Vim

A highly configurable modal text editor designed for efficient text editing and manipulation.

Overview

Vim (Vi IMproved) is a powerful text editor that operates through distinct modes, each optimised for different tasks. Its modal nature allows for complex text manipulation with minimal keystrokes, making it exceptionally efficient once mastered. Vim's philosophy centres on keeping your hands on the home row and composing commands from verbs (actions), modifiers, and objects.

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Normal : vim file
    Normal --> Insert : i, a, o, etc.
    Normal --> Visual : v, V, Ctrl-v
    Normal --> Command : press colon
    Insert --> Normal : Esc
    Visual --> Normal : Esc
    Command --> Normal : Enter/Esc

    note right of Normal : Default mode
    note right of Insert : Text entry
    note right of Visual : Selection
    note right of Command : Ex commands

Modes

Vim operates in distinct modes, each serving a specific purpose. Understanding modes is fundamental to using Vim effectively.

Key Concepts

Mode	Purpose	How to Enter	How to Exit
Normal	Navigation, manipulation	Default / `Esc`	N/A
Insert	Text entry	`i`, `a`, `o`, `I`, `A`, `O`	`Esc`
Visual	Text selection	`v`, `V`, `Ctrl-v`	`Esc`
Command	Ex commands	`:`	`Enter` or `Esc`
Replace	Overwrite text	`R`	`Esc`

Common Commands/Patterns

# Entering Insert mode
i       " Insert before cursor
I       " Insert at beginning of line
a       " Append after cursor
A       " Append at end of line
o       " Open new line below
O       " Open new line above

# Entering Visual mode
v       " Character-wise visual
V       " Line-wise visual
Ctrl-v  " Block-wise visual

# Entering Command mode
:       " Enter command-line mode
/       " Forward search (also command mode)
?       " Backward search (also command mode)

# Return to Normal mode
Esc     " Return from any mode
Ctrl-[  " Alternative to Esc
Ctrl-c  " Alternative to Esc (may cancel operations)

Examples

" Quickly fix a typo
ciw                   " Change inner word - deletes word and enters Insert mode
" Type the corrected word
Esc                   " Return to Normal mode

" Select and replace multiple lines
Vjj                   " Visual select 3 lines
:s/old/new/g         " Replace on selected lines

" Block editing (add comment to multiple lines)
Ctrl-v                " Enter block visual mode
jjj                   " Select 4 lines down
I                     " Insert at beginning of block
# <Esc>               " Add '# ' to all selected lines

Basic Navigation

Efficient movement is one of Vim's greatest strengths. Master these commands to navigate files without touching the mouse.

Key Concepts

Navigation in Vim operates at multiple levels:

Character level: Single character movement
Word level: Jump by words
Line level: Move within or between lines
Screen level: Navigate viewport
File level: Jump to specific locations

flowchart TB
    subgraph Character
        h[h - left]
        j[j - down]
        k[k - up]
        l[l - right]
    end

    subgraph Word
        w[w - next word]
        b[b - previous word]
        e[e - end of word]
        W[W - next WORD]
        B[B - previous WORD]
    end

    subgraph Line
        zero["0 - line start"]
        caret["^ - first non-blank"]
        dollar["$ - line end"]
    end

    subgraph File
        gg[gg - file start]
        G[G - file end]
        nG[nG - line n]
    end

Common Commands/Patterns

# Character movement (Normal mode)
h       " Move left
j       " Move down
k       " Move up
l       " Move right

# Word movement
w       " Next word start (punctuation separated)
W       " Next WORD start (whitespace separated)
b       " Previous word start
B       " Previous WORD start
e       " End of current/next word
E       " End of current/next WORD
ge      " End of previous word

# Line movement
0       " Beginning of line
^       " First non-blank character
$       " End of line
g_      " Last non-blank character

# File movement
gg      " First line of file
G       " Last line of file
5G      " Go to line 5
:5      " Go to line 5 (command mode)
50%     " Go to 50% of file

# Screen movement
H       " Top of screen (High)
M       " Middle of screen
L       " Bottom of screen (Low)
Ctrl-u  " Half page up
Ctrl-d  " Half page down
Ctrl-f  " Full page forward
Ctrl-b  " Full page backward

# Within line
f{char} " Find character forward
F{char} " Find character backward
t{char} " Till character forward
T{char} " Till character backward
;       " Repeat f/F/t/T forward
,       " Repeat f/F/t/T backward

Examples

" Jump to a specific function in code
/def process<CR>      " Search for function definition
n                     " Next match
N                     " Previous match

" Navigate a long config file
gg                    " Go to top
/server<CR>           " Find server section
}                     " Jump to next paragraph/section
{                     " Jump to previous paragraph

" Move precisely within a line
f(                    " Jump to opening parenthesis
ci(                   " Change inside parentheses

" Using counts for efficient movement
5j                    " Move 5 lines down
3w                    " Move 3 words forward
2}                    " Jump 2 paragraphs forward

Editing Commands

Vim's editing power comes from composable commands: operator + motion or operator + text object.

