A very informative Vim cheat sheet.
Comprehensive Vim / Neovim Cheatsheet
1. Modes
| Mode | Description | How to Enter |
|---|
| Normal | Command mode (default) | Esc or start Vim |
| Insert | Insert text | i, a, I, A, o, O |
| Visual | Select text | v (char), V (line), Ctrl+v (block) |
| Command-line | Enter commands (:) | : |
| Replace | Replace mode | R |
| Select | Select mode (like Visual) | gh |
2. Basic Movement
| Command | Description |
|---|
h | Left |
j | Down |
k | Up |
l | Right |
0 | Beginning of line |
^ | First non-blank character |
$ | End of line |
w | Next word start |
e | End of word |
b | Previous word start |
gg | Go to first line |
G | Go to last line |
Ctrl + d | Scroll down half page |
Ctrl + u | Scroll up half page |
Ctrl + f | Scroll down full page |
Ctrl + b | Scroll up full page |
% | Jump to matching bracket |
3. Advanced Movement
| Command | Description |
|---|
H | Top of screen |
M | Middle of screen |
L | Bottom of screen |
:n | Go to line number n |
fx | Find next occurrence of x |
Fx | Find previous occurrence of x |
tx | Move before next x |
Tx | Move before previous x |
Ctrl + o | Jump to older position (jump back) |
Ctrl + i | Jump to newer position (jump forward) |
4. Editing Text
| Command | Description |
|---|
i | Insert before cursor |
I | Insert at beginning of line |
a | Append after cursor |
A | Append at end of line |
o | Open new line below and insert |
O | Open new line above and insert |
r<char> | Replace one character |
R | Enter Replace mode |
cw | Change word |
c$ | Change to end of line |
cc | Change (replace) entire line |
s | Substitute character and enter insert mode |
S | Substitute entire line and enter insert mode |
5. Deleting Text
| Command | Description |
|---|
x | Delete character under cursor |
X | Delete character before cursor |
dw | Delete word |
d$ | Delete to end of line |
dd | Delete entire line |
d^ | Delete to beginning of line |
D | Delete to end of line |
dG | Delete from current line to end of file |
dgg | Delete from current line to beginning of file |
6. Copying & Pasting
| Command | Description |
|---|
yy or Y | Yank (copy) current line |
yw | Yank word |
y$ | Yank to end of line |
p | Paste after cursor |
P | Paste before cursor |
"+y | Yank to system clipboard |
"+p | Paste from system clipboard |
7. Visual Mode Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|
v | Enter visual (char) mode |
V | Enter visual line mode |
Ctrl + v | Enter visual block mode |
y | Yank selected text |
d | Delete selected text |
c | Change selected text |
> | Indent selection |
< | Unindent selection |
~ | Toggle case of selection |
8. Undo / Redo
| Command | Description |
|---|
u | Undo last change |
U | Undo all changes on current line |
Ctrl + r | Redo undone change |
9. Searching & Replacing
| Command | Description |
|---|
/pattern | Search forward for pattern |
?pattern | Search backward for pattern |
n | Repeat search forward |
N | Repeat search backward |
* | Search for word under cursor (forward) |
# | Search for word under cursor (backward) |
:%s/old/new/g | Replace all occurrences of ‘old’ with ’new’ in file |
:%s/old/new/gc | Same with confirmation |
:noh | Remove highlighting of search |
10. Registers
| Command | Description |
|---|
"ayy | Yank line into register a |
"ap | Paste from register a |
"" | Default register |
"_ | Black hole register (discard) |
11. Macros
| Command | Description |
|---|
qa | Start recording macro in register a |
q | Stop recording |
@a | Play macro in register a |
@@ | Repeat last macro |
12. Buffers & Files
| Command | Description |
|---|
:e filename | Edit/open a file |
:w | Save current file |
:wa | Save all open files |
:q | Quit current window |
:q! | Quit without saving |
:wq or :x | Save and quit |
:bnext or :bn | Go to next buffer |
:bprev or :bp | Go to previous buffer |
:bd | Delete (close) buffer |
13. Windows (Splits)
| Command | Description |
|---|
:split or :sp | Horizontal split |
:vsplit or :vsp | Vertical split |
Ctrl + w s | Horizontal split |
Ctrl + w v | Vertical split |
Ctrl + w w | Switch to next window |
Ctrl + w h/j/k/l | Move cursor between splits |
Ctrl + w q | Close current split |
Ctrl + w = | Make splits equal size |
14. Tabs
| Command | Description |
|---|
:tabnew | Open new tab |
:tabclose | Close current tab |
:tabnext or :tabn | Go to next tab |
:tabprev or :tabp | Go to previous tab |
gt | Go to next tab |
gT | Go to previous tab |
15. Marks & Jumps
| Command | Description |
|---|
ma | Set mark a at cursor |
`a | Jump to mark a (exact pos) |
'a | Jump to mark a (start of line) |
` | Jump back to last jump position |
Ctrl + o | Jump to older cursor position |
Ctrl + i | Jump to newer cursor position |
16. Ex Commands (colon commands)
| Command | Description |
|---|
:w | Save file |
:q | Quit |
:wq | Save and quit |
:q! | Quit without saving |
:e filename | Open file |
:ls or :buffers | List buffers |
:set option | Set an option |
:set nooption | Disable an option |
:syntax on | Enable syntax highlighting |
:syntax off | Disable syntax highlighting |
:help keyword | Open help for keyword |
17. Settings (common :set options)
| Option | Description |
|---|
:set number | Show line numbers |
:set relativenumber | Show relative line numbers |
:set nowrap | Disable line wrapping |
:set wrap | Enable line wrapping |
:set ignorecase | Case-insensitive search |
:set smartcase | Case-sensitive if uppercase used |
:set cursorline | Highlight current line |
:set list | Show invisible chars (tabs, eol) |
:set tabstop=4 | Set tab width |
:set shiftwidth=4 | Indentation width |
:set expandtab | Convert tabs to spaces |
:set autoindent | Auto-indent new lines |
:set clipboard=unnamedplus | Use system clipboard |
18. Miscellaneous
| Command | Description |
|---|
. | Repeat last command |
Ctrl + g | Show file info |
:!command | Run external shell command |
:r filename | Read file content into current buffer |
:diffsplit file | Open file in diff mode |
This cheatsheet covers a comprehensive range of Vim/Neovim commands and workflows to help you master the editor.