MASTERING VIM – A DEVOPS ESSENTIAL!

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Vim Cheat Sheet & Quick Reference

Getting Started

Motion Diagrams

▼/▶ Cursor   ▽/▷ Target

Left-right motions

┌───────────── |      
├───────────── 0      $ ──────────────┐ 
│  ┌────────── ^      fe ────────┐    │
│  │  ┌─────── Fo     te ───────┐│    │
│  │  │┌────── To     30| ───┐  ││    │
│  │  ││ ┌──── ge     w ───┐ │  ││    │
│  │  ││ │ ┌── b      e ─┐ │ │  ││    │
│  │  ││ │ │  ┌h      l┐ │ │ │  ││    │
▽  ▽  ▽▽ ▽ ▽  ▽▼      ▼▽ ▽ ▽ ▽  ▽▽    ▽
   echo "A cheatsheet from quickref.me"

Up-down motions

                 - SCREEN 1 START
   ┌─┬─────────▷ #!/usr/bin/python
   │ │     ┌───▷     
   │ │     │     print("Hello")
   │ │     { } ▶ print("Vim")
   │ │       │   print("!")
   │ │       └─▷    
   │ │ ┌───┬───▷ print("Welcome")
G gg H M L k j ▶ print("to")
│        │   └─▷ print("quickref.me")
│        │       print("/vim")
│        │     
│        └─────▷ 
│                - SCREEN 1 END
└──────────────▷ print("SCREEN 2")

Motions

Shortcut	Description
h	j
/	Half-page up/down
/	Page up/down

Words

Shortcut	Description
b / w	Previous/Next word
ge / e	Previous/Next end of word

Line

Shortcut	Description
0 (zero) / $	Start/End of line
^	Start of line (non-blank)

Character

Shortcut	Description
Fe / fe	Move to previous/next e
To / to	Move before/after previous/next o
	/ n

Document

Shortcut	Description
gg / G	First/Last line
:n	nG
} / {	Next/Previous empty line

Window

Shortcut	Description
H / M / L	Top/Middle/Bottom screen
zt / zz / zb	Top/Center/Bottom this line

Insert Mode

Shortcut	Description
i / a	Insert before/after cursor
I / A	Insert start/end of line
o / O (letter)	Insert new line below/above
s / S	Delete char/line and insert
C / cc	Change to end of/current line
gi	Insert at last insert point
Esc

Saving and Exiting

Shortcut	Description
:w	Save
:q	Close file
:wq	:x
:wqa	Save and quit all files
:q!	ZQ
:qa	Close all files
:qa!	Force quit all files
:w now.txt	Write to now.txt
:sav new.txt	Save and edit new.txt
:w !sudo tee %	Write to readonly file

Normal Mode

Shortcut	Description
r	Replace one character
R	Enter Replace mode
u / 3u	Undo changes 1 / 3 times
U	Undo changes on one line
J	Join with next line
/ 5	Redo changes 1 / 5 times

Cut and paste

Shortcut	Description
x	Delete character (Cut)
p / P	Paste after/before
xp	Swap two characters
D	Delete to end of line (Cut)
dw	Delete word (Cut)
dd	Delete line (Cut)
ddp	Swap two lines
yy	Yank line (Copy)
"*p	"+p
"*y	"+y

In visual mode

Shortcut	Description
d	x
s	Replace selection
y	Yank selection (Copy)

Repeating

Shortcut	Description
.	Repeat last command
;	Repeat latest f, t, F or T
,	Repeat latest f, t, F or T reversed
&	Repeat last :s
@:	Repeat a command-line command

Visual mode

Shortcut	Description
v	Enter visual mode
V	Enter visual line mode
	Enter visual block mode
ggVG	Select all text
> / <	Shift text right/left

Macros

-	-
qi	Record macro i
q	Stop recording macro
@i	Run macro i
7@i	Run macro i 7 times
@@	Repeat last macro

You can save macro for any letters not just i

Vim Operators

Usage

Shortcut	Description
d	w
Operator	Motion

Combine operators with motions to use them

Available Operators

Shortcut	Description
d	Delete
y	Yank (copy)
c	Change (delete then insert)
p	Paste
=	Formats code
g~	Toggle case
gU	Uppercase
gu	Lowercase
>	Indent right
<	Indent left
!	Filter through external program

Examples

Combination	Description
dd	Delete current line
dj	Delete two lines
dw	Delete to next word
db	Delete to beginning of word
dfa	Delete until a char
d/hello	Delete until hello
cc	Change current line, synonym with S
yy	Copy current line
>j	Indent 2 lines
ggdG	Delete a complete document
gg=G	Indent a complete document
ggyG	Copy a whole document

Counts

[count] <operator> <motion>
<operator> [count] <motion>

---

Combination	Description
2dd	Delete 2 lines
6yy	Copy 6 lines
d3w	Delete 3 words
d5j	Delete 5 lines downwards
>4k	Indent 4 lines upwards