Key Concepts

The grammar of Vim editing follows the pattern:

Operator + Motion: d3w (delete 3 words)
Operator + Text Object: ci" (change inside quotes)
Doubled operator: dd (delete line), yy (yank line)

flowchart LR
    subgraph Operators
        d[d - delete]
        c[c - change]
        y[y - yank]
    end

    subgraph mo["Motions/Objects"]
        w[w - word]
        iw["iw - inner word"]
        aw["aw - a word"]
        i["i{ - inner braces"]
        p[p - paragraph]
    end

    subgraph Result
        r[Combined Action]
    end

    Operators --> Result
    mo --> Result

Common Commands/Patterns

# Core operators
d       " Delete (cut)
c       " Change (delete and enter Insert mode)
y       " Yank (copy)
p       " Paste after cursor
P       " Paste before cursor
>       " Indent right
<       " Indent left
=       " Auto-indent
~       " Toggle case
gu      " Lowercase
gU      " Uppercase

# Delete operations
x       " Delete character under cursor
X       " Delete character before cursor
dd      " Delete entire line
D       " Delete to end of line
dw      " Delete word
d$      " Delete to end of line
d0      " Delete to beginning of line
dgg     " Delete to beginning of file
dG      " Delete to end of file

# Change operations
cc      " Change entire line
C       " Change to end of line
cw      " Change word
c$      " Change to end of line

# Yank operations
yy      " Yank entire line
Y       " Yank entire line (same as yy)
yw      " Yank word
y$      " Yank to end of line

# Text objects (used with operators)
iw      " Inner word
aw      " A word (includes surrounding space)
is      " Inner sentence
as      " A sentence
ip      " Inner paragraph
ap      " A paragraph
i"      " Inside double quotes
a"      " A double-quoted string
i'      " Inside single quotes
i)      " Inside parentheses
ib      " Inside parentheses (same as i))
i]      " Inside square brackets
i}      " Inside curly braces
iB      " Inside curly braces (same as i})
it      " Inside HTML/XML tag
at      " A tag (includes tags)

# Undo and redo
u       " Undo
Ctrl-r  " Redo
.       " Repeat last change

Examples

" Delete a function parameter
f,          " Find comma
dt,         " Delete till next comma
" or
di(         " Delete inside parentheses

" Change a string value
ci"         " Change inside double quotes
" Type new value
<Esc>

" Swap two lines
ddp         " Delete line, paste below

" Duplicate a line
yyp         " Yank line, paste below

" Indent a block of code
>ip         " Indent inner paragraph
" or in Visual mode
Vjj>        " Select lines, indent

" Change case of a word
gUiw        " Uppercase inner word
guaw        " Lowercase a word

" Delete to a specific character
dt)         " Delete till closing parenthesis
df)         " Delete including closing parenthesis

" Quickly fix a typo
xp          " Transpose characters (delete and paste)

Search and Replace

Powerful pattern matching and substitution capabilities for finding and modifying text.

Key Concepts

Search uses regular expressions by default
Substitution follows the pattern :[range]s/pattern/replacement/[flags]
Magic mode controls regex interpretation (\v for very magic, \V for very nomagic)

Common Commands/Patterns

# Basic search
/pattern        " Search forward
?pattern        " Search backward
n               " Next match (same direction)
N               " Next match (opposite direction)
*               " Search word under cursor forward
#               " Search word under cursor backward
g*              " Search partial word forward
g#              " Search partial word backward

# Search options
/pattern\c      " Case-insensitive search
/pattern\C      " Case-sensitive search
/\vpattern      " Very magic (extended regex)
/\Vpattern      " Very nomagic (literal)

# Substitution syntax
:s/old/new/     " Replace first on current line
:s/old/new/g    " Replace all on current line
:%s/old/new/g   " Replace all in file
:%s/old/new/gc  " Replace all with confirmation
:5,10s/old/new/g " Replace on lines 5-10
:'<,'>s/old/new/g " Replace in visual selection

