VSCode + NeoVim Quick Reference

vscode-neovim.md

VSCode + NeoVim

DISCLAIMER:
These are my notes for quick reference and not meant to be an exhaustive VSCode + NeoVim cheatsheet. Refer to VSCode, NeoVim and vscode-neovim documentation for the latest details.

Quick Setup

1. Install NeoVim 0.10.0+ and VSCode.
2. Install vscode-neovim plugin in VSCode.
3. Enable system clipboard in NeoVim's init.lua -

   -- Set clipboard to global clipboard
   vim.opt.clipboard:append("unnamedplus")

4. Configure vscode-neovim plugin to start NeoVim with --clean option to avoid interfering NeoVim plugins -

   "vscode-neovim.neovimClean": true,

5. (Optional) Configure vscode-neovim plugin to use composite keys for escape -

   "vscode-neovim.compositeKeys": {
        "jj": {
            "command": "vscode-neovim.escape",
        },
        "jk": {
            "command": "vscode-neovim.lua",
            "args": [
                [
                    "local code = require('vscode')",
                    "code.action('vscode-neovim.escape')",
                    "code.action('workbench.action.files.save')",
                ],
            ],
        },
    },

Keyboard Shortcuts

UI Navigation

Keys	Action
Ctrl + Shift + p OR F1	Open Command Palette
Ctrl + Shift + e	Open Explorer
Ctrl + Shift + f	Open Search
Ctrl + Shift + g	Open Source Control
Ctrl + Shift + d	Open Debug
Ctrl + Shift + x	Open Extensions
Ctrl + Shift + u	Toggle Output
Ctrl + Shift + m	Toggle Problems
Ctrl + Shift + y	Toggle Debug Console
Ctrl + `	Toggle Terminal
Ctrl + b	Toggle Primary Side Bar Visibility (Has to be in focus!)
Ctrl + j	Toggle Panel Visibility (Has to be in focus!)
Ctrl + k z	Toggle Zen Mode
Ctrl + k Ctrl + o	Open Folder
Ctrl + o	Open File or Folder (Depends on the context)
Ctrl + k f	Close Folder
h, j, k, l	Move between Selections
Ctrl + n, Ctrl + p	Move between Selections

File Explorer Manipulation

Keys	Action
a	New File
r	Rename File
v	Open to Side
d	Delete File
y	Copy File
x	Cut File
p	Paste File
A	New Folder
R	Refresh File Explorer

Editor Management

Keys	Action
:w	Save Editor
:wa	Save All Editors with Changes
:q	Close Editor
:q!	Close Editor & Discard Changes
:wq	Save and Close Editor
:xa	Save and Close All Editors
ZQ	Close Editor & Discard Changes
ZZ	Save and Close Editor
Ctrl + p	Quick Open
gf	Open File whose name is under Cursor
Ctrl + w n	New Editor
Ctrl + w q	Close Editor
Ctrl + w s	Split Editor Horizontally
Ctrl + w v	Split Editor Vertically
Ctrl + w =	Make Editor Widths Even
Ctrl + w +	Increase Editor Height
Ctrl + w -	Decrease Editor Height
Ctrl + w >	Increase Editor Width
Ctrl + w <	Decrease Editor Width
Ctrl + w k OR Ctrl + w Up	Move to Editor Above
Ctrl + w j OR Ctrl + w Down	Move to Editor Below
Ctrl + w h OR Ctrl + w Left	Move to Editor on the Left
Ctrl + w l OR Ctrl + w Right	Move to Editor on the Right
Ctrl + w Ctrl + k OR Ctrl + w Ctrl + Up	Move Editor to Group Above
Ctrl + w Ctrl + j OR Ctrl + w Ctrl + Down	Move Editor to Group Below
Ctrl + w Ctrl + h OR Ctrl + w Ctrl + Left	Move Editor to Group on the Left
Ctrl + w Ctrl + l OR Ctrl + w Ctrl + Right	Move Editor to Group on the Right
Ctrl + w Shift + k OR Ctrl + w Shift + Up	Move Active Editor Group Above
Ctrl + w Shift + j OR Ctrl + w Shift + Down	Move Active Editor Group Below
Ctrl + w Shift + h OR Ctrl + w Shift + Left	Move Active Editor Group on the Left
Ctrl + w Shift + l OR Ctrl + w Shift + Right	Move Active Editor Group on the Right
gT	Move to Previous Editor in Group
gt	Move to Next Editor in Group
Ctrl + w o	Join All Editor Groups

Clipboard Management

Keys	Action
"+y	Copy Selection to + register
"+P	Paste from + register before Cursor
"+p	Paste from + register after Cursor