Vim Text objects

Usage

Shortcut	Description	-
v	i / a	p
Operator	inner / around	Text object

Operate with an operator inner or around text blocks

Text objects

Shortcut	Description
p	Paragraph
w	Word
W	WORD (surrounded by whitespace)
s	Sentence
[ ( { <	A [], (), or {} block
] ) } >	A [], (), or {} block
' " `	A quoted string
b	A block [(
B	A block in [{
t	A HTML tag block

See :help text-objects

Delete

Shortcut	Description
diw	Delete inner word
dis	Delete inner sentence
di"	Delete in quotes
da"	Delete in quotes (including quotes)
dip	Delete a paragraph

Selections

Shortcut	Description
vi"	Select inner quotes "..."
va"	Select quotes "..."
vi[	Select inner brackets [...]
va[	Select brackets [...]
viw	Select inner word
vip	Select inner paragraph
vipip	Select more paragraph

Misc

Shortcut	Description
ciw	Change inner word
ci"	Change inner quotes
cit	Change inner tags (HTML)
cip	Change inner paragraph
yip	Yank inner paragraph
yap	Yank paragraph (including newline)

Vim Multiple files

Buffers

-	-
:e file	Edit a file in a new buffer
:bn	Go to the next buffer
:bp	Go to the previous buffer
:bd	Remove file from buffer list
:b 5	Open buffer #5
:b file	Go to a buffer by file
:ls	List all open buffers
:sp file	Open and split window
:vs file	Open and vertically split window
:hid	Hide this buffer
:wn	Write file and move to next
:tab ba	Edit all buffers as tabs

Windows

-	-
s	Split window
v	Split window vertically
w	Switch windows
q	Quit a window
T	Break out into a new tab
x	Swap current with next
- / +	Decrease/Increase height
< / >	Decrease/Increase width
=	Equally high and wide
h / l	Go to the left/right window
j / k	Go to the up/down window

Tabs

Shortcut	Description
:tabe [file]	Edit file in a new tab
:tabf [file]	Open if exists in new tab
:tabc	Close current tab
:tabo	Close other tabs
:tabs	List all tabs
:tabr	Go to first tab
:tabl	Go to last tab
:tabm 0	Move to position 0
:tabn	Go to next tab
:tabp	Go to previous tab

Normal mode

Shortcut	Description
gt	Go to next tab
gT	Go to previous tab
2gt	Go to tab number 2

Vim Search and Replace

Search

-	-
/foo	Search forward
/foo\c	Search forward (case insensitive)
?foo	Search backward
/\v\d+	Search with regex
n	Next matching search pattern
N	Previous match
*	Search for current word forward
#	Search for current word backward

Replace LINE

`
:[range]s/{pattern}/{str}/[flags]

`

---

:s/old/new	Replace first
:s/old/new/g	Replace all
:s/\vold/new/g	Replace all with regex
:s/old/new/gc	replace all (Confirm)
:s/old/new/i	Ignore case replace first
:2,6s/old/new/g	Replace between lines 2-6

Replace FILE

`
:%s/{pattern}/{str}/[flags]

`

---

:%s/old/new	Replace first
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all
:%s/old/new/gc	Replace all (Confirm)
:%s/old/new/gi	Replace all (ignore case)
:%s/\vold/new/g	Replace all with regex

Ranges

-	-
%	Entire file
’<,’>	Current selection
5	Line 5
5,10	Lines 5 to 10
$	Last line
2,$	Lines 2 to Last
.	Current line
,3	Next 3 lines
-3,	Forward 3 lines

Global command

`
:[range]g/{pattern}/[command]

`

---

:g/foo/d	Delete lines containing foo
:g!/foo/d	Delete lines not containing foo
:g/^\s*$/d	Delete all blank lines
:g/foo/t$	Copy lines containing foo to EOF
:g/foo/m$	Move lines containing foo to EOF
:g/^/m0	Reverse a file
:g/^/t.	Duplicate every line

Inverse :g

`
:[range]v/{pattern}/[command]

`

---

:v/foo/d	Delete lines not containing foo(also :g!/foo/d)

Flags

-	-
g	Replace all occurrences
i	Ignore case
I	Don't ignore case
c	Confirm each substitution

Substitute expression (magic)

-	-
&	\0
\1...\9	Replace with the group 0-9
\u	Uppercase next letter
\U	Uppercase following characters
\l	Lowercase next letter
\L	Lowercase following characters
\e	End of \u, \U, \l and \L
\E	End of \u, \U, \l and \L