# Substitution flags
g               " Global (all occurrences on line)
c               " Confirm each substitution
i               " Case-insensitive
I               " Case-sensitive
n               " Count matches without replacing
e               " No error if pattern not found

# Special replacements
&               " The matched pattern
\0              " The entire match
\1, \2, etc.    " Captured groups
\r              " Newline in replacement
\t              " Tab in replacement
\u              " Next character uppercase
\l              " Next character lowercase
\U              " Following characters uppercase
\L              " Following characters lowercase
\E              " End case modification

# Global command
:g/pattern/d    " Delete all lines matching pattern
:g/pattern/cmd  " Run cmd on matching lines
:v/pattern/d    " Delete lines NOT matching pattern

Examples

" Replace all occurrences in file
:%s/color/colour/g

" Replace with confirmation
:%s/foo/bar/gc
" y = yes, n = no, a = all, q = quit, l = last

" Case-insensitive replace
:%s/error/warning/gi

" Delete blank lines
:g/^$/d

" Delete lines containing pattern
:g/DEBUG/d

" Move lines containing pattern to end of file
:g/TODO/m$

" Use captured groups
:%s/\(\w\+\):\(\w\+\)/\2:\1/g  " Swap word:word

" Very magic mode for cleaner regex
:%s/\v(\w+):(\w+)/\2:\1/g      " Same as above

" Replace in visual selection only
'<,'>s/old/new/g

" Search and replace with newlines
:%s/; /;\r/g    " Put semicolons on their own line

" Double-space a file
:%s/$/\r/

" Remove trailing whitespace
:%s/\s\+$//e

" Convert tabs to spaces
:%s/\t/    /g

" Comment out lines matching pattern
:g/pattern/s/^/# /

Buffers, Windows, and Tabs

Vim provides three levels of workspace organisation: buffers (files), windows (viewports), and tabs (layouts).

Key Concepts

Buffer: An in-memory representation of a file
Window: A viewport into a buffer (split view)
Tab: A collection of windows (workspace)

flowchart TB
    subgraph Tab1[Tab 1]
        subgraph Win1[Window 1]
            Buf1[Buffer A]
        end
        subgraph Win2[Window 2]
            Buf2[Buffer B]
        end
    end

    subgraph Tab2[Tab 2]
        subgraph Win3[Window 3]
            Buf3[Buffer A]
        end
    end

    subgraph "Hidden Buffers"
        Buf4[Buffer C]
        Buf5[Buffer D]
    end

Common Commands/Patterns

# Buffer commands
:e filename     " Edit file in new buffer
:enew           " Create new empty buffer
:ls             " List all buffers
:buffers        " List all buffers (same as :ls)
:b name         " Switch to buffer by name/number
:bn             " Next buffer
:bp             " Previous buffer
:bd             " Delete (close) buffer
:bd!            " Force delete buffer (discard changes)
:ball           " Open all buffers in windows
:bufdo cmd      " Execute cmd in all buffers

# Window commands
:sp [file]      " Horizontal split
:vsp [file]     " Vertical split
:new            " New window with empty buffer
:vnew           " New vertical window with empty buffer
Ctrl-w s        " Horizontal split
Ctrl-w v        " Vertical split
Ctrl-w n        " New window with empty buffer
Ctrl-w c        " Close window
Ctrl-w q        " Quit window
Ctrl-w o        " Close all other windows

# Window navigation
Ctrl-w h        " Move to left window
Ctrl-w j        " Move to window below
Ctrl-w k        " Move to window above
Ctrl-w l        " Move to right window
Ctrl-w w        " Cycle through windows
Ctrl-w p        " Previous window

# Window resizing
Ctrl-w =        " Equalise window sizes
Ctrl-w _        " Maximise height
Ctrl-w |        " Maximise width
Ctrl-w +        " Increase height
Ctrl-w -        " Decrease height
Ctrl-w >        " Increase width
Ctrl-w <        " Decrease width
:resize 20      " Set height to 20 lines
:vertical resize 80 " Set width to 80 columns

# Window moving
Ctrl-w r        " Rotate windows downward
Ctrl-w R        " Rotate windows upward
Ctrl-w x        " Exchange with next window
Ctrl-w H        " Move window to far left
Ctrl-w J        " Move window to bottom
Ctrl-w K        " Move window to top
Ctrl-w L        " Move window to far right

