vi

• vi

  • command mode

    • Esc

  • insert mode

    • i o a

    • I O A

  • ex mode

    • :

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vi help

Exiting vi

Command	Action
:w	write out
:x	write out and quit
:wq	write out and quit
:q	quit (if write out is over)
:q!	ignore changes and quit

Moving around in vi

Command	Action
h ← Backspace	left
j ↓	down
k ↑	up
l → Space	right

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vi command mode

Screen Manipulation

Command	Action
Ctrl+f	Scroll forward one screen
Ctrl+b	Scroll backward one screen
Ctrl+d	Scroll down half screen
Ctrl+u	Scroll up half screen
Ctrl+l	Redraw screen
Ctrl+r	Redraw screen removing deleted stuff

Moving Around

Command	Action
0	start of the current line
$	end of the current line
w	beginning of next word
b	beginning of preceding word
:0	first line in the file
1G	first line in the file
:n	nth line in the file
nG	nth line in the file
:$	last line in the file
G	last line in the file

Changing Text

Command	Action
r	replace single char under cursor
R	replace chars from cursor till Esc
cw	change word under cursor, from current char till Esc
cNw	change N words, from current char till Esc
C	change chars in current line till Esc
cc	change current line till Esc
Ncc	change next N lines, starting from current, till Esc

Deleting Text

Command	Action
x	delete single char under cursor
Nx	delete N chars from cursor
dw	delete one word, from the char under cursor
dNw	delete N words, from the char under cursor
D	Delete rest of the line, from the char under cursor
dd	delete current line
Ndd	delete next N lines, starting from current

Copy Paste Text

Command	Action
yy	copy current line to buffer
Nyy	copy next N lines, including current, into buffer
p	Paste buffer into text after current line
u	undo previous action

Searching Text

Command	Action
/string	search forward for string
?string	Search backward for string
n	move cursor to next occurance of string
N	move to previous occurance of string

• :se nu to set line numbers

• :se nonu to unset line numbers

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References

• vimhelp