][count][motion]
[operator]i[motion]

operators:
- c: change command ...
- d: delete ...
- y: yank (copy) ...
- g~: swap case ...
- gu: to lower case ...
- gU: to upper case ...
motion:
- w / W: word / WORD
- [, ]: block
- (, ): block
- <, >: block
- ", ': in double quote or quote
- t: XML/HTML tag
- s: sentence

examples:

di): delete the text inside current paranthesis
ci": change the text inside ""
gUiw: make the word under the cursor to upper case

toc

Utilities

registers

"[char][y|d]: yank/delete into register
"[char][p|P]: paste from register
:echo @[char]: shows register content
:reg[isters]: shows all registers

macro

q[char]: start recording into register char
q: stop recording macro
@[char]: play macro in register char
@@: repeat last playback

code folding

zi: toggles folding on or off
za: toggles current fold open or close
zc: close current fold
zC: close current fold recursively
zo: open current fold
zO: open current fold recursively
zR: open all folds
zM: close all folds
zv: expand folds to reveal the cursor
zk / zj: move to previous / next fold

toc

windows and split

<ctrl+w> s = :sp[lit]: split current window horizontally
<ctrl+w> v = :vs[plit]: split current window vertically
<ctrl+w> c = :cl[ose]: close current window
<ctrl+w> o = :on[ly]: close all windows except current one
<ctrl+w> <ctrl+w>: switch to next split window
<ctrl+w> <ctrl+p>: switch to previous split window
<ctrl+w> hjkl: switch (move cursor) to left, below, above or right split
<ctrl+w> HJKL: move current window to left, below, above or right
<ctrl+w> r: rotate window clockwise
<ctrl+w> =: make all windows equal in size
[num]<ctrl+w> +-: increase/decrease current window height
[num]<ctrl+w> <>: increase/decrease current window width
<ctrl+w> _: minimize current window
<ctrl+w> T: move current window to new tab

toc

spell checking

]s / [s: jump to next / previous spelling error
z=: suggest corrections for current word
zg: add current word to the dictionary
zw: remove current word from dictionary

toc

Insert mode

mode change

Esc = <ctrl+c> = <ctrl+[>: exit insert mode

auto complete

<ctrl+p>: auto-complete / previous item
<ctrl+n>: auto-complete / next item
<ctrl+x><ctrl+l>: auto complete line mode

cool editing stuff

<ctrl+w>: delete word before cursor
<ctrl+u>: delete line before cursor
<ctrl+r>[char]: insert content of register [char]
<ctrl+t>: increase line indent
<ctrl+u>: decrease line indent

toc

Command mode

lists

:jumps: shows the jump list
:changes: shows the change list
:reg[isters]: shows the registers
:marks: shows the marks
:delm[arks] {marks}: delete specified mark(s)
- delm a b 1 \": deletes a, b, 1 and "
- delm a-h: deletes all marks from a to h
:delm[marks]!: deletes all lowercase marks

file and buffers

:w[rite]: write current file
:q: close/quit current file, split or tab
:wq = ZZ: write current file and quit
:q! = ZQ: quit without writing the changes
:qa: quit all splits
:ls: list all open files/buffers
:f[ile] = <ctrl+g>: shows current file path
:e[dit]: open a file for editing
:ene[w]: open a blank new file for editing
:b<n>: jump to buffer n returned from :ls
:b <file>: jump to buffer file, Tab to scroll through available options
:bn[ext]: jump to next buffer
:bp[rev]: jump to previous buffer
:bd[elete]: remove file from buffer list

toc

shell

:mak[e]: run make in current directory
:cw: toggle mini window for errors
:!: executes external shell command
:r[ead]: read external program output into current file

toc

windows and splits

:sp[lit] = <ctrl+w> s: split current window horizontally
:vs[plit] = <ctrl+w> v: split current window vertically
:cl[ose] = <ctrl+w> c: close current window
:on[ly] = <ctrl+w> o: close all windows except current one

toc

tabs

<ctrl+w> gf: open file under the cursor into new tab
:tabs: list current tabs and windows
:tabn = <ctrl+PageDown>: next tab
:tabn <n>: goto tab n
:tabp = tabN = <ctrl+PageUp>: previous tab
:tabe [file]: create a new blank tab or opens file in that tab

toc

help

:h cmd: normal mode command help
:h :cmd: command line help for cmd
:h i_cmd: insert mode command help
:h v_cmd: visual mode command help
:h c_cmd: command line editing cmd help
:h 'option': help of option
:helpg[rep]: search through help docs!

special help sections

:h motions
:h word-motions
:h jump-motions
:h mark-motions
:h operators
:h buffres
:h windows
:h tabs
:h registers
:h pattern-searches

toc

options

:set <opt>?: shows current option value
:set no<opt>: turn off flag opt
:set opt: turn on flag opt
:set opt=val: override value of opt
:set opt+=val: append val to opt
:echo &opt: shows value of opt

essential options

hidden or hid: when off, a buffer is unloaded when it's abandoned.
laststatus or ls: shows status line: 0 (never), 1 (only if at least two windows), 3 (always)
hisearch or his: highlight search matches
number or nu: shows line number
showcmd or sc: shows command as you type them (may not be available on your compilation)
ruler or ru: shows line and column number of the cursor
wrap: controls line wrapping
ignorecase or ic: ignores case for search patterns
smartindent or si: flag for smart indenting
foldmethod or fdm: fold method
spell / nospell: turn spell checking enable or disable.

toc

substitute

:s/search/replace/: basic substitution on a line
:%s/search/replace/: run substitution on every line
:%s/search/replace/g: g flag means apply to every match
:%s/search/replace/c: c flag means ask for confirmation

tags / ctags

by executing $> ctags -r under project tree:

:tag <name>TAB: goes to tag name
<ctrl+]>: goes to the tag under cursor

toc

Vimdiff

do: get changes from other window into the current window
dp: put the changes from current window into the other window
]c: jump to the next change
[c: jump to the previous change
zo: open fold
zc: close fold
zr: reducing folding level
zm: one more folding level, please
:diffupdate, :diffu: recalculate the diff
:diffg RE: get from REMOTE
:diffg BA: get from BASE
:diffg LO: get from LOCAL

toc

cattyhouse/vim-cheatsheet.md