Vim Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Essential Vim keyboard shortcuts and commands. Navigate, edit, search, and manage files in Vim. Complete reference for beginners and pros.

Navigation — Basic Movement

Shortcut	Description
`h`	Move cursor left one character
`j`	Move cursor down one line
`k`	Move cursor up one line
`l`	Move cursor right one character
`w`	Jump forward to start of next word
`W`	Jump forward to start of next WORD (space-delimited)
`b`	Jump backward to start of previous word
`B`	Jump backward to start of previous WORD (space-delimited)
`e`	Jump forward to end of current word
`E`	Jump forward to end of current WORD (space-delimited)
`0`	Move to the beginning of the line
`^`	Move to the first non-blank character of the line
`$`	Move to the end of the line
`gg`	Go to the first line of the file
`G`	Go to the last line of the file
`5G` or `:5`	Go to line 5 (replace 5 with any line number)
`H`	Move cursor to top of screen (High)
`M`	Move cursor to middle of screen (Middle)
`L`	Move cursor to bottom of screen (Low)
`Ctrl + f`	Scroll forward one full screen (page down)
`Ctrl + b`	Scroll backward one full screen (page up)
`Ctrl + d`	Scroll down half a screen
`Ctrl + u`	Scroll up half a screen
`%`	Jump to matching bracket `( )`, `[ ]`, or `{ }`
`f{char}`	Move forward to next occurrence of `{char}` on current line
`F{char}`	Move backward to previous occurrence of `{char}` on current line
`t{char}`	Move forward to just before `{char}` on current line
`;`	Repeat last `f`, `F`, `t`, or `T` motion forward
`,`	Repeat last `f`, `F`, `t`, or `T` motion backward
`}`	Jump to next paragraph (blank line)
`{`	Jump to previous paragraph (blank line)

Shortcut	Description
`i`	Insert before cursor
`I`	Insert at the beginning of the line
`a`	Append after cursor
`A`	Append at the end of the line
`o`	Open a new line below and enter insert mode
`O`	Open a new line above and enter insert mode
`Esc`	Exit insert mode and return to normal mode

Shortcut	Description
`x`	Delete the character under the cursor
`X`	Delete the character before the cursor
`dd`	Delete (cut) the entire current line
`dw`	Delete from cursor to start of next word
`d$` or `D`	Delete from cursor to the end of the line
`d0`	Delete from cursor to the beginning of the line
`dgg`	Delete from current line to the beginning of the file
`dG`	Delete from current line to the end of the file
`d%`	Delete to matching bracket
`cc`	Change (replace) the entire current line
`cw`	Change from cursor to start of next word
`c$` or `C`	Change from cursor to the end of the line
`s`	Delete character under cursor and enter insert mode
`S`	Delete entire line and enter insert mode (same as `cc`)
`r{char}`	Replace the character under cursor with `{char}`
`R`	Enter replace mode (overwrite characters as you type)
`yy`	Yank (copy) the entire current line
`yw`	Yank from cursor to start of next word
`y$`	Yank from cursor to the end of the line
`p`	Paste after cursor (or below current line for full lines)
`P`	Paste before cursor (or above current line for full lines)
`u`	Undo the last change
`Ctrl + r`	Redo the last undone change
`.`	Repeat the last editing command
`J`	Join the current line with the next line
`~`	Toggle case of the character under cursor
`>>`	Indent the current line
`<<`	Un-indent the current line

Command	Description
`/pattern`	Search forward for `pattern`
`?pattern`	Search backward for `pattern`
`n`	Repeat search in the same direction
`N`	Repeat search in the opposite direction
`*`	Search forward for the word under the cursor
`#`	Search backward for the word under the cursor
`:s/old/new/`	Replace first occurrence of `old` with `new` on the current line
`:s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences of `old` with `new` on the current line
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences of `old` with `new` in the entire file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace all occurrences with confirmation for each match
`:noh`	Clear search highlighting

Shortcut	Description
`v`	Enter visual (character) mode — select text character by character
`V`	Enter visual line mode — select entire lines
`Ctrl + v`	Enter visual block mode — select a rectangular block
`gv`	Reselect the last visual selection
`o`	Move to the other end of the selection (in visual mode)
`d`	Delete the selected text (in visual mode)
`y`	Yank (copy) the selected text (in visual mode)
`c`	Change the selected text (in visual mode)
`>`	Indent the selected text (in visual mode)
`<`	Un-indent the selected text (in visual mode)
`~`	Toggle case of selected text (in visual mode)
`U`	Uppercase selected text (in visual mode)
`u`	Lowercase selected text (in visual mode)

Command	Description
`:w`	Save (write) the current file
`:w filename`	Save as a new file with the given name
`:q`	Quit Vim (fails if there are unsaved changes)
`:q!`	Quit without saving (force quit)
`:wq` or `:x`	Save and quit
`ZZ`	Save and quit (shortcut, no colon needed)
`ZQ`	Quit without saving (shortcut, no colon needed)
`:e filename`	Open a file for editing
`:e!`	Reload the current file, discarding changes
`:sp filename`	Open a file in a horizontal split
`:vsp filename`	Open a file in a vertical split
`:r filename`	Read and insert a file below the cursor
`:r !command`	Insert the output of a shell command below the cursor

Command	Description
`:ls` or `:buffers`	List all open buffers
`:bn`	Switch to the next buffer
`:bp`	Switch to the previous buffer
`:bd`	Close (delete) the current buffer
`:b2`	Switch to buffer number 2
`Ctrl + w s`	Split the window horizontally
`Ctrl + w v`	Split the window vertically
`Ctrl + w w`	Cycle through open windows
`Ctrl + w h`	Move to the window on the left
`Ctrl + w j`	Move to the window below
`Ctrl + w k`	Move to the window above
`Ctrl + w l`	Move to the window on the right
`Ctrl + w q`	Close the current window
`Ctrl + w o`	Close all windows except the current one
`Ctrl + w =`	Make all windows equal size
`Ctrl + w +`	Increase current window height
`Ctrl + w -`	Decrease current window height
`:tabnew`	Open a new tab
`:tabn` or `gt`	Go to the next tab
`:tabp` or `gT`	Go to the previous tab
`:tabclose`	Close the current tab

Command	Description
`q{register}`	Start recording a macro into register (e.g., `qa` records into register `a`)
`q`	Stop recording the macro
`@{register}`	Play back the macro from register (e.g., `@a`)
`@@`	Replay the last played macro
`5@a`	Play macro in register `a` five times
`:reg`	View the contents of all registers (including macros)

Command	Description
`m{a-z}`	Set a local mark (e.g., `ma` sets mark `a` in current buffer)
`m{A-Z}`	Set a global mark (works across files)
`'{mark}`	Jump to the line of the mark (e.g., `'a`)
`{mark}	Jump to the exact position of the mark (e.g., `a)
`''`	Jump back to the line before the last jump
``	Jump back to the exact position before the last jump
`:marks`	List all current marks
`:delmarks a`	Delete mark `a`
`:delmarks!`	Delete all lowercase marks