Ultimate Vim Keymap Cheatsheet for Coding

Table of Contents

• Essential Editing
• Navigation
• Text Objects
• Visual Mode
• Search & Replace
  • Search Command
  • Replace command
• Window Management
  • Window splitting
  • Window navigation
• Advanced Operations
  • Macro command
  • Number operations
  • Text formatting
• Useful Commands
  • File operation
  • File management
• Help & Discovery
  • Help system
  • Key mapping inspections
  • System information
• Special Operations
  • Code navigation
  • Diff tool
  • Folding controls
• Multilines
• Additional vim motions

Essential Editing

x: Delete character under cursor

• example: x → delete 'a'

dw: Delete word

• example: dw → delete 'word'

dd: Delete line

• example: 3dd → delete 3 lines

D: Delete to end of line

• example: D → delete rest of line

u: Undo

• example: u → undo last change

Ctrl+r: Redo

• example: Ctrl+r → redo

.: Repeat last command

• example: After dw, . → delete next word

Navigation

h: Move left

• mnemonic: Left

j: Move down

• mnemonic: Down

k: Move up

• mnemonic: Up

l: Move right

• mnemonic: Right

w: Next word start

• mnemonic: word

b: Previous word start

• mnemonic: back

e: Next word end

• mnemonic: end

0: Start of line

• mnemonic: Zero position

^: First non-blank char

• mnemonic: (none)

$: End of line

• mnemonic: (none)

gg: Top of file

• mnemonic: (none)

G: Bottom of file

• mnemonic: (none)

H: Top of screen

• mnemonic: High

M: Middle of screen

• mnemonic: Middle

L: Bottom of screen

• mnemonic: Low

Ctrl+u: Scroll up half page

• mnemonic: (none)

Ctrl+d: Scroll down half page

• mnemonic: (none)

Ctrl+o: Jump back to previous location

• mnemonic: (none)

Ctrl+i: Jump forward to next location

• mnemonic: (none)

[{: Previous block bracket

• mnemonic: (none)

]}: Next block bracket

• mnemonic: (none)

[(: Previous block curly

• mnemonic: (none)

]): Next block curly

• mnemonic: (none)

Text Objects

ci": Change inside quotes

• mnemonic: change inside "quotes"
• example: ci" → edit "text" between quotes

ci': Change inside single quotes

• mnemonic: change inside 'quotes'
• example: ci' → edit 'text' between single quotes

ci(: Change inside parentheses

• mnemonic: change inside (parens)
• example: ci( → edit (text) inside parentheses

ci[: Change inside brackets

• mnemonic: change inside [brackets]
• example: ci[ → edit [text] inside brackets

ci{: Change inside braces

• mnemonic: change inside {braces}
• example: ci{ → edit {text} inside curly braces

cit: Change inside HTML tag

• mnemonic: change inside
• example: cit → edit <p>text</p> within tags

ciw: Change inside word

• mnemonic: change inner word
• example: ciw → edit 'word' under cursor

yiw: Yank inner word

• mnemonic: yank inner word
• example: yiw → copy 'word' to register

diw: Delete inner word

• mnemonic: delete inner word
• example: diw → remove 'word' under cursor

vi{: Visual/select inside braces

• mnemonic: visual inside {braces}
• example: vi{ → visual/select {text} inside curly braces

da": Delete around quotes

• mnemonic: delete around "quotes"
• example: da" → delete "text" including quotes

dat: Delete around HTML tag

• mnemonic: delete around
• example: dat → delete <p>text</p> entirely

Visual Mode

v: Enter character-wise visual mode

• mnemonic: visual
• example: Select characters by moving cursor

V: Enter line-wise visual mode

• mnemonic: Visual-line
• example: Select entire lines by moving up/down

Ctrl+v: Enter block visual mode

• mnemonic: Visual-block (Ctrl+v looks like block selection)
• example: Select vertical columns of text

>: Indent selection

• mnemonic: Right angle = increase indent
• example: >j indents current and next line

