VI Editor Cheat Sheet

Modes in VI Editor

  • Normal Mode (default) – Used for navigation and command execution.
  • Insert Mode – Used for text editing (press i to enter, Esc to exit).
  • Command Mode – Used for saving, quitting, and searching (press : in Normal mode).

Movement Keys

  • h – Move left
  • j – Move down
  • k – Move up
  • l – Move right
  • w – Move forward one word
  • b – Move back one word
  • ^ – Jump to start of line
  • $ – Jump to end of line
  • 5G – Go to line 5
  • 1G / gg – Go to first line
  • G – Go to last line
  • CTRL+G – Show current line number
  • gg – Move to the start of the file
  • G – Move to the end of the file
  • :n – Move to line number n

Yank (copy)

  • yy – Copy current line
  • 3yy – Copy next 3 lines
  • yw – Copy current word
  • y$ – Copy to end of line

Put (paste)

  • p – Paste after cursor
  • P – Paste before cursor

Delete (cut)

  • dd – Delete current line
  • 3dd – Delete 3 lines
  • dw – Delete current word
  • d3w – Delete next 3 words
  • d4h – Delete 4 characters left
  • x – Delete a character
  • X – Delete a character before cursor
  • d$ – Delete from cursor to end of line
  • d0 – Delete from cursor to beginning of line
  • D – Delete from cursor to end of line
  • u – Undo last action
  • Ctrl + r – Redo an undone change

Change (delete + insert)

  • cc – Change current line
  • cw – Change current word
  • c3w – Change next 3 words
  • c5h – Change 5 characters left

Insert Mode Shortcuts

  • a – Append after cursor
  • A – Append at the end of the line
  • i – Insert before cursor
  • I – Insert start of line
  • o – Open a new line below
  • O – Open a new line above
  • Esc – Exit insert mode

Search and Replace

  • /word – Search forward
  • ?word – Search backward
  • n – Next match
  • N – Previous match
  • /pattern – Search forward for a pattern
  • ?pattern – Search backward for a pattern
  • n – Repeat last search forward
  • N – Repeat last search backward
  • :%s/old/new/g – Replace all occurrences of "old" with "new"
  • :s/old/new/g – Replace all occurrences in the current line

Ex Mode (: commands)

  • :w – Save file
  • :w filename – Save as new file
  • :w! – Force save
  • :e filename – Open file
  • :1 – Go to line 1
  • :q – Quit
  • :q! – Quit without saving
  • :wq – Save and quit
  • :x – Save and quit

Working with Multiple Files

  • :e filename – Open a new file
  • :w – Save file
  • :wq – Save and exit
  • :q! – Quit without saving
  • :split filename – Split screen horizontally and open another file
  • :vsplit filename – Split screen vertically
  • Ctrl + w + w – Switch between split screens