Master Vim: Essential Modes, Commands, and Tips for Linux Editing

This chapter shares the Vim editor in Linux, diving straight into the topic.

1. Vim Help

Vim includes a complete help system accessible by entering

:help

after launching Vim.

2. Vim Modes

Unlike most editors, characters typed in Vim are not inserted by default; the concept of modes is crucial. Vim has the following modes:

Normal mode – the default editing mode; press Esc from any other mode to return.

Command mode – for longer commands; enter : , / or ? from Normal mode, and finish with Enter .

Insert mode – for entering text; press i or a (among others) from Normal mode.

Visual mode – for selecting text blocks; v (character), V (line), or Ctrl‑V (block).

Select mode – similar to Windows editors; rarely used on Linux and omitted here.

1. Normal Mode

2. Command Mode

3. Insert Mode

i – insert at cursor.

I – insert at line start.

o – open a new line below cursor.

O – open a new line above cursor.

a – insert after cursor.

A – insert at line end.

3. Vim Examples

1. First Run Vim

<code>[root@localhost myfolder]# ll
总用量 4
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 152 7月 27 23:28 file1
[root@localhost myfolder]# vim file1</code>

Opening

file1

shows a screen where the black block indicates the cursor, tildes (~) mark lines beyond the file, and the status line reports file name, line count, character count, and cursor position.

If the file is new, Vim displays a message indicating that the file is new.

<code>[root@localhost myfolder]# vim file</code>

2. Insert Text

Vim is a modal editor. In Normal mode every keystroke is a command; in Insert mode characters are inserted as text. Start Insert mode with

i

, then type freely. Press

Esc

to return to Normal mode.

Show the current mode with:

<code>:set showmode</code>

<code>:set noshowmode  // hide mode display</code>

3. Move Cursor

h – left

j – down

k – up

l – right

Arrow keys also work but reduce efficiency.

4. Delete Characters

x – delete character under cursor.

dd – delete the current line.

u – undo last change.

Ctrl‑R – redo.

U – undo all changes on the current line.

5. Other Editing Commands

Open a new line below with

o

(switches to Insert mode) or above with

O

(also switches to Insert mode).

6. Exit Vim

ZZ – save and quit.

:q! – quit without saving.

:e! – reload file, discarding changes.

:wq or :wq! – write and quit.

7. Specific Cursor Moves

G – go to line number before it (e.g., 33G ).

G – go to the last line.

gg – go to the first line (same as 1G ).

8. Simple Search

/string

searches forward;

n

jumps to next match,

3n

to the third match,

N

searches backward.

?

searches backward.

Ignore case:

<code>:set ignorecase   // enable ignore case
:set noignorecase // disable</code>

Highlight search results:

<code>:set hlsearch   // enable highlight
:set nohlsearch // disable
:nohlsearch    // clear current highlight</code>

9. Copy and Paste

Delete with dd then paste with p .

y copies to a register; p pastes.

yw – yank a word; y2w – yank two words.

yy – yank a line; 3yy – yank three lines.

10. Replace Characters

:s/UNIX/linux – replace first occurrence of UNIX on the current line.

:s/UNIX/linux/g – replace all occurrences on the current line.

:%s/UNIX/linux/g – replace all occurrences in the entire file.

4. Vim Protection Mechanism

If Vim is forced to quit, a swap file (e.g.,

.file.swp

) remains. On the next start you may see a warning like:

<code>E325: 注意
发现交换文件 ".file.swp"
所有者: root   日期: Sun Jul 28 19:43:04 2024
文件名: ~root/myfolder/file
修改过: 是
用户名: root   主机名: localhost.localdomain
进程 ID: 3884
正在打开文件 "file"
日期: Sun Jul 28 17:25:26 2024
(1) Another program may be editing the same file.
(2) An edit session for this file crashed.
使用 ":recover" 或 "vim -r file" 恢复。
删除交换文件 ".file.swp" 以避免再次出现此消息。</code>

The swap file prevents data loss from abrupt termination and avoids simultaneous edits. You can choose to (E)dit, (R)ecover, (D)elete the swap file, or (Q)uit.

Note: Vim requires appropriate read/write permissions; lacking them will cause errors.