Notes on Vim
I use vim as my occasional text editor, especially when I am working on small projects or just editing a text document. Here’s some notes for myself, mostly created by searching the web and pointing to or copying other people’s answers.
- Modes
- Files
- Opening commands
- Cursor movement
- Line search
- Replacing a word in a block
- Changing a word at n positions
- Recording and playing macros
- Swap two characters
- Switch case
- Replace character
- Move block of text
- Delete
- Search
- Folds
- Powerless verbs
- Miscellaneous movements/Scrolling
- External Resources
Modes
- Insert Normal mode: In insert mode, press
Ctrl-oto quickly execute a command and come back to insert mode
Files
- Save current buffer as
file.txt::sav file.text. If you use:wto write the current buffer contents into a new file, post-write, you will still be editing the current buffer
Opening commands
+NUM: File will be opened and cursor positioned on line, NUM+/{pattern}: File will be opened and cursor positioned on first occurence ofpattern+"NUMd|x": Delete a specific line from the file
Cursor movement
- Move to the line below:
j - Move the line above:
k - Move to the character on the right:
l - Move to the character on the left:
h - Move forward to the start of the next word:
w - Move forward to the end of the next word:
e - Move backward to the start of the previous word:
b - Move backward to the end of the previous word:
ge - Jump to the beginning of a line:
0 - Jump the end of a line:
$
Line search
f<c> to go the next occurence of c, ; to repeat this search, , to repeat the search in backward direction
F<c> to go the previous occurence of c, ; to repeat this search, , to repeat the search in forward direction
Replacing a word in a block
- Go the beginning of a word in the block
- Press
Ctrl+v, select the word - Select all the words using down arrow
c, type in the new word,esc
Changing a word at n positions
- Search for the word
cgn- change it- Press the
.key to change the next,nto skip it
Recording and playing macros
- Start macro recording:
q<key>where key is the register you want to store the macro in <perform actions>. One point to note here is to make your steps so that you start from the beginning of a line.- Press
qto save - To apply the macro on a line:
@<key> - To apply the macro to a selection:
- Visually select the area
:'<,'> normal @<key>
Swap two characters
- Place cursor on the first character
xp- Learn more: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1529414/vim-how-do-i-swap-two-characters
Switch case
- Select the character, word
- Press
~.
Replace character
- Select
Shift+R
Move block of text
- Left:
<< - Right:
>>
Delete
- Delete till a character on the current line:
dt<character> - Delete current word:
diw - Delete text between quotes:
di" - Delete all the contents:
ggto go to the beginning +dG - Delete from current position to the end of line:
d$ - Delete entire file contents:
:%d - Delete current work and enter insert mode:
cw
Search
*searches forward for the word under cursor,#searches backward for the word under cursor.ggn- go to the top of the file and find next occurence- Search history:
/and typeCtrl+r,ctrl+wto search in reverse and forward
Folds
set foldmethod=indent
Movements
zo Open current fold under the cursor.
zc Close current fold under the cursor.
za Toggle current fold under the cursor.
zd Delete fold under the cursor. (only the fold, text is unchanged.)
zj Move the cursor to the next fold.
zk Move the cursor to the previous fold.
zR Open all folds in a current buffer. (Reduce all folds)
zM Close all open folds in a current buffer. (Close more and More folds)
zE Delete all folds the current buffer
:fold In Visual mode: fold selected lines
Powerless verbs
- x - delete character under the cursor to the right
- X - delete character under the cursor to the left
- r - replace character under the cursor with another character
- s- delete character under the cursor and enter the Insert mode
Miscellaneous movements/Scrolling
ztto put the current line to the top of the screenzzto center the current line to the centerGto go the last line of the documentggto go the first line of the documentHto move to the top of the screenMto move to the middle of the screenLto move to the bottom of the screen- Scroll down half page:
Ctrl-d - Scroll up half page:
Ctrl-u - Scroll down full page:
Ctrl-f - Scroll up full page:
Ctrl-b - Go to line at 50% of file:
50% - In Insert mode,
shift+right/left arrowto jump forward/backward by words
More scrolling tips and techniques:
