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vi command summary
Cursor Movement Commands
Character jumps
h, j, k, l LFarrow, DNarrow, UParrow, RTarrow
Text jumps
w, W, b, B jump forward, backward one word
e, E jump to end of word
), ( jump to beginning of next, previous sentence.
}, { jump to beginning of next, previous paragraph.
]], [[ jump to beginning of next, previous section.
0, $ jump to first, last position of current line
^ jump to first non space character of current line
n | jump to nth column of current line
Line jumps
+, - jump to first character of next, previous line
H, M, L jump to TOP, MIDDLE, LAST line of screen
nH, nL jump to n lines below TOP, before LAST line
Screen jumps
CTRL-F, CTRL-B jump forward, back one screen
CTRL-D, CTRL-U jump down, up half screen
CTRL-E, CTRL-Y show additional line at bottom, top of screen
z RETURN jump screen so cursor is at top
z. jump screen so that line with cursor is at the middle of the screen.
z- jump screen so that line with cursor is at the middle of the screen.
Search Jumps
/pattern jump to first forward occurrence of pattern.
?pattern jump to first backward occurrence of pattern.
n jump to next search in same direction.
N jump to Next search in opposite direction.
/ jump to previous pattern in forward direction.
? jump to previous pattern in backward direction.
fx jump forward to character x in current line.
Fx jump backward to character x in current line.
tx jump forward to character before x in current line.
Tx jump backward to character after x in current line.
; repeat previous search/jump in current line.
, repeat previous search/jump in opposite direction in current line.
Line number jumps
CTRL-G Show current line number.
nG Go to line number n.
G Go to last line in buffer.
`` (2 single backquotes) Go to last position before G command.
:n Go to line number n.
Editing Commands
Insert
i, a Insert text before, after cursor.
I, A Insert text at beginning, end of current line.
o, O Open new line for text below, above current line.
R Type over character.
Change
r Change character
cw Change word.
cc Change current line.
C Change from cursor to end of current line.
s Delete character and substitute text.
S Delete current line and substitute text.
Delete
x Delete character at cursor.
X Delete character before cursor.
dw Delete word.
dd Delete current line.
D Delete from cursor to end of line.
Put
p, P Put deleted/yanked text after, before cursor.
"np Put text from delete buffer number n after cursor. Last 9 deletions are available.
"aP Put text from buffer a before cursor.
Yank
yw Yank (copy) word.
yy Yank (copy) current line.
"ayy Yank current line into named buffer a.
ex commands
:d Delete line(s).
:m Move line(s).
:co Copy line(s).
:.,$d Delete from current line through end of buffer.
a,bm. Move lines from line numbers a through b after the current line.
.,/pattern/co$ Copy from the current line through first line containing pattern to the end of file.
Command Line Options
vi file Invoke vi editor on file.
vi file1 file2 Invoke vi editor on file1, then on file2.
view file Invoke vi editor in read only mode on file.
vi -R file Invoke vi editor in read only mode on file.
vi -r file Recover file and recent edits after system crash.
vi + file Open file with cursor at last line.
vi +n file Open file with cursor at line number n.
vi +/pattern file Open file with cursor at first occurrence of pattern.
ex file Invoke vi in ex mode on file.
Exit Commands
ZZ Write (save) and quit current file.
:x Write (save) and quit current file.
:wq Write (save) and quit current file.
:w Write (save) current file.
:w! Write (save) current file, overriding protection.
:a,bw newfile Write lines a through b as newfile.
:a,bw>> file Write lines a through b appended to file.
:w %.new Write current buffer named file to file.new
:q Quit file.
:q! Quit file, overriding protection.
:Q Quit vi and invoke ex.
:e file2 Edit file2 without leaving vi.
:n Edit next file.
:e! Return to version of current file at time of last write (save).
:e# Edit alternate file.
% Print (display) current file name.
# Print (display) alternate file name.
Other Commands
vi commands
. Repeat the last command.
u, U Undo last command, commands on current line.
J Join 2 lines.
CTRL-L, CTRL-R Redraw the screen.
ex commands
: Invoke ex mode from vi editor.
:vi Invoke vi mode from ex editor.
:sh Invoke shell.
CTRL-D Return to editor from shell.
:! shell command Execute shell command.
:r filename Read contents of filename onto end off current buffer.
:r! shell command Read output from shell command onto end of current buffer.
Mark
mx Mark current position as x.
`x Move cursor to x.
`` (2 backquotes) Return to previous mark or context after a move.
'x (1 single quote) Move to beginning of line containing mark x.
'' (2 single quotes) Move to beginning of line containing previous mark.
Abbreviations
:map x sequence Define the single keystroke x as a sequence of editing commands.
:unmap x Disable the map x.
:ab abbr phrase Abbreviate phrase as abbr; when abbr is typed in insert mode, it expands to full words or phrases.
:unab abbr Disable abbreviation.
Environment
:set option Activate option.
:set option=value Assign value to option.
:set nooption Deactivate option
:set Display options set by user.
:set all Display list of all current options, both default options and options set by the user.
:set option? Display value of option.
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