VIM MASTERY
Essential shortcuts for developers & ops professionals
M
Mode Switching
i
Insert before cursor
a
Insert after cursor
o
New line below + insert
O
New line above + insert
Esc
Return to normal mode
v
Visual character mode
V
Visual line mode
Ctrl+v
Visual block mode
↗
Navigation
h j k l
← ↓ ↑ →
w
Next word start
b
Previous word start
e
Word end
0
Line start
$
Line end
gg
File start
G
File end
%
Matching bracket
⊞
Selection & Visual
viw
Select inner word
vaw
Select word + whitespace
vi(
Select inside ()
va{
Select around {}
vi"
Select inside quotes
vit
Select inside HTML tag
gv
Reselect last selection
⇄
Indentation
>>
Indent line right
<<
Indent line left
>
Indent selection right
<
Indent selection left
==
Auto-indent line
gg=G
Auto-indent entire file
✏
Editing
x
Delete character
dd
Delete line
dw
Delete word
yy
Copy line
p
Paste after
P
Paste before
u
Undo
Ctrl+r
Redo
J
Join lines
⚡
Developer Power
*
Search word under cursor
#
Search backward
gd
Go to definition
Ctrl+]
Jump to tag
Ctrl+o
Jump back
za
Toggle fold
zf
Create fold
🔍
Search & Replace
/text
Search forward
?text
Search backward
n
Next result
N
Previous result
:%s/old/new/g
Replace all
:noh
Clear highlights
📁
Files & Buffers
:w
Save file
:wq
Save & quit
:q!
Quit without save
:e file
Open file
:bn
Next buffer
:bp
Previous buffer
:ls
List buffers
⊞
Windows & Tabs
:sp
Horizontal split
:vsp
Vertical split
Ctrl+w h
Move to left split
Ctrl+w l
Move to right split
:tabnew
New tab
gt
Next tab
gT
Previous tab
⚙
Shell & Commands
:!cmd
Execute shell command
:r !cmd
Insert command output
K
Man page lookup
qa
Record macro 'a'
@a
Execute macro 'a'
.
Repeat last command
⚙
Configuration
:set number
Show line numbers
:set hlsearch
Highlight search
:syntax on
Enable syntax
:set tabstop=4
Set tab width
:retab
Convert tabs/spaces
💡 Pro Tips
Numbers prefix commands:
5dd
deletes 5 lines
Use
.
to repeat your last action
Visual block mode (
Ctrl+v
) for column editing
Combine operators:
ci"
changes inside quotes
Use
:help command
to learn any Vim feature