<: Unindent selection

• mnemonic: Left angle = decrease indent
• example: <k unindents current and previous line

y: Yank (copy) selection

• mnemonic: yank
• example: y then p to paste selection

d: Delete selection

• mnemonic: delete
• example: d removes highlighted text

~: Toggle case of selection

• mnemonic: ~ looks like a tilde/wave for switching
• example: ~ changes "Text" to "tEXT"

gv: Reselect last visual selection

• mnemonic: go visual
• example: After escape, gv re-highlights previous area

Search & Replace

Search Command

/pattern: Search forward

• mnemonic: / leans forward → forward search
• example: /hello finds next "hello"

?pattern: Search backward

• mnemonic: ? leans backward → backward search
• example: ?error finds previous "error"

n: Next match

• mnemonic: next
• example: After /search, press n to find next

N: Previous match

• mnemonic: Not-next (opposite of n)
• example: After /search, press N to go back

*: Search word under cursor (forward)

• mnemonic: * is a wildcard → expand current word
• example: Over "text", * finds next "text"

#: Search word under cursor (backward)

• mnemonic: # is shift+3 (opposite of *)
• example: Over "text", # finds previous "text"

Replace command

:%s/old/new/g: Replace all in file

• mnemonic: substitute globally
• example: :%s/cat/dog/g changes all "cat" to "dog"

:%s/old/new/gc: Replace with confirmation

• mnemonic: confirm each change
• example: :%s/foo/bar/gc asks before each replace

:s/old/new/g: Replace in current line

• mnemonic: No % → current line only
• example: :s/yes/no/g changes on current line

Window Management

Ctrl+w c: Close current window

• mnemonic: close
• example: Closes current pane (buffer stays loaded)

Ctrl+w o: Close other windows

• mnemonic: only
• example: Keeps only current pane open

Ctrl+w =: Equalize window sizes

• mnemonic: = (equals sign for balance)
• example: Makes all panes equal size

Ctrl+w _: Maximize current window

• mnemonic: _ (underscore = expand height)
• example: Current pane takes full height

Window splitting

:sp: Horizontal split

• mnemonic: split horizontally
• example: :sp file.txt opens file in pane below

:vsp: Vertical split

• mnemonic: vertical split
• example: :vsp file.txt opens file in pane to the right

Ctrl+w s: Split window horizontally

• mnemonic: split (same as :sp)
• example: Splits current buffer horizontally

Ctrl+w v: Split window vertically

• mnemonic: vertical (same as :vsp)
• example: Splits current buffer vertically

:res +20 : Resize horizontal window

:vert res +80 : Resize vertical

Ctrl+w o : Close all window except active window\

Ctrl+w r : Rotate window

gt : Go to next tab

gT : Go to previous tab

2gt : Go to tab number 2

Window navigation

Ctrl+w h: Move to left window

• mnemonic: h (vim's left movement key)
• example: Move cursor to left pane

Ctrl+w j: Move to window below

• mnemonic: j (vim's down movement key)
• example: Jump to lower pane

Ctrl+w k: Move to window above

• mnemonic: k (vim's up movement key)
• example: Jump to upper pane

Ctrl+w l: Move to right window

• mnemonic: l (vim's right movement key)
• example: Move cursor to right pane

:tabn: Switch to next tab
mnemonic: Tab Next

:tabp: Switch to previous tab
mnemonic: Tab Previous

:tabfirst: Switch to first tab
mnemonic: -

:tablast: Switch to last tab
mnemonic: -

2gt: Switch to tab number 2
mnemonic: Go to Tab 2

Advanced Operations

Macro command

q[a-z]: Start recording macro

• mnemonic: queue recording in register [a-z]
• example: qa starts recording to register 'a'

q: Stop recording macro

• mnemonic: quit recording
• example: Press q to finish macro recording

@[a-z]: Execute macro

• mnemonic: **@**tack (run) from register [a-z]
• example: @a plays back macro from 'a'

@@: Repeat last macro

• mnemonic: Double @ = repeat last action
• example: After @a, @@ runs 'a' again

Number operations

Ctrl+a: Increment number

• mnemonic: +a (think addition)
• example: On 42, becomes 43

Ctrl+x: Decrement number

• mnemonic: -x (think subtraction)
• example: On 42, becomes 41

Text formatting

gq: Format text

• mnemonic: good quote (for text wrapping)
• example: gqip reformats current paragraph

