Master Vim: Essential Keybindings for Efficient Editing

Classic Vim Keybinding Layouts

The article begins with a visual overview of the most widely used Vim keybinding charts, offering both English and Chinese versions. These classic layouts combine a series of introductory tutorial maps that cover different editing modes.

Different Versions for Various Skill Levels

Four progressive versions are provided:

Beginner version – a basic set of commands for new users.

Advanced version – adds more sophisticated shortcuts.

Enhanced (modern) version – a newer, richer set of mappings.

Text‑only version – a plain‑text list for those who prefer reading commands.

Each version is illustrated with an image of the corresponding keymap.

Moving the Cursor

By character, word, and token

h – move left
j – move down
k – move up
l – move right

Numeric prefixes repeat the motion (e.g., 5j moves down five lines).

b – jump to the beginning of a word
B – jump to the beginning of a token
w – jump to the start of the next word
W – jump to the start of the next token
e – jump to the end of a word
E – jump to the end of a token

Using B ignores spaces, so it jumps to the start of the whole token.

Line‑wise Movement

0 – go to the beginning of the line
$ – go to the end of the line
^ – jump to the first non‑blank character
# – go to a specific line number (replace # with the number)

Screen‑wise Navigation

Ctrl+b – scroll back one full screen
Ctrl+f – scroll forward one full screen
Ctrl+d – scroll down half a screen
Ctrl+u – scroll up half a screen
Ctrl+e – move down one line without moving the cursor
Ctrl+y – move up one line without moving the cursor
Ctrl+o – jump backward in the jump list
Ctrl+i – jump forward in the jump list
H – move cursor to the top of the screen
M – move cursor to the middle of the screen
L – move cursor to the bottom of the screen

Inserting Text

i – enter insert mode before the cursor
I – insert at the beginning of the line
a – enter insert mode after the cursor
a – insert after the cursor
A – append at the end of the line
o – open a new line below the current one
O – open a new line above the current one
ea – insert after the end of a word
Esc – return to normal (command) mode
:- – switch to command‑line mode

Vim starts in normal mode, allowing navigation and editing. Press Esc to return to normal mode from insert mode.

Editing Text

r – replace a single character
cc – replace an entire line (deletes it and enters insert mode)
C / c$ – replace from the cursor to the end of the line
cw – change to the end of the current word
s – delete the character under the cursor and enter insert mode
J – join the next line to the current line with a space
gJ – join the next line without inserting a space
u – undo the last change
Ctrl+r – redo the undone change
. – repeat the last command

Cut, Copy, and Paste

yy – yank (copy) the current line
#yy – yank a specific number of lines
dd – delete (cut) the current line
#dd – delete a specific number of lines
p – paste after the cursor
P – paste before the cursor

Searching Within a File

* – jump to the next occurrence of the word under the cursor
# – jump to the previous occurrence of the word under the cursor
/pattern – search forward for a pattern
?pattern – search backward for a pattern
n – repeat the search in the same direction
N – repeat the search in the opposite direction

Saving and Exiting

:w – write (save) the file without closing
:wq – write and quit
:q – quit without saving
:q! – force quit without saving changes
Shift+zz – save and quit
:w new_file_name – save as a new file and continue editing the original
:sav – save as a new file and continue editing the copy
:w! sudo tee% – write the file with sudo privileges using tee

Visual (Selection) Mode

Beyond normal and insert modes, Vim offers visual mode for selecting text. There are three visual sub‑modes: v – character‑wise selection V – line‑wise selection Ctrl+v – block‑wise (column) selection

After entering a visual mode, use navigation keys to expand the selection.

o – move to the opposite end of the selection
aw – select a word
ab – select a block surrounded by ()
aB – select a block surrounded by {}
at – select a block surrounded by <>

Visual Mode Commands

Once text is selected, the following commands act on the selection:

y – yank (copy) the selected text
d – delete (cut) the selected text
p – paste after the cursor
u – change the selected text to lowercase
U – change the selected text to uppercase