Vim Commands

Vim is modal: keys mean different things depending on the mode. The magic is composition — an operator (d, c, y) plus a motion (w, $, }) acts on exactly that range. Press Esc to return to Normal mode any time.

Modes

Key	Enters
`Esc`	Normal mode (the safe home base)
`i / a`	Insert before / after the cursor
`I / A`	Insert at line start / end
`o / O`	open a new line below / above
`v / V`	Visual (char) / Visual Line select
`Ctrl-v`	Visual Block (column) select
`:`	Command-line mode

Moving Around

Key	Moves to
`h j k l`	left, down, up, right
`w / b`	next / previous word start
`e`	next word end
`0 / $`	start / end of line
`^`	first non-blank of line
`gg / G`	top / bottom of file
`{ / }`	previous / next paragraph
`Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u`	half-page down / up
`%`	jump to matching bracket
`42G`	jump to line 42

Editing

Key	Does
`x`	delete the character under the cursor
`dd / yy`	delete / yank (copy) a line
`p / P`	paste after / before
`dw / cw`	delete / change to end of word
`d$ / c$`	delete / change to end of line
`ciw`	change the whole word (inner word)
`ci"`	change inside the quotes
`u / Ctrl-r`	undo / redo
`.`	repeat the last change
`>> / <<`	indent / outdent a line

Think in sentences. d2w = delete two words, ci( = change inside parens, yi{ = yank inside braces. Operator + count + motion composes into thousands of edits you never memorized individually.

Search & Replace

Command	Does
`/pattern`	search forward (`?` searches back)
`n / N`	next / previous match
`*`	search for the word under the cursor
`:%s/old/new/g`	replace all in the file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	replace all, confirm each
`:s/old/new/g`	replace all on the current line
`:noh`	clear search highlighting

Files, Windows & Saving

Command	Does
`:w`	write (save)
`:q`	quit (fails if unsaved)
`:wq or ZZ`	save and quit
`:q!`	quit, discarding changes
`:e file`	open another file
`:sp / :vsp`	horizontal / vertical split
`Ctrl-w w`	cycle between splits
`:ls / :b2`	list buffers / go to buffer 2

Stuck and can't quit? Press Esc first, then type :q! and Enter to bail without saving, or :wq to save and leave. The Esc is what gets you out of Insert mode so the colon command works.