==: Auto-indent line

• mnemonic: = (equals for alignment)
• example: Fixes indentation on current line

gg=G: Auto-indent entire file

• mnemonic: gg (start) = (indent) G (end)
• example: Properly indents whole file

Useful Commands

File operation

:w - Save file

• mnemonic: write
• example: :w myfile.txt saves to myfile.txt

:q - Quit

• mnemonic: quit
• example: :q closes current window

:wq - Save and quit

• mnemonic: write + quit
• example: :wq saves changes and exits

:q! - Force quit without saving

• mnemonic: ! means "force"
• example: :q! discards all changes

:e file - Open file

• mnemonic: edit
• example: :e ~/.vimrc opens vim config

:e! - Reload file (discard changes)

• mnemonic: ! means "discard current"
• example: :e! reverts to saved version

File management

:saveas - Save as new file

• mnemonic: literal meaning
• example: :saveas backup.txt creates copy

:set nu - Show line numbers

• mnemonic: numbers
• example: :set nu displays line numbers

:set nonu - Hide line numbers

• mnemonic: no numbers
• example: :set nonu hides numbering

:set paste - Enable paste mode

• mnemonic: literal
• example: Before pasting external text

:set nopaste - Disable paste mode

• mnemonic: nopaste
• example: After pasting to resume formatting

Help & Discovery

Help system

:help [topic] - Open help

• mnemonic: Literal
• example:
  • :help w - Show help for 'w' command
  • :help :w - Show help for :w command
  • :help options - Learn about configuration

:options - Open interactive options window

• mnemonic: Literal
• example: Browse/change settings with GUI-like interface

Key mapping inspections

:map - Show all custom key mappings

• mnemonic: Literal
• example:
  • :map - Shows normal mode mappings
  • :vmap - Shows visual mode mappings
  • :imap - Shows insert mode mappings

:verb map <key> - Show key's definition and origin

• mnemonic: verbose mapping
• example:
  • :verb map <Leader>f - Shows where f was defined
  • :verb map <C-Space> - Debug complex key combinations

System information

:reg - Show register contents

• mnemonic: registers
• example:
  • :reg - Shows all registers
  • :reg a - Show only register 'a'
  • "ap - Paste from register 'a'

:marks - Show all marks

• mnemonic: Literal
• example:
  • :marks - List all marks
  • a - Jump to mark 'a'
  • . - Jump to last edit position

Special Operations

Code navigation

gd: Go to definition

• mnemonic: go definition
• example: Hover over function → gd jumps to its definition

K: Show documentation

• mnemonic: Know (like man pages)
• example: Cursor on function → K shows its docs

Ctrl+]: Jump to tag definition

• mnemonic: ] looks like arrow pointing in
• example: Jump to function/variable declaration

Ctrl+t: Jump back from tag

• mnemonic: tag back
• example: Return from definition jump

Diff tool

do: Diff obtain (get changes)

• mnemonic: diff obtain
• example: In diff view, pull changes from other file

dp: Diff put (send changes)

• mnemonic: diff put
• example: In diff view, push changes to other file

]c: Next diff

• mnemonic: ] moves forward
• example: Jump to next changed block

[c: Previous diff

• mnemonic: [ moves backward
• example: Jump to previous changed block

Folding controls

zc: Close fold

• mnemonic: zip close
• example: Collapse current code block

zo: Open fold

• • mnemonic: zip open
• • example: Expand current collapsed block

za: Toggle fold

• • mnemonic: zip alternate
• • example: Toggle current fold state

zR: Open all folds

• mnemonic: Recursively open
• example: Expand all nested folds

zM: Close all folds

• mnemonic: Maximally close
• example: Collapse entire file structure

Multilines

o: new line under cursor O: new line above cursor 5o: 5 new line under cursor 5O: 5 ne line above cursor

Vim motions

$F" or va"<Esc> or vi"<Esc>: navigate last double quote

Pro Tip: Combine motions with commands for powerful editing:

• d3w → Delete 3 words forward
• c$ → Change to end of line
• yG → Yank to end of file
• >j → Indent current and next line