Vim - KeynesYouDigIt/Knowledge GitHub Wiki

• i, a, A - Insert mode
• s - Substitutes and inserts
• R - Replace (overwrite) mode (r for one-shot)
• <esc>, <ctrl> + [ - Normal mode
• Q - Go to ex mode
• visual - To vim from ex mode`
• Operator-pending mode - After you enter a command, it waits for an operator to execute it
• Ctrl+o - Insert-Normal mode, one-shot normal command then back to insert
• Ctrl+g in Visual mode - Switches to select mode, which works the same as GUI text editors
• Visual mode
  • v for character-wise
  • V for line-wise
  • Ctrl+v for block-wise
  • gv to highlight the previous visual area
  • o - Toggle which end of a visual selection is fixed
  • I and A allow you to insert- i/a are for text objects
  • : to enter ex mode with that range selected
• q: - In normal mode, open a buffer with your command history- searchable, editable

• vim <filename> <filename> - Open multiple files
• vim + <filename> - Open file at last line
• vim +<num> <filename> - Open file at a specific line
• vim +/<pattern> <filename> - Open file at the first occurrence of pattern
• vim -R <filename> - Read-only
• vim -r - Show recovered files
• vim -r <filename> - Recover file

• :w <new filename> - Save (write)
• :w! <new filename> - Save with overwrite
• :w % - Save current file
• :q - Quit
• :q! - Force quit, no save
• :wq - Write and quit
• :x - Write and quit (doesn’t update modified time if not changed)
• :e! - Reset this file
• :r - Import contents of file
• :pre - Preserve buffer (if the file turns out to be read only, for example)
• ZZ - Save and quit

• :n - Next open file
• :e <filename> - Edit a file while keeping the current one open
  • Ctrl + ^ - Switch between open files
  • :e # - Switch between open files

• w - forward one word
• W - Forward one word, skip punctuation
• b - Backward one word
• B - Backward one word, skip punctuation
• 0 - Beginning of line
• $ - End of line
• gg - Beginning of file
• G - End of file
• G<number> - Go to line
• `` - Go to your last edit
• '' - Go to the beginning of the line your last edit was on
• + - First character of next line
• - - First character of previous line
• ^ - First non-blank character in a line
• <num> | - Move to a specific line’s column
• ( - Beginning of sentence
• ) - End of sentence (looks for . ? or ! followed by two spaces)
• { - Beginning of paragraph
• } - End of paragraph (looks for sentence followed by paragraph marker)
• {{ - Beginning of section
• }} - End of section (looks for sentence followed by section marker)

• m <marker name> - Set a named marker
• ' <marker name> - Jump to beginning of marker’s name
• `<marker name> - Jump to marker

"<character><command>

• "ayy - Yank line into register a
• "ap - Paste register a
• "1p - Paste the last yanked thing
• "9p - Paste the thing that was yanked 9 things ago
• ""yy - Yank into the unnamed register (what yank uses)
• "+yG - Yank until the end of the file into the system register
  • Vim must be compiled with clipboard support
• "+p - Paste the system register and keep formatting intact
• Macros use the same registers, and can be edited and yanked into
• Ctrl+r a - Paste register a in insert mode

• ctrl + f - Page forward
• ctrl + b - Page backward
• ctrl + d - Half page forward
• ctrl + u - Half page backward
• ctrl + y - One line forward
• ctrl + e - One line backward
• z <enter> - Cursor to top and recenter
• z ., zz - Recenter screen
• z - - Cursor to bottom and recenter
• <num>z - Center on a specific line
• H - "home", top line of screen
  • numeric prefix is lines away from top
• M - "middle", middle line on screen
• L - "last", last line on screen
  • numeric prefix is lines away from bottom
• Ctrl + L - Redraw the screen`

These can all be used with the other vim commands (eg, change, delete)

• /<search> - Regex search (n for next, N for previous)
• ?<search> - Regex search backward (n for next, N for previous)
• /<enter> - Repeat search
• ?<enter> - Repeat search backward
• /~ - ~ is a glob for your last regex

These can all be used with the other vim commands (eg, change, delete)

• f <character> - Find next character in the current line
• F <character> - Find previous character in the current line
• t <character> - Find the character before the next in the current line
• T <character> - Find the character before the previous in the current line
• ; - Next, same direction
• , - Next, opposite direction

• %s/<search>/<replace>/<options> - Regex search and replace
  • g - Global
  • i - Case insensitive
  • c - Confirm
• :g/<pattern>/s/<old>/<new>/g - Find lines that match, then run :s
• ctrl + v - Escape next character

<num><insert command><character><normal mode> - Insert repeating characters.

