Vim Cheatsheet

Published: February 25, 2026 · Last edited: February 25, 2026

A practical reference for Vim commands you need mid-task — modes, navigation, editing, search, and splits.

The 30-Second Version

i           Enter insert mode
Esc         Return to normal mode
:w          Save
:q          Quit
:wq         Save and quit
:q!         Quit without saving

/word       Search for word
n / N       Next / previous match

u           Undo
Ctrl+r      Redo

yy          Copy line
dd          Cut line
p           Paste after cursor

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Modes

Mode	How to enter	What it does
Normal	Esc	Navigate and run commands — this is home
Insert	i, a, o, I, A, O	Type text
Visual	v, V, Ctrl+v	Select text
Command	:	Run Ex commands (save, quit, substitute…)
Replace	R	Overwrite characters as you type

Start and end every editing session in Normal mode. If something feels broken, hit Esc a couple of times.

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Navigation

Character & Line

h j k l     Left, down, up, right
0           Start of line
^           First non-blank character of line
$           End of line
gg          First line of file
G           Last line of file
:42         Jump to line 42

Word

w           Next word start
b           Previous word start
e           Next word end
W B E       Same, but ignores punctuation (WORD)

Sentence & Paragraph

(  )        Previous / next sentence
{  }        Previous / next paragraph (blank line)

Screen

Ctrl+d      Half-page down (cursor moves)
Ctrl+u      Half-page up
Ctrl+f      Full page forward
Ctrl+b      Full page back
zz          Centre current line in window
zt          Current line to top
zb          Current line to bottom

File

%           Jump to matching bracket/paren
gd          Go to definition (local)
gf          Open file under cursor
Ctrl+o      Jump back (previous location)
Ctrl+i      Jump forward
``          Jump to where you were last

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Editing

Enter Insert Mode

i           Before cursor
a           After cursor
I           Start of line
A           End of line
o           New line below
O           New line above

Delete

x           Delete character under cursor
dd          Delete (cut) whole line
dw          Delete to next word
d$  (D)     Delete to end of line
dgg         Delete from here to top
dG          Delete from here to bottom

Change (Delete + Enter Insert)

cw          Change word
cc  (S)     Change whole line
c$  (C)     Change to end of line
ci"         Change inside double quotes
ci(         Change inside parentheses
ci{         Change inside braces
ca"         Change around (including) double quotes

Yank (Copy) & Paste

yy  (Y)     Copy whole line
yw          Copy word
y$          Copy to end of line
yi"         Copy inside quotes

p           Paste after cursor / below line
P           Paste before cursor / above line

Undo & Redo

u           Undo
Ctrl+r      Redo
U           Undo all changes on current line
:earlier 5m Revert file to 5 minutes ago
:later 5m   Go 5 minutes forward in history

Indent

>>          Indent line right
<<          Indent line left
>%          Indent to matching bracket
=G          Auto-indent from cursor to end of file
gg=G        Auto-indent entire file

Repeat

.           Repeat last change
;           Repeat last f/t search
,           Repeat last f/t search (backwards)
@:          Repeat last command-line command

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Search & Replace

Search

/pattern    Search forward
?pattern    Search backward
n           Next match
N           Previous match
*           Search for word under cursor (forward)
#           Search for word under cursor (backward)
:noh        Clear search highlight

Substitute

:s/old/new          Replace first match 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, confirm each
:'<,'>s/old/new/g   Replace in visual selection

Useful Substitute Flags

Flag	Meaning
g	All matches on each line
c	Confirm each replacement
i	Case-insensitive
I	Case-sensitive (override ignorecase)

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Visual Mode

v           Character selection
V           Line selection
Ctrl+v      Block (column) selection

o           Move to other end of selection

Actions on Selection

d           Delete
y           Copy
c           Change (delete + insert)
>  <        Indent / dedent
~           Toggle case
:           Run command on selection (e.g., :sort, :!column -t)

Column Editing

Ctrl+v      Enter block select
j j j       Expand selection down
I           Insert at start of each line
A           Append at end of each line
Esc Esc     Apply the edit to all selected lines

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Buffers, Windows & Tabs

Buffers

:e file     Open file in current buffer
:ls         List open buffers
:b2         Switch to buffer 2
:bn         Next buffer
:bp         Previous buffer
:bd         Close (delete) current buffer

Splits

:sp file    Horizontal split
:vsp file   Vertical split
Ctrl+w s    Horizontal split (current file)
Ctrl+w v    Vertical split (current file)
Ctrl+w w    Cycle through windows
Ctrl+w hjkl Move to window left/down/up/right
Ctrl+w =    Equalise window sizes
Ctrl+w _    Maximise height
Ctrl+w |    Maximise width
:only       Close all other windows

Tabs

:tabnew file    Open file in new tab
gt              Next tab
gT              Previous tab
:tabclose       Close current tab

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File & Session

:w              Save
:w filename     Save as
:wq  ZZ         Save and quit
:q!  ZQ         Quit without saving
:wa             Save all buffers
:qa             Quit all

:e!             Reload file from disk (discard changes)
:pwd            Show current directory
:cd path        Change directory

:mksession      Save session to Session.vim
vim -S          Restore a saved session

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Marks & Jumps

ma          Set mark 'a' at cursor
`a          Jump to mark 'a' (exact position)
'a          Jump to mark 'a' (start of line)
``          Jump to last position before jump
'.          Jump to last edit
Ctrl+o      Previous jump
Ctrl+i      Next jump
:marks      List all marks

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Macros

qa          Start recording macro into register 'a'
q           Stop recording
@a          Play macro 'a'
@@          Repeat last macro
10@a        Play macro 'a' 10 times

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Common Patterns

Rename a word throughout a file

:%s/\bOldName\b/NewName/gc

Delete all blank lines

:g/^$/d

Sort selected lines

:'<,'>sort

Align columns (requires column)

:'<,'>!column -t

Open a terminal

:terminal       " Vim 8+ only

Run a shell command and insert output

:r !date

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Quick Reference

Task	Command
Save	:w
Quit	:q / :q!
Save and quit	:wq / ZZ
Undo	u
Redo	Ctrl+r
Copy line	yy
Cut line	dd
Paste	p
Search	/pattern
Next search match	n
Replace all in file	:%s/old/new/g
Start of file	gg
End of file	G
Go to line	:42
Open file	:e file
Split vertical	Ctrl+w v
Split horizontal	Ctrl+w s
Move between splits	Ctrl+w hjkl
List buffers	:ls
Next buffer	:bn
Indent line	>>
Auto-indent file	gg=G
Toggle comment (vim-commentary)	gcc
Record macro	qa … q
Play macro	@a

Related

• Vim Setup — Full Vim configuration guide with plugins and customization