Vim - Programmer Sheet

Global

:h[elp] keyword	- open help for keyword
:sav[eas] file	- save file as
:clo[se]	- close current pane
:ter[minal]	- open a terminal window
K	- open man page for word under the cursor

Macros

qa	- record macro a
q	- stop recording macro
@a	- run macro a
@@	- rerun last run macro

Indent text

>>	- indent (move right) line one shiftwidth
q	<< - de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth
>%	- indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
>ib	- indent inner block with ()
>at	- indent a block with <> tags
3==	- re-indent 3 lines
=%	- re-indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
=iB	- re-indent inner block with {}
gg=G	- re-indent entire buffer
]p	- paste and adjust indent to current line

Editing

r	- replace a single character.
R	- replace more than one character, until ESC is pressed.
J	- join line below to the current one with one space in between
gJ	- join line below to the current one without space in between
gwip	- reflow paragraph
g~	- switch case up to motion
gu	- change to lowercase up to motion
gU	- change to uppercase up to motion
cc	- change (replace) entire line
C	- change (replace) to the end of the line
c$	- change (replace) to the end of the line
ciw	- change (replace) entire word
cw or ce	- change (replace) to the end of the word
s	- delete character and substitute text
S	- delete line and substitute text (same as cc)
xp	- transpose two letters (delete and paste)
u	- undo
U	- restore (undo) last changed line
Ctrl + r	- redo
.	- repeat last command

Cut and paste

yy	- yank (copy) a line
2yy	- yank (copy) 2 lines
yw	- yank (copy) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
yiw	- yank (copy) word under the cursor
yaw	- yank (copy) word under the cursor and the space after or before it
y$	- yank (copy) to end of line
p	- put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
P	- put (paste) before cursor
dd	- delete (cut) a line
2dd	- delete (cut) 2 lines
dw	- delete (cut) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
diw	- delete (cut) word under the cursor
daw	- delete (cut) word under the cursor and the space after or before it
D	- delete (cut) to the end of the line
d$	- delete (cut) to the end of the line
x	- delete (cut) character

Marking text (visual mode)

v	- start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank)
V	- start linewise visual mode
o	- move to other end of marked area
Ctrl + v	- start visual block mode
O	- move to other corner of block
aw	- mark a word
ab	- a block with ()
aB	- a block with {}
at	- a block with <> tags
ib	- inner block with ()
iB	- inner block with {}
it	- inner block with <> tags
Esc	- exit visual mode
	recording

Visual commands

>	- shift text right
<	- shift text left
y	- yank (copy) marked text
d	- delete marked text
~	- switch case
u	- change marked text to lowercase
U	- change marked text to uppercase

Exiting

:w	- write (save) the file, but don't exit
:w !sudo tee %	- write out the current file using sudo
:wq or :x or ZZ	- write (save) and quit
:q	- quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
:q! or ZQ	- quit and throw away unsaved changes
:wqa	- write (save) and quit on all tabs

Registers

:reg[isters]	- show registers content
"xy	- yank into register x
"xp	- paste contents of register x
"+y	- yank into the system clipboard register
"+p	- paste from the system clipboard register

Search and replace

/pattern	- search for pattern
?pattern	- search backward for pattern
\vpattern	- 'very magic' pattern: non-alphanumeric characters are interpreted as special regex symbols (no escaping needed)
n	- repeat search in same direction
N	- repeat search in opposite direction
:%s/old/new/g	- replace all old with new throughout file
:%s/old/new/gc	- replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations
:noh[lsearch]	- remove highlighting of search matches

Cursor movement

h	- move cursor left
j	- move cursor down
k	- move cursor up
l	- move cursor right
H	- move to top of screen
M	- move to middle of screen
L	- move to bottom of screen
w	- jump forwards to the start of a word
W	- jump forwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
e	- jump forwards to the end of a word
E	- jump forwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation)
b	- jump backwards to the start of a word
B	- jump backwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
ge	- jump backwards to the end of a word
gE	- jump backwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation)
%	- move to matching character (default supported pairs: '()', '{}', '[]' - use :h matchpairs in vim for more info)
0	- jump to the start of the line
^	- jump to the first non-blank character of the line
$	- jump to the end of the line
g_	- jump to the last non-blank character of the line
gg	- go to the first line of the document
G	- go to the last line of the document
5gg or 5G	- go to line 5
gd	- move to local declaration
gD	- move to global declaration
fx	- jump to next occurrence of character x
tx	- jump to before next occurrence of character x
Fx	- jump to previous occurence of character x
Tx	- jump to after previous occurence of character x
;	- repeat previous f, t, F or T movement
,	- repeat previous f, t, F or T movement, backwards
}	- jump to next paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)
{	- jump to previous paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)
zz	- center cursor on screen
Ctrl + e	- move screen down one line (without moving cursor)
Ctrl + y	- move screen up one line (without moving cursor)
Ctrl + b	- move back one full screen
Ctrl + f	- move forward one full screen
Ctrl + d	- move forward 1/2 a screen
Ctrl + u	- move back 1/2 a screen

