Master Vim Without a Mouse: Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Faster Editing

Basic Operations

Movement

Use h, l, j, k to move left, right, down, up; w and b jump to the next or previous word.

Quick Exit

In normal mode press Shift+zz to save and quit Vim.

Enter Insert Mode

i

inserts at the cursor, I at the line start, A at the line end, a after the cursor, and o / O open a new line below or above.

Document Editing

Commands follow the pattern operation + line number + motion . For example, d deletes; d2d deletes two lines; 2dd does the same with the line number first; 5G moves to line 5.

Deletion

x

works like Backspace, X deletes backward. dw deletes a word, d$ deletes to the end of the line, d^ to the start, dG to the file end, and d1G to the beginning.

Repeat Commands

After a command like dd (delete a line), pressing . repeats the last action.

Cursor Navigation

nG

moves to line n, gg to the first line, G to the last line. f<char> searches forward for a character, F<char> searches backward.

Copy and Paste

y

yanks (copies); yy copies the whole line, 3yy copies three lines. y$ copies to the end of the line, yw copies a word, yG copies to the file end. Paste with p (after cursor) or P (before cursor).

Cut

The delete command also cuts; ddp swaps the current line with the line below.

Summary

With these shortcuts you can edit Vim completely without a mouse: move with h,l,j,k,w,b; jump with G, nG, f/F; locate with G, $, ^, w, b, e; manipulate text with y, d, p.