vi Cheat Sheet

vi-cheat-sheet-cursor-movement

Cursor Movment

h - move left
j - move down
k - move up
l - move right
w - jump by start of words (punctuation considered words)
W - jump by words (spaces separate words)
e - jump to end of words (punctuation considered words)
E - jump to end of words (no punctuation)
b - jump backward by words (punctuation considered words)
B - jump backward by words (no punctuation)
0 - (zero) start of line
^ - first non-blank character of line
$ - end of line
G - Go To command (prefix with number - 5G goes to line 5)
Note: Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines.

vi-cheat-sheet-editing

Editing

r - replace a single character (does not use insert mode)
J - join line below to the current one
cc - change (replace) an entire line
cw - change (replace) to the end of word
c$ - change (replace) to the end of line
s - delete character at cursor and subsitute text
S - delete line at cursor and substitute text (same as cc)
xp - transpose two letters (delete and paste, technically)
u - undo
. - repeat last command



Deleting Text

<Del> or x	- Delete [count] characters under and after the cursor
X	- Delete [count] characters before the cursor
d{motion}	- Delete text that {motion} moves over
dd	- Delete [count] lines
D	- Delete the characters under the cursor until the end of the line
{Visual}x or {Visual}d	- Delete the highlighted text (for {Visual} see Selecting Text).
{Visual}CTRL-H or {Visual}	- When in Select mode: Delete the highlighted text
{Visual}X or {Visual}D	- Delete the highlighted lines
:[range]d[elete]	- Delete [range] lines (default: current line)
:[range]d[elete] {count}	- Delete {count} lines, starting with [range]



Changing (or Replacing) Text

r{char}	- replace the character under the cursor with {char}.
R	- Enter Insert mode, replacing characters rather than inserting
~	- Switch case of the character under the cursor and move the cursor to the right. If a [count] is given, do that many characters.
~{motion}	- Switch case of {motion} text.
{Visual}~	- Switch case of highlighted text



Editing a File

:e[dit]	- Edit the current file. This is useful to re-edit the current file, when it has been changed outside of Vim.
:e[dit]!	- Edit the current file always. Discard any changes to the current buffer. This is useful if you want to start all over again.
:e[dit] {file}	- Edit {file}.
:e[dit]! {file}	- Edit {file} always. Discard any changes to the current buffer.
gf	- Edit the file whose name is under or after the cursor. Mnemonic: "goto file".



Inserting a file

:r[ead] [name]	-  the file [name] below the cursor.
:r[ead] !{cmd}	- Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below the cursor.

vi-cheat-sheet-exiting

Exiting


:q - quit (fails if anything has changed)
:q! - quit and throw away changes
:cq - quit always, without writing
:wq	- Write the current file and exit.
:wq! - Write the current file and exit always.
:wq {file} -	Write to {file}. Exit if not editing the last
:wq! {file}	- Write to {file} and exit always.
:[range]wq[!]	[file] - Same as above, but only write the lines in [range].
ZZ -	Write current file, if modified, and exit.
ZQ	- Quit current file and exit (same as ":q!").

vi-cheat-sheet-insert-mode

Insert Mode - Inserting/Appending text

i - start insert mode at cursor
I - insert at the beginning of the line
a - append after the cursor
A - append at the end of the line
o - open (append) blank line below current line (no need to press return)
O - open blank line above current line
ea - append at end of word
gI -	Insert text in column 1 [count] times.
Esc - exit insert mode

vi-cheat-sheet-marking-text

Marking text (visual mode)

v - start visual mode, mark lines, then do command (such as y-yank)
V - start Linewise visual mode
o - move to other end of marked area
Ctrl+v - start visual block mode
O - move to Other corner of block
aw - mark a word
ab - a () block (with braces)
aB - a {} block (with brackets)
ib - inner () block
iB - inner {} block
Esc - exit visual mode
Visual commands

> - shift right
< - shift left
y - yank (copy) marked text
d - delete marked text
~ - switch case

vi-cheat-sheet-misc

Cut and Paste

yy - yank (copy) a line
2yy - yank 2 lines
yw - yank word
y$ - yank to end of line
p - put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
P - put (paste) before cursor
dd - delete (cut) a line
dw - delete (cut) the current word
x - delete (cut) current character

Search/Replace

/pattern - search for pattern
?pattern - search backward for pattern
n - repeat search in same direction
N - repeat search in opposite direction
:%s/old/new/g - replace all old with new throughout file
:%s/old/new/gc - replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations
Working with multiple files

:e filename - Edit a file in a new buffer
:bnext (or :bn) - go to next buffer
:bprev (of :bp) - go to previous buffer
:bd - delete a buffer (close a file)
:sp filename - Open a file in a new buffer and split window
ctrl+ws - Split windows
ctrl+ww - switch between windows
ctrl+wq - Quit a window
ctrl+wv - Split windows vertically

vi-cheat-sheet-substituting

:[range]s[ubstitute]/{pattern}/{string}/[c][e][g][p][r][i][I] [count]	- For each line in [range] replace a match of {pattern} with {string}.
:[range]s[ubstitute] [c][e][g][r][i][I] [count] :[range]&[c][e][g][r][i][I] [count]	- Repeat last :substitute with same search pattern and substitute string, but without the same flags. You may add extra flags
The arguments that you can use for the substitute commands:
[c]  Confirm each substitution.  Vim positions the cursor on the matching
  string.  You can type:
      'y'      to substitute this match
      'n'      to skip this match
         to skip this match
      'a'      to substitute this and all remaining matches {not in Vi}
      'q'      to quit substituting {not in Vi}
      CTRL-E  to scroll the screen up {not in Vi}
      CTRL-Y  to scroll the screen down {not in Vi}.
[e]     When the search pattern fails, do not issue an error message and, in
  particular, continue in maps as if no error occurred.  
[g]  Replace all occurrences in the line.  Without this argument,
  replacement occurs only for the first occurrence in each line.
[i]  Ignore case for the pattern.  
[I]  Don't ignore case for the pattern.  
[p]  Print the line containing the last substitute.