Code Navigation

Keys	Action
%	Jump to next parenthesis or curly brackets
0	Jump to first character in Line
^	Jump to first non-blank character in Line
gg	Jump to the first Line
G	Jump to the last Line
NG	Jump to the Nth Line
N$	Jump to the end of Nth Line
H	Jump to the top of Screen
L	Jump to the bottom of Screen
M	Jump to the middle of Screen
zt	Scroll Current Line to the top of Screen
zb	Scroll Current Line to the bottom of Screen
zz	Scroll Current Line to the middle of Screen
Ctrl + u	Scroll upwards by half a Window
Ctrl + d	Scroll downwards by half a Window
Ctrl + w p	Jump to the previously Active Window
:marks	List all the current marks
m{a-z}	Set mark {a-z} at Cursor for moving within File
m{A-Z}	Set mark {A-Z} at Cursor for moving between Files
'{a-z}	Jump to mark {a-z} within File
'{A-Z}	Jump to mark {A-Z} in the File where it is set
:delmarks {a-zA-Z}	Delete specified list of marks from {a-zA-Z}
'""	Jump to the position when last editing the File
'..	Jump to the position of the last change in the File
''	Jump to the position before the last jump
Ctrl + Space	Trigger Suggestions
gO	Go to Symbol under Cursor
gh	Show Hover for Symbol under Cursor
gd	Reveal Definition for Symbol under Cursor
gD	Peek Definition for Symbol under Cursor
Ctrl + w gd	Reveal Definition Aside Symbol under Cursor
gf	Reveal Declaration Symbol under Cursor
gF	Peek Declaration Symbol under Cursor
Ctrl + w gf	Reveal Declaration Aside Symbol under Cursor
gH	Peek References Symbol under Cursor
Alt + Shift + h	Show Call Hierarchy
Tab	Switch between Peek Editor and References List
Alt + Left	Jump back to Symbol after Reveal Definition/Declaration
z=	Open Quick Fix
/{pattern}	Search {pattern} Forward
?{pattern}	Search {pattern} Backward
n	Repeat last Search
N	Repeat last Search in the opposite Direction

Code Editing

Keys	Action
F2	Rename Symbol
R	Start Replace Mode
=	Format Selection
==	Format Line
gq{motion}	Format Lines within {motion}
gu{motion}	Convert Lines within {motion} or Current Line to Lowercase
gU{motion}	Convert Lines within {motion} or Current Line to Uppercase
g~{motion}	Swap case of Lines within {motion} or Current Line
gc OR Ctrl + /	Comment Selection
gcc OR Ctrl + /	Comment Line
O	Add Line Above
o	Add Line Below
Alt + Up	Move Line Above
Alt + Down	Move Line Below
Alt + Shift + Up	Copy Line Above
Alt + Shift + Down	Copy Line Below
Ctrl + Alt + Up	Add Cursor Above
Ctrl + Alt + Down	Add Cursor Below
:reg	List all the current registers
"{a-z}	Use register {a-z} for the next yank/delete/put
q{a-z}	Start recording a macro in register {a-z}
q{A-Z}	Start recording a macro and append to register {a-z}
q	Stop recording a macro
Q	Replay last recorded macro
N@{a-z}	Execute macro in register {a-z} for N times
N@@	Execute previous @{a-z} for N times
Ctrl + R {register} (Insert mode only)	Insert the content of a register
Ctrl + w (Insert mode only)	Delete word before the Cursor
Ctrl + u (Insert mode only)	Delete all entered characters or all characters on the Line before the Cursor
Ctrl + t (Insert mode only)	Add indent on the Current Line
Ctrl + td (Insert mode only)	Delete indent on the Current Line
>{motion}	Indent {motion} right
<{motion}	Indent {motion} left
J	Join Lines in the Selection
gJ	Join Lines in the Selection without Space
]p	Paste after Cursor but adjust indent to Current Line
[p	Paste before Cursor but adjust indent to Current Line
gp	Paste after Cursor and leave Cursor after the pasted text
gP	Paste before Cursor and leave Cursor after the pasted text
Nr{char}	Replace N characters with {char}
:%s/{pattern}/{string}/gc	Search and Replace {pattern} with {string} in File (asking for confirmation on each match)
&	Repeat previous Search and Replace on Current Line without asking for confirmation
Nyy	Yank N Lines
Ncc	Change N Lines
Ndd	Delete N Lines
Nu	Undo last N changes
NCtrl + R	Redo last N undone changes
N.	Repeat last change N times

Favorite NeoVim Motions

Use these with an operator like v, c, d, or y

Keys	Action
aw	Full Word with leading or trailing Space
iw	Full Word without leading or trailing Space
aW	Full Word or several until and including leading or trailing Space
iW	Full Word or several until a leading or trailing Space
as	Full Sentence with leading or trailing Space
is	Full Sentence without leading or trailing Space
aB	From [{ to }]
iB	Within [{ and }]
ab	From [( to )]
ib	Within [( and )]
at	From Start Tag to End Tag e.g. <div> to </div>
it	Within Start Tag and End Tag
a>	From < to > e.g. <div>
i>	Within < and >
a'	Entire Single Quoted String
i'	Within a Single Quoted String
a"	Entire Double Quoted String
i"	Within a Double Quoted String
a`	Entire Backward Quoted String
i`	Within a Backward Quoted String