Insert mode - inserting/appending text

i	- insert before the cursor
I	- insert at the beginning of the line
a	- insert (append) after the cursor
A	- insert (append) at the end of the line
o	- append (open) a new line below the current line
O	- append (open) a new line above the current line
ea	- insert (append) at the end of the word
Ctrl + h	- delete the character before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + w	- delete word before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + j	- begin new line during insert mode
Ctrl + t	- indent (move right) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
Ctrl + d	- de-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
Ctrl + n	- insert (auto-complete) next match before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + p	- insert (auto-complete) previous match before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + rx	- insert the contents of register x
Ctrl + ox	- Temporarily enter normal mode to issue one normal-mode command x.
Esc	- exit insert mode

Tip Special registers:

0	- last yank
"	- unnamed register, last delete or yank
%	- current file name
#	- alternate file name
*	- clipboard contents (X11 primary)
+	- clipboard contents (X11 clipboard)
/	- last search pattern
:	- last command-line
.	- last inserted text
-	- last small (less than a line) delete
=	- expression register
_	- black hole register

Search in multiple files

:vim[grep] /pattern/ {`{file}`}	- search for pattern in multiple files
	e.g. :vim[grep] /foo/ */
:cn[ext]	- jump to the next match
:cp[revious]	- jump to the previous match
:cope[n]	- open a window containing the list of matches
:ccl[ose]	- close the quickfix window

Marks and positions

:marks	- list of marks
ma	- set current position for mark A
`a	- jump to position of mark A
y`a	- yank text to position of mark A
`0	- go to the position where Vim was previously exited
`"	- go to the position when last editing this file
`.	- go to the position of the last change in this file
``	- go to the position before the last jump
:ju[mps]	- list of jumps
Ctrl + i	- go to newer position in jump list
Ctrl + o	- go to older position in jump list
:changes	- list of changes
g,	- go to newer position in change list
g;	- go to older position in change list
Ctrl + ]	- jump to the tag under cursor

Tabs

:tabnew	- open a file in a new tab
Ctrl + wT	- move the current split window into its own tab
gt or :tabn[ext]	- move to the next tab
gT or :tabp[revious]	- move to the previous tab
#gt	- move to tab number #
:tabm[ove] #	- move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0)
:tabc[lose]	- close the current tab and all its windows
:tabo[nly]	- close all tabs except for the current one
:tabdo command	- run the command on all tabs (e.g. :tabdo q - closes all opened tabs)

Working with multiple files

:e[dit] file	- edit a file in a new buffer
:bn[ext]	- go to the next buffer
:bp[revious]	- go to the previous buffer
:bd[elete]	- delete a buffer (close a file)
:b[uffer]#	- go to a buffer by index #
:b[uffer] file	- go to a buffer by file
:ls or :buffers	- list all open buffers
:sp[lit] file	- open a file in a new buffer and split window
:vs[plit] file	- open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window
:vert[ical] ba[ll]	- edit all buffers as vertical windows
:tab ba[ll]	- edit all buffers as tabs
Ctrl + ws	- split window
Ctrl + wv	- split window vertically
Ctrl + ww	- switch windows
Ctrl + wq	- quit a window
Ctrl + wx	- exchange current window with next one
Ctrl + w=	- make all windows equal height & width
Ctrl + wh	- move cursor to the left window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wl	- move cursor to the right window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wj	- move cursor to the window below (horizontal split)
Ctrl + wk	- move cursor to the window above (horizontal split)
Ctrl + wH	- make current window full height at far left (leftmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wL	- make current window full height at far right (rightmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wJ	- make current window full width at the very bottom (bottommost horizontal window)
Ctrl + wK	- make current window full width at the very top (topmost horizontal window)

Diff

zf	- manually define a fold up to motion
zd	- delete fold under the cursor
za	- toggle fold under the cursor
zo	- open fold under the cursor
zc	- close fold under the cursor
zr	- reduce (open) all folds by one level
zm	- fold more (close) all folds by one level
zi	- toggle folding functionality
]c	- jump to start of next change
[c	- jump to start of previous change
do or :diffg[et]	- obtain (get) difference (from other buffer)
dp or :diffpu[t]	- put difference (to other buffer)
:diffthis	- make current window part of diff
:dif[fupdate]	- update differences
:diffo[ff]	- switch off diff mode for current window