Examples

`
:s/a|b/xxx\0xxx/g # Modifies "a b" to "xxxaxxx xxxbxxx"
:s/test/\U& file/ # Modifies "test" to "TEST FILE"
:s/(test)/\U\1\e file/ # Modifies "test" to "TEST file"
:s/\v([abc])([efg])/\2\1/g # Modifies "af fa bg" to "fa fa gb"
:s/\v\w+/\u\0/g # Modifies "bla bla" to "Bla Bla"
:s/\v([ab])|([cd])/\1x/g # Modifies "a b c d" to "ax bx x x"
:%s/./\L&/ # Modifies "HTML" to "html"
:s/\v<(.)(\w)/\u\1\L\2/g # Make every first letter of a word uppercase
:%s/^(.)\n\1/\1/ # Remove duplicate lines
:%s/<\/=(\w+)>/\U&/g # Convert HTML-Tags to uppercase
:g/^pattern/s/$/mytext # Find and append text to the end
:g/pattern/norm! @i # Run a macro on matching lines
/^(.)(\r\?\n\1)+$ # View the duplicates lines
/\v^(.*)(\r?\n\1)+$ # View the duplicates lines (very magic)
:v/./,/./-j # Compress blank lines into a blank line
:g//,//d # Delete inclusively from to

`

Vimdiff

Usage

`

$ vimdiff file1 file2 [file3]
$ vim -d file1 file2 [file3]

`

Editing

`
:[range]diffget [bufspec]
:[range]diffput [bufspec]

`

---

Shortcut	Description
do / :diffget	Obtain (get) difference
dp / :diffput	Put difference
:dif	Re-scan differences
:diffo	Switch off diff mode
:1,$+1diffget	Get all differences
ZQ	Quit without changes

See: Ranges

Folds

Shortcut	Description
zo / zO	Open
zc / zC	Close
za / zA	Toggle
zv	Open folds for this line
zM	Close all
zR	Open all
zm	Fold more (foldlevel += 1)
zr	Fold less (foldlevel -= 1)
zx	Update folds

Jumping

Shortcut	Description
]c	Next difference
[c	Previous difference

Miscellaneous

Case

Shortcut	Description
vU	Uppercase character
vu	Lowercase character
~	Toggle case character
viw U	Uppercase word
viw u	Lowercase word
viw ~	Toggle case word
VU / gUU	Uppercase line
Vu / guu	Lowercase line
V~ / g~~	Toggle case line
gggUG	Uppercase all text
ggguG	Lowercase all text
ggg~G	Toggle case all text

Jumping

Shortcut	Description
	Go back to previous
	Go forward
gf	Go to file in cursor
ga	Display hex, ascii value

Misc command-lines

-	-
:h	Help open help view
:edit!	Reload current file
:2,8m0	Move lines 2-8 to 0
:noh	Clear search highlights
:sort	Sort lines
:ter	Open a terminal window
:set paste	Enable Insert Paste sub-mode
:set nopaste	disable Insert Paste sub-mode
:cq	Exiting with an error(aborting Git)

Navigating

Shortcut	Description
%	Nearest/matching {[()]}
[(	[{
])	]{
[m	Previous method start
[M	Previous method end

Counters

Shortcut	Description
	Increase number
	Decrease number

Tags

Shortcut	Description
:tag Classname	Jump to first definition of Classname
	Jump to definition
g]	See all definitions
	Go back to last tag
	Back/forward
:tselect Classname	Find definitions of Classname
:tjump Classname	Find definitions of Classname (auto-select 1st)

Formatting

-	-
:ce 8	Center lines between 8 columns
:ri 4	Right-align lines at 4 columns
:le	Left-align lines

See :help formatting

Marks

Shortcut	Description
`^	Last position of cursor in insert mode
`.	Last change in current buffer
`"	Last exited current buffer
`0	In last file edited
''	Back to line in current buffer where jumped from
	Back to position in current buffer where jumped from
`[	To beginning of previously changed or yanked text
`]	To end of previously changed or yanked text
`<	To beginning of last visual selection
`>	To end of last visual selection
ma	Mark this cursor position as a
`a	Jump to the cursor position a
'a	Jump to the beginning of the line with position a
d'a	Delete from current line to line of mark a
d`a	Delete from current position to position of mark a
c'a	Change text from current line to line of a
y`a	Yank text from current position to position of a
:marks	List all current marks
:delm a	Delete mark a
:delm a-d	Delete marks a, b, c, d
:delm abc	Delete marks a, b, c

Calculator

Shortcut	Description
= 7*7	Shows the result
= 10/2	Shows the result

Do this in INSERT mode

Shell

-	-
:!	Interpret Shell Command
:r!	Read in output of shell
:r!date	Insert date
:!!date	Replace current line with date

Command line

Shortcut	Description
	Insert current word into the command line
"	Paste from " register
	Auto-completion of path in insert mode

Tricks

Remove duplicate lines

:sort | %!uniq -u

To number the lines in the file

:%!cat -n

Copy whole doc to clipboard

:%w !pbcopy            # Mac OS X
:%w !xclip -i -sel c   # GNU/Linux
:%w !xsel -i -b        # GNU/Linux

Also see

• Devhints (devhints.io)
• Vim cheatsheet (vim.rotrr.com)
• Vim documentation (vimdoc.sourceforge.net)
• Interactive Vim tutorial (openvim.com)