📖 Guide

Vim Commands Cheat Sheet — Complete Reference

Every Vim command you need, from basic navigation to advanced macros. Searchable and organized by category.

179 commands across 11 categories

Mode Switching

Command	Description
`i`	Enter Insert mode before cursor
`I`	Enter Insert mode at beginning of line
`a`	Enter Insert mode after cursor
`A`	Enter Insert mode at end of line
`o`	Open new line below and enter Insert mode
`O`	Open new line above and enter Insert mode
`v`	Enter Visual mode (character-wise)
`V`	Enter Visual Line mode
`Ctrl+v`	Enter Visual Block mode
`Esc`	Return to Normal mode from any mode
`:`	Enter Command-line mode
`R`	Enter Replace mode (overwrite characters)

Command	Description
`h / j / k / l`	Move left / down / up / right
`w`	Jump to start of next word
`W`	Jump to start of next WORD (whitespace-delimited)
`b`	Jump to start of previous word
`B`	Jump to start of previous WORD
`e`	Jump to end of current/next word
`E`	Jump to end of current/next WORD
`0`	Jump to beginning of line
`^`	Jump to first non-blank character of line
`$`	Jump to end of line
`gg`	Go to first line of file
`G`	Go to last line of file
`:<number>` e.g. :42	Go to specific line number
`Ctrl+d`	Scroll down half page
`Ctrl+u`	Scroll up half page
`Ctrl+f`	Scroll down full page
`Ctrl+b`	Scroll up full page
`H`	Move cursor to top of screen
`M`	Move cursor to middle of screen
`L`	Move cursor to bottom of screen
`%`	Jump to matching bracket/parenthesis
`f<char>` e.g. fa	Jump to next occurrence of char on line
`F<char>`	Jump to previous occurrence of char on line
`t<char>`	Jump to just before next occurrence of char
`;`	Repeat last f/F/t/T motion forward
`,`	Repeat last f/F/t/T motion backward
`{`	Jump to previous empty line (paragraph)
`}`	Jump to next empty line (paragraph)

Command	Description
`x`	Delete character under cursor
`X`	Delete character before cursor
`dd`	Delete (cut) entire line
`D`	Delete from cursor to end of line
`dw`	Delete from cursor to start of next word
`d$`	Delete from cursor to end of line
`d0`	Delete from cursor to beginning of line
`dG`	Delete from current line to end of file
`diw`	Delete inner word (word under cursor)
`di"`	Delete text inside double quotes
`di(`	Delete text inside parentheses
`di{`	Delete text inside curly braces
`dat`	Delete around HTML/XML tag
`cc`	Change (replace) entire line
`C`	Change from cursor to end of line
`cw`	Change from cursor to end of word
`ciw`	Change inner word
`ci"`	Change text inside quotes
`ci(`	Change text inside parentheses
`r<char>`	Replace single character under cursor
`s`	Delete character and enter Insert mode
`S`	Delete line and enter Insert mode
`J`	Join current line with next line
`~`	Toggle case of character under cursor
`gUiw`	Uppercase inner word
`guiw`	Lowercase inner word
`>>`	Indent line
`<<`	Unindent line
`==`	Auto-indent line
`.`	Repeat last editing command

Command	Description
`yy`	Yank (copy) entire line
`yw`	Yank from cursor to start of next word
`y$`	Yank from cursor to end of line
`yiw`	Yank inner word
`yi"`	Yank text inside double quotes
`p`	Paste after cursor
`P`	Paste before cursor
`"ay`	Yank into register 'a'
`"ap`	Paste from register 'a'
`"+y`	Yank to system clipboard
`"+p`	Paste from system clipboard
`:reg`	Show contents of all registers

Command	Description
`v`	Start character-wise visual selection
`V`	Start line-wise visual selection
`Ctrl+v`	Start block-wise visual selection
`gv`	Re-select last visual selection
`o`	Move to other end of selection
`d`	Delete selection
`y`	Yank selection
`c`	Change selection
`>`	Indent selection
`<`	Unindent selection
`=`	Auto-indent selection
`U`	Uppercase selection
`u`	Lowercase selection
`I (block)`	Insert at start of each line in block selection
`A (block)`	Append at end of each line in block selection

