What are the basic Vim commands?

Ten carry most of a session: i to start typing, Esc to stop, :w to save, :q to quit, dd to delete a line, yy to copy one, p to paste, u to undo, / to search, and gg and G for the top and bottom of the file. The habit that matters more than the list is leaving insert mode the moment you stop typing, because every other key only works from normal mode. Vim also ships its own tutorial: run vimtutor from the shell for a 30-minute walkthrough on a scratch copy you cannot damage.

How do I save and exit Vim?

Press Esc first, then type :wq and Enter to save and quit, or ZZ without the colon. :q! quits and throws the changes away. :x and ZZ do the same job as :wq with one difference: they skip the write when nothing changed, so the file keeps its old timestamp and make or a file watcher stays quiet. If typing :wq just prints the letters, you were still in insert mode; press Esc and try again. If the status line says recording, you pressed q earlier; press q once to stop, then quit. If Vim refuses with E45 (readonly), you opened a root-owned file without sudo: force it with :w !sudo tee % and then :q!, or quit and reopen with sudo.

How do I copy and paste in Vim?

Inside Vim, yy copies a line and p pastes it. For the system clipboard, yank with "+y ("+yy for a line) and paste with "+p. That needs a Vim built with clipboard support: vim --version shows +clipboard or -clipboard, and most server builds and the macOS system vim have the minus. Over SSH there is a second catch, since the + register lives on the server, not your machine. The practical fixes are selecting with the mouse in your terminal (hold Shift if Vim has mouse mode on), piping to a local tool such as :w !pbcopy on macOS, or OSC 52 support in Vim 9.1 and Neovim, which sends yanks through the terminal to your own clipboard.

How do I search and replace in Vim?

:%s/old/new/g replaces every occurrence in the file; add c to confirm each one (:%s/old/new/gc) and i to ignore case. Without the %, the replace only touches the current line, which is the usual reason it looks like nothing happened. The delimiter does not have to be a slash: :%s#/var/www#/srv/site#g avoids escaping paths. After searching with /, :%s//new/g reuses that search as the pattern.

What is the difference between vi and Vim?

Vim is a rewrite of vi that adds multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, visual mode, macros, and split windows. On most Linux systems typing vi starts Vim anyway, through a symlink or through the vim.tiny build that Debian and Ubuntu install by default, and that tiny build is where people meet one-level undo and arrow keys that insert letters instead of moving. :version names the build and lists which features it was compiled with; if the first line says Small or Tiny, install the full vim package. Neovim is a later fork of Vim that keeps the same keys and commands, so everything on this page works there too; what it changes is the config file, the plugin API, and the defaults. Everything here assumes the full Vim build.

Vim Cheat Sheet: Shortcuts, Motions & Commands (2026)

Save and Quit

Press Esc first: the commands only work from normal mode.

Key	Action
	Save
or	Save and quit ( skips the write when nothing changed)
	Save and quit, no colon needed
	Quit; refuses if there are unsaved changes
or	Quit and throw the changes away
	Save every open file
	Quit every window ( discards changes)
	Save everything and quit
	Save a copy under another name, keep editing this one
	Write a root-owned file you opened without sudo (then )
	Reload the file from disk, discarding your edits

Copy and Paste

Vim calls copy yank and paste put. Deletes cut into the same place, so then moves a line.

Key	Action
	Yank the current line ( yanks five)
	Yank to the start of the next word
	Yank to the end of the line
	Paste after the cursor, or below the line for line yanks
	Paste before the cursor or above the line
select, then	Yank the selected lines
	Yank to the system clipboard (needs , see Gotchas)
	Paste from the system clipboard
	Yank the whole file to the system clipboard
	Paste the last yank, ignoring deletes since
	Yank the line into register a ( pastes it)
	Show what every register holds
	Duplicate the line ( puts the copy above)
	Swap two characters ( swaps two lines)

Delete

Key	Action
	Delete the character under the cursor
	Delete the line ( deletes five)
	Delete to the start of the next word
	Delete the whole word under the cursor
or	Delete to the end of the line
	Delete to the start of the line
/	Delete to the top / bottom of the file
	Delete every line in the file
	Delete lines 5 through 10
	Delete every line matching a pattern
	Delete the rest of the word and start typing (change)
or	Clear the line and start typing
	Clear to the end of the line and start typing
	Join the next line onto this one

Search and Replace

Key	Action
	Search forward ( next match, previous)
	Search backward
/	Search for the word under the cursor, forward / back
	Turn off the match highlighting until the next search
	Replace every occurrence in the file
	Same, asking before each one (, , for all, quits)
	Replace the first occurrence on this line
	Replace only in lines 5 to 12
	Case-insensitive replace
	Reuse the last search as the pattern
Select with , then	Replace inside the selection (Vim fills in )

Regex

Vim's default pattern syntax needs backslashes where most languages do not. at the front of a pattern (very magic) makes it behave like the regex you already know.

