Essential Vim Commands: A Comprehensive Guide for Efficient Editing

Command History

Commands that start with : (Ex commands) or / (search) are stored in Vim's history. Press the up/down arrow keys after typing : or / to recall previous entries.

Launching Vim

Start Vim with vim. Open an existing file or create a new one with vim filename. Multiple files can be opened simultaneously, e.g. vim file1 file2 file3.

File and Buffer Commands

Open a new file in the current window: :edit file (alias :e file)

Open a file in a new split window: :split file or :vsplit file Switch to the next buffer: :bnext ( :bn)

Switch to the previous buffer: :bprevious ( :bp)

List all loaded buffers: :args (the current buffer is shown in brackets)

Edit a remote file, e.g. :e ftp://host/path/file.txt or a Windows share

:e \\server\share\file.txt

Vim Modes

Normal mode (press Esc or Ctrl+[) – the default editing mode. Insert mode (press i) – shows --INSERT-- in the status line. Visual mode (press v for characterwise, V for linewise) – shows --VISUAL--.

Navigation Commands

Bracket matching: % Basic cursor moves: h (left), j (down), k (up), l (right). A numeric prefix repeats the motion, e.g. 20j.

Word motions: w (forward to start of next word), b (backward to start of previous word), e (forward to end of word), ge (backward to end of previous word).

Line motions: 0 (first character), ^ (first non‑blank), $ (end of line), gg (file start), G (file end).

Find a character on the current line: f{char} (forward), F{char} (backward). Example: fx jumps to the next x.

Jump to a specific line: :123 or 123G.

Scrolling shortcuts: Ctrl+e / Ctrl+y (one line), Ctrl+d / Ctrl+u (half‑screen), Ctrl+f / Ctrl+b (full screen).

Insert Commands

i

– insert before the cursor. I – insert at the beginning of the line. a – append after the cursor. A – append at the end of the line. o – open a new line below the current line and enter Insert mode. O – open a new line above the current line and enter Insert mode.

Search Commands

Forward search: /pattern. Backward search: ?pattern.

Repeat search: n (next), N (previous).

Case‑insensitive search: :set ignorecase. To make it case‑sensitive again: :set noignorecase.

Highlight all matches: :set hlsearch. Turn off highlighting: :set nohlsearch or :nohlsearch.

Incremental search (show matches while typing): :set incsearch.

Wrap around the file when the end/start is reached: :set wrapscan (default).

Search the word under the cursor: * (forward) or # (backward).

Replace (Substitution) Commands

Replace a single character: ra replaces the character under the cursor with a.

Substitute on the current line: s/old/new/ (first occurrence) or s/old/new/g (all occurrences).

Substitute in the whole file: %s/old/new/ (first per line) or %s/old/new/g (all).

Range‑limited substitution: :10,20s/^/ /g adds four spaces at the start of lines 10‑20.

Swap two adjacent lines: ddp.

Undo and Redo

Undo the last change with u. Undo all changes on the current line with U. Redo (undo the undo) with Ctrl+r.

Delete Commands

x

– delete the character under the cursor. 3x – delete three characters. X – delete the character before the cursor. dd – delete the current line. dj – delete the line below; dk – delete the line above. 10d – delete ten lines starting at the cursor. D or d$ – delete from the cursor to the end of the line.

Line‑range delete: :1,10d (lines 1‑10) or :1,$d (entire file).

Join two lines (remove the newline): J.

Copy (Yank) and Paste Commands

yy

– yank (copy) the current line. nyy – yank n consecutive lines. p – paste after the cursor (or on the line below if a whole line was yanked). P – paste before the cursor.

Copy a range of lines: :1,10co20 copies lines 1‑10 after line 20.

Duplicate the whole file at the end: :1,$co$.

Visual mode copy: press v (characterwise) or V (linewise), move to select text, then press y.

Swap current line with the next line: ddp. Swap adjacent characters: xp.

Cut Commands

In Visual mode, select text and press d to cut (the text is stored in the unnamed register). Range delete can also be performed with ndd (delete n lines) or :1,10d. Move lines with :1,10m20 (move lines 1‑10 after line 20).

Exit and Write Commands

Save and quit: :wq or ZZ.

Quit without saving: :q!.

Reload the file discarding unsaved changes: :e!.

Window Management

Horizontal split: :split or :new. Vertical split: :vsplit.

Switch windows: Ctrl+ww (next), Ctrl+wj (down), Ctrl+wk (up).

Close the current window: :close (cannot close the last window).

Close Vim entirely when only one window remains: :q.

Keep only the current window: :only.

Recording and Replaying Macros

Press q followed by a letter (e.g., qa) to start recording. Press q again to stop. Replay with @a. Macros cannot be nested.

Executing Shell Commands from Vim

Run an external command: :!command. Example: :!ls lists files in the current directory.

Check Perl syntax without leaving Vim: :!perl -c script.pl.

Execute a Perl script: :!perl script.pl.

Suspend Vim and return to the shell: :suspend or Ctrl+Z. Resume with fg.

Commenting in Source Files

For languages that use # for comments (e.g., Perl), you can comment lines with a substitution command. Examples:

Comment lines 3‑5: :3,5s/^/#/g.

Uncomment lines 3‑5: :3,5s/^#//g.

Comment the whole file: :%s/^/#/g or :1,$s/^/#/g.

Help System

Open the full help: :help or press F1.

Topic‑specific help: :help i, :help CTRL-[, :help 'number', :help <Esc>, etc.

Hyperlinks in help files appear between ||; follow with Ctrl+] and return with Ctrl+o (or Ctrl+t).

Other Useful Commands

Repeat the last command: ..

Check the value of an option: :set ruler? (useful for confirming settings in .vimrc).

List all sourced script files: :scriptnames.

Show invisible characters (tabs, spaces, end‑of‑line): :set list. Customize the display with set lcs=tab:> if needed.

Vim Tutor

Run the built‑in tutorial on Unix-like systems with vimtutor. On Windows, start it via :help tutor. Additional commands for syntax highlighting include :syntax, :syntax clear, :syntax case match, and :syntax case ignore.