vim-vscode.md

Vim Cheatsheet for Beginners

These commands are tested in VSCode with Vim plugin.

 

💠 Mode

• ESC / Ctrl + [ - Normal Mode
• a - Insert Mode (After Current Char)
• i - Insert Mode (Before Current Char)
• v - Visual Mode / Selection Mode
• R - Replace Mode
• : - Command Mode

 

💠 Arrow

• h - Left arrow
• l - Right arrow
• j - Down arrow
• k - Up arrow

 

💠 Search

• /pattern - Search forward
• ?pattern - Search backward
• n - Repeat search forward
• N - Repeat search backward

 

💠 Jump

🔹 Char (Inside Current Line)

• fc - Go forward to character c
• Fc - Go backward to character c
• tc - Go forward before character c
• Tc - Go backward before character c
• ; - Go forward next
• , - Go backward next

🔹 Word

• e - Last char before space
• w - Next word (first char)
• b - Previous word (first char)
• ge - Previous Word (last char)
• * - Next same word
• # - Previous same word

🔹 Current Line

• 0 - Start of the line
• ^ - Start of the line (after whitespace)
• I - Start of the line and insert (after whitespace)
• $ - End of the line
• A - End of the line and insert

🔹 Line

• o - Next line and insert
• O - Previous line and insert
• gg - First line
• G - Last line
• :n - Goto n line
• nG - Goto n line

🔹 Block / Paragraph

• { - Move up
• } - Move down
• % - Jump between braces (( ), { }, [ ])

🔹 Window / Page

• zz - Center this line
• zt - Top this line
• zb - Bottom this line
• H - Top of screen
• M - Middle of screen
• L - Bottom of screen
• Ctrl + u - Page up (Half page)
• Ctrl + d - Page down (Half page)

🔹 Tab

• :tabclose - Close current tab
• :tabfirst - First tab
• :tablast - Last tab
• :tabn - Next tab
• tabp - Previous tab

 

💠 Select

• ve - Select until next space
• vw - Select until next word (Highlight word)
• V - Select current line
• v - Select current char (Highlight char)

 

💠 Copy

• y - Copy selected (Only in visual mode)
• yy - Copy current line
• yw - Copy current word
• yj - Copy current and previous line
• yk - Copy current and next line

 

💠 Editing

🔹 Paste

• p - Paste next
• P - Paste Previous

🔹 Delete

• x - Delete current char
• s - Delete current char and insert
• cw - Delete all char before space and insert (from cursor)
• dw - Delete until next word
• diw - Delete current word
• X - Delete current word and insert (Custom bdwi)
• dd - Delete current line
• S - Delete current line and insert
• D - Delete the rest of the line
• C - Delete the rest of the line and insert

🔹 Replace

• r - Replace one character
• R - Replace multiple character (Replace Mode)

🔹 Undo/Redo

• u - Undo changes
• Ctrl + r - Redo

💠 Exit

• :q - Close file
• :q! - Close file, abandon changes
• :qa - Close all files
• :qa! - Close all files, abandon changes
• :w - Save changes
• :wq / :x - Save and close file
• ZZ - Save and quit
• ZQ - Quit without checking changes

💠 Notes & Combos

• All keys mentioned above can be combined with one another.
  • Example: ct) can delete everything until ). That means it can be used for clear function parameter or something like that. Here c means cut and t) means forward until char ).
• di{ - Delete everything inside {}
• d2i{ - Delete everything inside {} and its surround {}.
• ct} - Delete everything until } and insert.
• d5$ - Delete next 5 lines after cursor.
• 0d5$ - Delete next 5 lines including current.
• cip - Delete paragraph and insert
• di( - Delete everything inside ()
• yi( - Copy everything inside ()
• vi( - Highlight everything inside ()
• diw - Delete current word

 

💠 Important VSCode Configurations for New Users

 

🔹 Disable Vim ctrl+c ctrl+v ctrl+x commands

"vim.useCtrlKeys": true,
"vim.handleKeys": {
		"<C-c>": false,
		"<C-x>": false,
		"<C-v>": false
	}

 

🔹 Disable Vim arrow controls

"vim.handleKeys": {
		"<": false,
		">": false
    }

 

🔹 Enable jj to Normal Mode

"vim.insertModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive": [
        {
            "before": ["j", "j"],
            "after": ["<esc>"]
        }
    ]

 

🔹 Enable X to Delete Current Word and Insert

"vim.normalModeKeyBindings": [
        {
            "before": ["X"],
            "after": ["b","d","w","i"]
        }
    ]

 

🔹 Enable vim to use System Clipboard

"vim.useSystemClipboard": true

 

🔹 Fix buggy undo redo and make it like vscode

"vim.normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive": [
        { 
            "before": ["u"], 
            "after": [],
            "commands": [
                {
                    "command": "undo", 
                    "args": []
                }
            ] 
        }, 
        { 
            "before": ["<C-r>"],
            "after": [],
            "commands": [
                {
                    "command": "redo", 
                    "args": []
                }
            ] 
        } 
    ]

 

🔹 Enable move cursor to each wrapped line (if wrap line enable)

    {
        "before": ["j"],
        "after": ["g", "j"]
    },
    {
        "before": ["k"],
        "after": ["g", "k"]
    }