Pattern	Matches
	Very magic: work without backslashes for the rest of the pattern
	Any character ( for a literal dot)
	Digit, word character, whitespace ( invert them)
	Zero or more of the previous item
/	One or more / optional (no backslash after )
	Between two and five of the previous item
/	Start / end of the line
/	Start / end of a word
	Capture group, written back as in the replacement
/	Start / end the match here; the rest is context, not replaced
/	Force this search case-insensitive / case-sensitive
in the replacement	Use instead; inserts a null byte

:%s/\v(\w+)\s+(\w+)/\2 \1/g      " swap the first two words on every line
:%s/\v<(foo|bar)>/baz/g          " whole words foo or bar, nothing longer
:%s/\vhttps?:\/\/\S+//g          " strip URLs
:g/\v^\s*$/d                     " delete every blank line
:%s/error\zs.*//                 " keep the word error, drop the rest of the line

Undo and Redo

Key	Action
	Undo ( undoes five changes)
	Redo
	Undo everything done to the last edited line
	Repeat the last change somewhere else
	The file as it was five minutes ago
	Forward in time again
/	Step through the undo history, including abandoned branches

A count multiplies any motion: moves five lines down, three words forward. Motions also feed , , and , so deletes three words.

Key	Action
	Left, down, up, right
/	Start of the next / previous word
	End of the word
/ /	Start of the line / first character / end of the line
/	Top / bottom of the file
or	Go to line 42
/	Previous / next blank line (paragraph)
/	Half a page down / up
/	A full page down / up
	Top, middle, bottom of the screen
	Scroll so the cursor line is centered ( top, bottom)
/	Jump onto the next / previous x on this line ( repeats, reverses)
	Jump to just before the next x
	Jump between matching , ,
/	Back / forward through your jump history
then	Set mark a, jump back to that exact spot ( for its line)

Modes

Vim starts in normal mode, where keys are commands, not text. Esc always gets you back there.

Key	Action
/	Insert before / after the cursor
/	Insert at the start / end of the line
/	Open a new line below / above and insert
or	Back to normal mode
	Visual mode (select by character)
	Visual line mode
	Visual block mode (select a column)
	Replace mode: type over what is there
	Replace one character with x, staying in normal mode
	Command-line mode for , , and friends
(in insert)	Delete the word you just typed
(in insert)	Run one normal-mode command, then keep typing

Visual Mode and Visual Block

Key	Action
/ /	Select by character / line / block
	Select the whole file
	Jump to the other end of the selection
	Reselect the last selection
/ /	Yank, delete, or change the selection
/	Indent / outdent the selection
/ /	Toggle / lower / upper case
, select, , text,	Insert the same text on every selected line
, , , text,	Append text at the end of every selected line
, select, , then a character	Replace every selected character with it

Splits

All the window commands live on : press it, release, then the key.

Key	Action
or	Split top and bottom
or	Split left and right
	Open another file in a new split
	Move to the split in that direction
	Cycle through the splits
	Make all splits the same size
/	Taller / shorter ( and for wider and narrower)
	Close this split ( does the same)
or	Close every split except this one
	Rotate the splits
	Move this split into its own tab

Buffers and Tabs

Every open file is a buffer; splits and tabs are just views onto them.

Key	Action
	Open a file (Tab completes the path)
	List the open buffers with their numbers
or	Jump to buffer 2, or by partial file name
/	Next / previous buffer
	Flip between the last two buffers
	Close the buffer
	Open a file in a new tab
/	Next / previous tab ( for tab 2)
	Close the tab

Macros

Record keystrokes once, replay them everywhere. Start the recording with a motion like so it works from any column, and end it with so replays walk down the file.

Key	Action
	Start recording into register a (the status line shows recording)
	Stop recording
	Play the macro
	Replay the last-played macro
	Play it 25 times
Select lines, then	Run the macro once on every selected line
	Record more onto the end of macro a
	Show the recorded keystrokes

Comment and Indent

Plain Vim has no comment toggle; visual block fills the gap. Neovim 0.10+ ships to toggle a comment (Vim 9.1 gets it after ).

Key	Action
, select lines, ,	Comment the selected lines with
, select the column,	Uncomment them
	Comment lines 10 to 50 ( undoes it)
/	Indent / outdent the line ( for five lines)
	Indent the paragraph
	Auto-indent the line
	Auto-indent the whole file
/ (in insert)	Indent / outdent while typing

In visual mode indents one level and drops the selection; use for two levels or to hit it again.

Transform Text

runs the file, or a range of it, through an outside command and puts the output back. That is how Vim formats JSON without a plugin.

Command	What it does
	Sort the file ( drops duplicates, sorts numerically)
	Sort only lines 5 to 20 (or select them first, then )
/	Move this line down / up ( sends it to the top)
/	Upper-case / lower-case the word ( for the whole line)
	Flip the case of the line
/	Add one to / subtract one from the number under the cursor
(visual)	Turn a column of identical numbers into 1, 2, 3...
	Word, line and character count for the file or the selection
	Reformat the buffer as pretty JSON
	Line the columns up
	Replace the file with the output of any shell pipeline
	Insert a command's output at the cursor ( inserts a file)

Grep and Quickfix

The quickfix list holds a set of file-and-line results. fills it from a search, and then runs an edit on every hit, which is how a replace crosses more than one file.

