Basics of Vim Text Editor

Vim text editor is used for creating, editing and perform other operations in a text file. Common modes in Vim i.e.

• Normal Mode : Hit the Esc key to enter Normal mode.
• Command Mode : Type colon ( : ) in the normal mode to go to this mode.
• Insert Mode : Type i in the normal mode to go to insert mode.

.(dot) repeat last command.

Normal Mode Commands

1. Show line number
   set number
2. Copy text
   Select text and press Ctrl + C
3. Go to line number
   For instance, if you wanted to go to line 14, could press Esc and then enter :14
4. Search some text
   Enter /pattern, replacing pattern with the text for which you want to search forward. For example, to find every instance of the word “blimp”, enter:
   /blimp
   
   To search for word, enter /\<word\> in Normal Mode. \< means beginning of a word, and \> means the end of a word. Enter n for next and N for previous search result.
5. Search for text in the document, going backwards.
   ?pattern
6. Find text and replace
   :%s/text/replacement text/g
   Search through the entire document for text and replace it with replacement text. To check the text before replacement, use below command
   %s/text/replacement text/gc
7. Go go end of file
   <ESC>G
8. Go to end of cursor
   <ESC>A

Command Mode Options

1. :q! to quit without saving (short for :quit!)
2. :wq to write and quit
3. :wq! to write and quit even if file has only read permission (if file does not have write permission: force write)
4. :x to write and quit (similar to :wq, but only write if there are changes)
5. :qa to quit all (short for :quitall)
6. :cq to quit without saving and make Vim return non-zero error (i.e. exit with error)

Navigating In File

• h moves the cursor one character to the left.
• j moves the cursor down one line.
• k moves the cursor up one line.
• l moves the cursor one character to the right.
• 0 moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
• $ moves the cursor to the end of the line.
• w move forward one word.
• b move backward one word.
• G move to the end of the file.
• gg move to the beginning of the file.

Prefacing a movement command with a number will execute that movement multiple times. So, if you want to move up six lines, enter 6k and Vim will move the cursor up six lines.

Editing File Content

• u – Undo last change
• U – Undo all changes to the entire line
• o – Open a new line (goes into insert mode)
• dd – Delete line. 3dd will delete 3 lines.
• D – Delete contents of line after the cursor
• C – Delete contents of a line after the cursor and insert new text. Press ESC key to end insertion.
• dw – Delete word. 4dw will delete 4 words
• d$ – Delete to end of line
• d^ (d caret) – Delete to beginning of line
• cw – Change word
• x – Delete character at the cursor
• r – Replace character
• R – Overwrite characters from cursor onward
• s – Substitute one character under cursor continue to insert
• S – Substitute entire line and begin to insert at the beginning of the line
• ~ – Change case of individual character

Copying And Pasting

• v – Select and highlight one character at a time.
• V – Select highlight one line at a time.
• Ctrl-v : Highlight by columns.
• p : paste text after the current line.
• P : paste text on the current line.

Examples

To create a new file, and save content

• Type vim filename (create a file named filename)
• Hit i ( switch to insert mode)
• Enter text
• Hit Esc key (switch back to normal mode)
• Type :wq (write file and exit vim)