# Tab commands
:tabnew [file]  " New tab
:tabc           " Close tab
:tabo           " Close all other tabs
:tabn           " Next tab
:tabp           " Previous tab
gt              " Next tab
gT              " Previous tab
3gt             " Go to tab 3
:tabm 0         " Move tab to position 0
:tabdo cmd      " Execute cmd in all tabs

Examples

" Open multiple files and navigate
vim file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
:bn             " Switch to file2.txt
:b file3        " Switch to file3.txt
:ls             " See all open buffers

" Compare two files side by side
:e file1.txt
:vsp file2.txt
Ctrl-w l        " Move to right window

" Edit code with reference file
:e main.py
:sp config.py   " Open config above for reference
Ctrl-w k        " Look at config
Ctrl-w j        " Return to main

" Organise work with tabs
:tabnew         " Create workspace tab
:e src/app.py
:vsp tests/test_app.py
gt              " Switch to next tab

" Apply change across all buffers
:bufdo %s/old/new/ge | update

" Close all buffers except current
:%bd|e#

" Open file in existing buffer
:e!             " Reload current file (discard changes)

Macros and Registers

Macros record and replay keystrokes; registers store text and macros for later use.

Key Concepts

Registers are storage locations named a-z, 0-9, and special characters
Macros are sequences of commands stored in registers
Registers persist across Vim sessions (stored in viminfo)

Register	Purpose
`"a-z`	Named registers (user storage)
`"A-Z`	Append to named register
`"0`	Last yank
`"1-9`	Delete history (rotating)
`""`	Unnamed (default) register
`"-`	Small delete register
`".`	Last inserted text
`":`	Last command-line command
`"/`	Last search pattern
`"*`	System clipboard (X11 primary)
`"+`	System clipboard (X11 clipboard)
`"_`	Black hole register
`"%`	Current filename
`"#`	Alternate filename

Common Commands/Patterns

# Recording macros
qa              " Start recording macro to register 'a'
<commands>      " Perform your actions
q               " Stop recording
@a              " Execute macro 'a'
@@              " Repeat last executed macro
5@a             " Execute macro 'a' 5 times
:5,10normal @a  " Execute on lines 5-10

# Register operations
"ayy            " Yank line to register 'a'
"Ayy            " Append line to register 'a'
"ap             " Paste from register 'a'
"adiw           " Delete word into register 'a'

# Viewing registers
:reg            " Show all registers
:reg a          " Show register 'a'
:reg ab         " Show registers 'a' and 'b'

# Special registers
"*p             " Paste from system clipboard
"+y             " Yank to system clipboard
"_dd            " Delete without saving to register
".p             " Paste last inserted text
"0p             " Paste last yank (not delete)
":p             " Paste last command

# Insert mode register access
Ctrl-r a        " Insert contents of register 'a'
Ctrl-r =        " Expression register (calculator)
Ctrl-r /        " Insert last search pattern
Ctrl-r %        " Insert current filename

Examples

" Macro to add quotes around a word
qa              " Start recording to 'a'
ciw"<Ctrl-r>""  " Change word, add quotes, paste
<Esc>           " Return to normal
q               " Stop recording
@a              " Apply to another word

" Macro to format a list item
qa              " Start recording
0               " Go to line start
i* <Esc>        " Add bullet
j               " Move to next line
q               " Stop recording
10@a            " Apply to 10 more lines

" Macro with search
qa              " Start recording
/TODO<CR>       " Find TODO
dd              " Delete the line
q               " Stop recording
100@a           " Remove all TODOs (repeat 100 times)

" Append to macro to fix mistakes
qA              " Append to existing macro 'a'
<fix commands>
q

" Copy between registers
:let @b = @a    " Copy macro 'a' to 'b'

" Edit a macro
:let @a = '<Ctrl-r>a'  " Puts content in command line to edit

" Macro for adding log statements
qa
yiw             " Yank word (variable name)
oconsole.log('<Ctrl-r>":', <Ctrl-r>");<Esc>
q
" Now @a adds logging for any variable

" Using expression register
"=5*42<CR>p     " Insert result of 5*42

" In insert mode
<Ctrl-r>=system('date')<CR>  " Insert current date

" Numbered registers (delete history)
"1p             " Paste most recent delete
.               " Paste next oldest
.               " Paste next oldest

Quick Reference

Mode Switching

Command	Action
`i` / `a`	Insert before/after cursor
`I` / `A`	Insert at start/end of line
`o` / `O`	New line below/above
`v` / `V` / `Ctrl-v`	Visual character/line/block
`Esc`	Return to Normal mode

