Vim
Modes
i goes into insert mode
Esc goes back to command mode.
Commands
Saving and Exiting vim
ZZ Save and exit vim
:w Write the file to disk, stay in vim
:wq Save the file and exit vim
:w !sudo tee % Saves the file, even you don't have permission to write to the file (do this instead of closing the file, opening with sudo, and re-doing your changes)
:q</code Quit vim (Note: if you've made changes, you'll get a message that the file has changed. To quit without saving changes, use: :q! )
/string search forward for string
?string search backword for string
CTRL + f scroll forward one screen
CTRL + b scroll backword one screen
% go to the "mate", if one exists, of the parenthesis, brace, or bracket.
zz Scroll down the screen to make the current line appear in the middle.
Manipulating Text
vim + linenumber Open a file at the specified line number (Run from the command line, not from inside vim)
:set number show line numbers
:set nonumber hide line numbers.
:syntax on turns on syntax color highlighting for code and HTML
Selecting Text
V Select a whole line (Press an up or down arrow to select multiple lines.)
v</code Select a range of text.
CTRL + v select a rectangular block
Undo / Redo
:earlier 15m reverts the document to how it was 15 minutes ago. You can substitute any valid time instead of 15m.
u undo the latest change
U Undo all changes in the last modified line.
CTRL + R Redo last change (undo the last undo... kinda...)
Deleting
d Deletes the selected text (also the same as "cut", as in you can paste the deleted text)
de does the same thing as diw, however, you can delete every next word by pressing the period key ( . )
dd delete the entire current line
diw delete the current word
di" delete the text between the quotes
Cut, Copy, and Paste
y Copies (yanks) the selected text.
d Deletes the selected text (also the same as "cut", as in you can paste the deleted text)
ciw cuts the current word
ci" cuts the word inside the quotes
C cuts to the end of the line
P Paste before the cursor
p Paste after the cursor
References
- vim man page
- Run
vimtutor at the command line for an interactive vim tutorial