• a - Add text after cursor
• A - Add text at end of line
• i - Add text before cursor
• I - Add text at beginning of line
• o - Insert blank line after
• O - Insert blank line before

• c<num><type> - Change some text. w/W, e/E, b/B, 0, $, G, gg,
  • Shortcuts: cc (whole line), C (to end of line)
• r - replace character
  • Can take a numeric prefix to change multiple characters
• R - Replace text, insert style
• s - (substitute) delete character, enter insert mode
  • Can take a numeric prefix to change the middle part of a word
• S - Delete line, enter insert mode

• d<num><type> - Delete some text. w/W, e/E, b/B, 0, $, G, gg,
  • Shortcuts: dd (whole line), D (to end of line)
• "<buffer name><command> - delete into named buffer
• x - Delete character under cursor
• X - Delete character behind cursor
• Insert mode deletes:
  • Ctrl + h - Character
  • Ctrl + w - Word
  • Ctrl + u - Changes in line`
  • These also work in bash and ex

• y<num><type> - Copy some text. w/W, e/E, b, 0, $, G, gg
  • Shortcuts: yy/Y (copy current line)
• "<buffer name><command> - Yank into named buffer
• p - Paste
• "<num>p - Paste buffers 1-9
  • . increments the number
• "<buffer name>p - Paste named buffer
• Yank and delete share number buffers. Yank can also use named buffers.
• Ctrl-r0 - From insert mode- Paste the last buffer
• Ctrl-r={expression} - Insert an expression, such as basic math
• Ctrl-k{character}{character} - Add a digraph to the page, like ½ and ⅔. Look up the list of digraphs with :h digraph-table
• Ctrl-v{character-code} - Insert a character code

:Grep <pattern> <files> / make generate a list that can be navigated

• :copen - Open quickfix list
• :cn / :cp - Next/previous line on the quickfix list
• :ccl - Close quickfix list

• J - Join current and next line
  • Accepts numeric argument
• ~ - Change case of letter
• > / < - Change indentation
• gu / gU - Chase case
• = - Autoindent
• Repeating a character makes it operate on the whole line (dd, yy, cc, >>, <<, ==, gUU, guu

• u - Undo last change (a change is normal -> insert -> normal)
• U - Undo all changes on this line
• . - Repeat last change
• @: - Repeat Ex command, macro
• & - Repeat last substitute command

• a - Around
• i - Inside

• {count}Ctrl+a / {count}Ctrl+x - Increment/Decrement next number on line

• :!<command> - Execute a unix command
  • % references the current file name
• :sh - Temporarily switch to a console
  • Ctrl+D or exit to switch back
  • Ctrl+z / fg is usually quicker

• Ex takes a line address, a command, and a return.
• | - Execute multiple ex commands
• :<address>r !<some unix command> - Insert result of a unix command
• :w !ls - Write to STDIN
• :r !ls - Read from STDOUT
• :{range}!ls - Filter (write/read) through command
• :t - Copy (eg. :5,6t 9)
• :m - Move
• :normal - Execute a normal command across a range (better than a simple macro, good for repeating)
• Ctrl+d list options
• Ctrl+r Ctrl+w - Paste in currently highlighted word to ex

• A number (10)
• A range (1,100)
• A relative range (1;+8)
• $ (last line)
• % (all lines)
• . (current line)
• Expression (eg $-20)
• +,++, -, --
• /pattern/

• :<lines>co<destination> - Copy (also could use “t”)
• :<lines>m<destination> - Move
• :<lines>d - Delete
• :<lines>w <new filename> - Save out part of a file
• :<lines>w >><new filename> - Append to a file
• :<address>r - Read a file in

• :set option to set, :set nooption to unset
• :set all - Show all current settings
• :set - Show all settings that have been explicitly set
• :set option? - Show a specific setting

• wrapmargin=15
• ignorecase
• wrapscan (during global searches)
• magic (recognize wildcard characters)
• autoindent
• showmatch
• tabstop
• shiftwidth
• number
• list
• autowrite

• Save ex commands in a file with a .vim extension
• Run it with :source
• Open multiple files, and then use :argdo source batch.vim

• <number><command><text> is the same as <command><number><text>
• Ctrl + G - Show page stats at the bottom of the screen`
• The leader key is a prefix for custom hotkeys
• ga tells you information about the character under your cursor

• Lean heavily on .- prefer it to counts. It undos/redos better.