Essential Navigation

Command	Action
`h` `j` `k` `l`	Left, down, up, right
`w` / `b`	Next/previous word
`0` / `$`	Line start/end
`gg` / `G`	File start/end
`Ctrl-d` / `Ctrl-u`	Half page down/up
`/{pattern}`	Search forward
`n` / `N`	Next/previous match

Core Editing

Command	Action
`dd` / `yy`	Delete/yank line
`p` / `P`	Paste after/before
`u` / `Ctrl-r`	Undo/redo
`.`	Repeat last change
`ciw` / `diw`	Change/delete inner word
`ci"` / `di"`	Change/delete inside quotes

Buffers, Windows, Tabs

Command	Action
`:e file`	Edit file
`:w` / `:q`	Save/quit
`:ls` / `:bn` / `:bp`	List/next/previous buffer
`Ctrl-w s` / `Ctrl-w v`	Horizontal/vertical split
`Ctrl-w h/j/k/l`	Navigate windows
`gt` / `gT`	Next/previous tab

Search and Replace

Command	Action
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all in file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace with confirmation
`:g/pattern/d`	Delete matching lines
`*` / `#`	Search word forward/backward

Macros and Registers

Command	Action
`qa` ... `q`	Record macro to 'a'
`@a` / `@@`	Play macro / repeat last
`"ayy` / `"ap`	Yank to / paste from 'a'
`"+y` / `"+p`	System clipboard yank/paste
`:reg`	View registers

Common Issues and Solutions

Cannot exit Vim

Problem: Stuck in Vim, don't know how to quit.

Solution:

<Esc>           " Ensure you're in Normal mode
:q              " Quit (fails if unsaved changes)
:q!             " Force quit without saving
:wq             " Save and quit
ZZ              " Save and quit (shortcut)
ZQ              " Quit without saving (shortcut)

Pasted text is incorrectly indented

Problem: Pasting from clipboard adds unwanted indentation.

Solution:

:set paste      " Enable paste mode
p               " Paste your content
:set nopaste    " Disable paste mode

" Or use the paste toggle
:set pastetoggle=<F2>
" Then press F2 before pasting

Search is case-sensitive when you want case-insensitive

Problem: Search doesn't find matches with different capitalisation.

Solution:

/pattern\c      " Case-insensitive search
:set ignorecase " Always ignore case
:set smartcase  " Ignore case unless pattern has uppercase

Cannot delete or yank to system clipboard

Problem: Yanked text not available outside Vim.

Solution:

" Check clipboard support
:echo has('clipboard')

" Use clipboard registers
"+y             " Yank to system clipboard
"+p             " Paste from system clipboard
"*y             " Yank to primary selection (Linux)

" Configure default
:set clipboard=unnamedplus

Macro stops before completing all iterations

Problem: Macro executed with count stops early.

Solution: Ensure macro doesn't fail. Common issues:

Search pattern not found
Movement goes past file boundary
Command fails on certain lines

" Make macro more robust
:set nowrapscan  " Don't wrap search
" Or add error suppression to macro

Replace affects wrong occurrences

Problem: Substitute changes unintended matches.

Solution:

" Use word boundaries
:%s/\<old\>/new/g    " Match whole word only

" Use confirmation
:%s/old/new/gc       " Confirm each replacement

" Limit scope
:5,20s/old/new/g     " Only lines 5-20
:'<,'>s/old/new/g    " Only visual selection

File opens with ^M characters

Problem: Windows line endings showing as ^M.

Solution:

" Convert to Unix line endings
:set fileformat=unix
:w

" Remove ^M characters
:%s/\r//g

" Or use dos2unix externally
:!dos2unix %

Changes lost when switching buffers

Problem: Vim won't let you switch buffers with unsaved changes.

Solution:

:set hidden         " Allow hidden buffers with changes
:set autowrite      " Auto-save before switching
:wa                 " Write all changed buffers

Vim

Overview

Modes

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Basic Navigation

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Editing Commands

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Search and Replace

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Buffers, Windows, and Tabs

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Macros and Registers

Key Concepts

Common Commands/Patterns

Examples

Quick Reference

Mode Switching

Essential Navigation

Core Editing

Buffers, Windows, Tabs

Search and Replace

Macros and Registers

Common Issues and Solutions

Cannot exit Vim

Pasted text is incorrectly indented

Search is case-sensitive when you want case-insensitive

Cannot delete or yank to system clipboard

Macro stops before completing all iterations

Replace affects wrong occurrences

File opens with ^M characters

Changes lost when switching buffers

Related Topics