Command	Description
`/<pattern>` e.g. /function	Search forward for pattern
`?<pattern>`	Search backward for pattern
`n`	Jump to next search match
`N`	Jump to previous search match
`*`	Search forward for word under cursor
`#`	Search backward for word under cursor
`:s/old/new/`	Replace first occurrence on current line
`:s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences on current line
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences in file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace all with confirmation prompts
`:%s/old/new/gi`	Replace all, case-insensitive
`:noh`	Clear search highlighting
`:g/pattern/d`	Delete all lines matching pattern
`:v/pattern/d`	Delete all lines NOT matching pattern
`:g/pattern/cmd` e.g. :g/TODO/t$	Run command on all matching lines

Command	Description
`:w`	Save file
`:w <filename>`	Save as new filename
`:q`	Quit (fails if unsaved changes)
`:q!`	Quit without saving
`:wq`	Save and quit
`:x`	Save and quit (same as :wq)
`ZZ`	Save and quit (Normal mode shortcut)
`ZQ`	Quit without saving (Normal mode)
`:e <file>` e.g. :e ~/.bashrc	Open a file
`:e!`	Revert to last saved version
`:bn`	Next buffer
`:bp`	Previous buffer
`:bd`	Close/delete current buffer
`:ls`	List all open buffers
`:b <n>`	Switch to buffer number n

Command	Description
`:split <file>`	Horizontal split (or :sp)
`:vsplit <file>`	Vertical split (or :vs)
`Ctrl+w s`	Horizontal split current file
`Ctrl+w v`	Vertical split current file
`Ctrl+w h/j/k/l`	Navigate between splits
`Ctrl+w w`	Cycle through windows
`Ctrl+w =`	Make all windows equal size
`Ctrl+w _`	Maximize current window height
`Ctrl+w \|`	Maximize current window width
`Ctrl+w q`	Close current window
`Ctrl+w o`	Close all other windows
`:tabnew <file>`	Open file in new tab
`gt`	Next tab
`gT`	Previous tab
`:tabclose`	Close current tab

Command	Description
`m<letter>` e.g. ma	Set mark at cursor position
`'<letter>` e.g. 'a	Jump to line of mark
`<letter>	Jump to exact position of mark
`''`	Jump back to previous position
`'.`	Jump to last edit position
`Ctrl+o`	Jump back in jump list
`Ctrl+i`	Jump forward in jump list
`:marks`	List all marks
`:delmarks a`	Delete mark 'a'
`g;`	Jump to previous change position
`g,`	Jump to next change position

Command	Description
`q<letter>` e.g. qa	Start recording macro into register
`q`	Stop recording macro
`@<letter>` e.g. @a	Play macro from register
`@@`	Replay last played macro
`10@a`	Play macro 'a' 10 times
`:reg`	Show all register contents
`"<letter>y`	Yank into named register
`"<letter>p`	Paste from named register
`"0p`	Paste last yank (not delete)
`"_d`	Delete into black hole register (no yank)

Command	Description
`za`	Toggle fold
`zR`	Open all folds
`zM`	Close all folds
`zo / zc`	Open / close fold under cursor
`Ctrl+n`	Autocomplete (Insert mode) — next match
`Ctrl+p`	Autocomplete (Insert mode) — previous match
`:set spell`	Enable spell checking
`]s / [s`	Next / previous misspelled word
`z=`	Show spelling suggestions
`:!<cmd>` e.g. :!ls	Run external shell command
`:r !<cmd>` e.g. :r !date	Insert output of command into file
`:sort`	Sort selected lines
`Ctrl+a / Ctrl+x`	Increment / decrement number under cursor
`:set number`	Show line numbers
`:set relativenumber`	Show relative line numbers
`:syntax on`	Enable syntax highlighting