Vim Notes

Open/Create new File with Vim

  • $ vim <filename>
    • If <filename> already existed, then open file with vim
    • If <filename> does not existed yet, then create a new file named <filename> with vim

How to Quit/Save

  • In Normal Mode:
    • Save: :w<Enter>
    • Quit without saving: :q<Enter>
    • Quit with saving: :wq<Enter>

How to switch between Normal Mode and Insert Mode

Normal Mode -> Insert Mode

  • Insert:
    • Enter insert mode before current cursor positon: i
    • Enter insert mode at the start of the current line: I
  • Append:
    • Enter insert mode after current cursor positon: a
    • Enter insert mode at the end of the current line: A
  • Open a new line:
    • Enter insert mode with a new line below current line: o (Open a new line below)
    • Enter insert mode with a new line above current line: O (Open a new line above)
  • Go to the previous edit position(and enter insert mode): gi
  • Delete current character/line and switch to insert mode: s / S

Insert Mode -> Normal Mode

  • <ESC>
  • <Ctrl>+[
  • <Ctrl>+c (Could interrupt some plugins)

Command Mode

  • In Normal Mode, Enter : to enter Command Mode, and Press Enter to confirm a command
    • Save: :w
    • Quit: :q, can also be used to quit splitted windows
    • Vertical Split: :vs
    • (Horizontal)Split: :sp
    • Replace All: :% s/<string to be replaced>/<new string we want>/g

Visual Mode

  • In Normal Mode, Enter v to enter Visual Mode, continue selecting with direction keys
    • Select the whole line: V
    • Select a block: <Ctrl>+V

Insert Mode

  • Delete previous character: <Ctrl>+h
  • Delete previous word: <Ctrl>+w
  • Delete current line: <Ctrl>+u

Normal Mode

  • Undo: u

Delete

  • Delete character: x
  • Delete n characters: nx (n is a number)
  • Delete word:
    • Delete word only: diw
    • Delete around word(include the spaces around the word): daw or dw
  • Delete line: dd
  • Delete n line: ndd (n is a number)
  • Delete content until x(e.g. ‘)’): dt)
  • Delete content unitl the end of the line: d$
  • Delete content from the start of the line to current cursor: d0

Update

  • Replace character with ‘x’: rx
  • Delete current character/line and switch to insert mode: s / S
  • Delete n character/line and switch to insert mode: ns / nS
  • Change word: cw
  • Change word until x(e.g. ‘)’): ct)

Copy Paste

  • Copy: select with visual mode, then y
  • Copy current line: yy
  • Copy to system clipboard: "+y or :set clipboard=unnamed then y
  • Paste: p

Normal Navigation

  • Support direction keys
  • h(left) j(down) k(up) l(right)
  • word: split by all kinds of tokens (e.g. function is a word)
  • WORD: split by spaces (e.g. function(){} is a WORD)
  • Move to the start of the next word/WORD: w / W
  • Move to the end of the next word/WORD: e / E
  • Move to the start of the previous word/WORD: b / B
  • Move to the end of the previous word/WORD: ge / gE
  • Move to the next occurance of a <character> in a line(char after your cursor): f<character>
  • Move to the previous occurance of a <character> in a line(char before your cursor): F<character>
  • Move to the position just before the next occurance of a <character> in a line: t<character>
  • Move to the position just after the previous occurance of a <character> in a line: T<character>
  • Repeating last character search: ;, ,
    • e.g. fd;; => fdfdfd, fd;, => fdfdFd

Horizontal Navigation

  • Move to the first character of the line: 0
  • Move to the first non-space character of the line: ^
  • Move to the last character of the line: $
  • Move to the last non-space character of the line: g_

Vertical Navigation

  • Jump entire paragraph downwards: {
  • Jump entire paragraph upwards: }
  • Move down half a page: <Ctrl>+d
  • Move up half a page: <Ctrl>+u

Page Navigation

  • Move to start of the file: gg
  • Move to a specific line: <line>gg
  • Move to the end of the file: G
  • Back to previous position: <Ctrl+o>
  • Go to the head of the screen: H
  • Go to the middle of the screen: M
  • Go to the Lower of the screen: L
  • Page up(upward): <Ctrl>+b
  • Page down(forward): <Ctrl>+f
  • Set current line to the middle of the screen: zz
  • a <pattern> can be a string or regular expression
  • Search for next occurance of a <pattern>: /<pattern>
  • Search for previous occurance of a <pattern>: ?<pattern>
  • Press <Enter> to move to the first match
  • Use n to move to the next match
  • Use N to move to the previous match
  • Run last search: /<Enter>(forward), ?<Enter>(backward)
  • Do a search for the word under the cursor: *(forward), #(backward)
  • Jump to matching ({[]}) in a line: %
  • <count><command>: multiply the effect of <command> for <count> times
    • e.g. 2w: move cursor forward 2 words
    • e.g. 2/baby: move to the second occurance of baby
  • gd: jump to the definition whatever is under your cursor
  • gf: jump to a file in an import