Command	What it does
	Search every matching file below this directory
	The same through the system grep, which is faster on big trees
/	Open / close the results window (Enter jumps to a hit)
/	Next / previous result without leaving the file
/	First / last result
	Run a replace on every result and save each file
	Same, but once per file instead of once per match
/	Step back and forward through earlier result lists

Text Objects

Text objects target the thing around the cursor: an operator (, , , ), then for inside or for around, then the object. stops at the delimiters, takes them too.

Key	Action
/	Delete the word / the word plus the space after it
	Change what is inside the quotes
	Delete what is inside the parentheses
	Delete the block, braces included
	Change what is inside an HTML or XML tag
/	Delete the paragraph
	Yank what is inside the square brackets
	Select what is inside the braces (repeat to grow outward)

Folding

Folding collapses blocks so long files scan faster. The default is manual; folds by indentation, which suits YAML and Python.

Key	Action
	Toggle the fold under the cursor
/	Open / close a fold
/	Open / close every fold in the file
+ motion	Create a fold, e.g. folds the paragraph (manual method)
	Delete the fold; the text stays
/	Jump to the next / previous fold
	Fold by indent ( and also exist)

Vimdiff

opens both files side by side with the differences highlighted. and move a change between them, which is the fast way to reconcile a config against its or copy.

Key	Action
	Open two (or three) files side by side, differences highlighted
	The same thing, shorter
/	Jump to the next / previous change
	Pull the other side's version of this change into the current file
	Push this change into the other file
	Redraw the highlighting after editing
	Add the current split to the diff (run it in each window)
	Diff every split at once
	Turn the diff off here ( in every window)
/	Show more / less unchanged context around the changes
	Ignore whitespace-only differences

Settings

changes a setting for this session only. The same line without the colon in makes it stick. Neovim reads instead.

Command	What it does
	Line numbers ( off, toggles)
	Numbers counted from the cursor, so is easy to aim
	Searches ignore case until you type a capital
	Highlight every match, jump as you type
	Spaces instead of tabs, four wide
	Keep the previous line's indent on a new line
	Show tabs and trailing spaces
	Let long lines run off the screen instead of wrapping
	Syntax highlighting
	Stop auto-indent stair-stepping a terminal paste ( after)
	Let Vim use the mouse (breaks terminal selection, see Gotchas)
	Let backspace delete past where the insert started
	Switch theme; Tab completes the installed names
	Show a setting's value and which file set it
	Print the config file this Vim actually loaded
	Reload the config without restarting Vim

A usable starting :

" ~/.vimrc
set number relativenumber
set ignorecase smartcase incsearch hlsearch
set expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 autoindent
set list listchars=tab:>-,trail:.
syntax on

Plugins

Vim 8 and later load plugins on their own, so a manager is optional: anything dropped in loads at startup.

Command	What it does
	Install a plugin; it loads next time Vim starts
	Install it dormant instead, for to load on demand
	Load an optional plugin now ( for Vim 9.1's commenting)
	Rebuild help tags so finds the new plugin's docs
	List every script Vim has loaded, in order
	Start without plugins to see whether one is the problem

With vim-plug, list the plugins between and in , then ; upgrades them and removes the ones you deleted from the list.

Help

Vim carries its own manual, and the help topic names are not always what you would guess.

Command	What it does
	Open the manual ( closes the help split)
	Help for a normal-mode command
	Help for a colon command; the colon is part of the topic
	Help for a setting; the quotes mark it as an option
	Help for an insert-mode key ( visual, command line)
	Help for an error code, straight from the message Vim printed
	Search the whole manual ( for the next hit)
/	Follow a help link / go back
	The built-in 30-minute tutorial, run from the shell
	Which build this is and which features it was compiled with

Gotchas

If typing produces commands instead of text, or text instead of commands, check the mode. Esc puts you in normal mode from anywhere; the tag at the bottom says you are typing text.
Backspace that refuses to delete past the point where you started typing means Vim is in vi-compatible mode. restores the behaviour everyone expects; put the line in so it sticks.
Vim has no multiple cursors. Visual block covers the column case, and for everything else make the change once, then repeat it with or record it as a macro.
A message in the status line means you pressed by accident and every keystroke is being recorded. Press once to stop; nothing is harmed.
silently does nothing on a Vim built without clipboard support, which includes most server installs ( shows ). Over SSH the clipboard is on the wrong machine anyway: select with the mouse in your terminal, or run the session inside tmux and use its copy mode.
On macOS the system in is built without clipboard support, so does nothing there either. Pipe instead: copies the file and copies a visual selection. gets a build with .
makes Vim grab the mouse, so terminal selection stops working. Hold Shift while dragging to select with the terminal again.
with a swap file warning means a crashed or still-open session left a file behind. Recover the unsaved changes with , then delete the ; if another terminal really has the file open, edit it there instead.
Pasting into an old Vim over SSH can cascade the indentation. before pasting and after fixes it; Vim 8+ handles bracketed paste on its own.

Vim Cheat Sheet