Vim

Vim Quick Starter Guide

Vim is a powerful, keyboard-driven text editor available on almost all Unix-based systems. It has a steep learning curve but becomes extremely efficient with practice.

1. Launching & Exiting Vim

Command	Action
`vim filename`	Open a file in Vim
`:q`	Quit (if no changes)
`:q!`	Quit without saving (discard changes)
`:w`	Save changes
`:wq` or `:x`	Save and quit
`ZZ` (Shift+zz)	Save and quit (faster)

2. Modes in Vim

Vim has three main modes:

Normal Mode (Default) – Navigate, delete, copy, paste.
Press Esc to return to Normal Mode.
Insert Mode – Edit text (like a normal editor).
Press i (insert) or a (append) to enter.
Command Mode – Run commands (save, quit, search).
Press : to enter.

Command	Action
`h`	Move left
`j`	Move down
`k`	Move up
`l`	Move right
`w`	Jump to next word
`b`	Jump to previous word
`0`	Start of line
`$`	End of line
`gg`	Go to first line
`G`	Go to last line
`:10`	Go to line 10

4. Editing Text

Entering Insert Mode

Command	Action
`i`	Insert before cursor
`a`	Insert after cursor
`I`	Insert at start of line
`A`	Insert at end of line
`o`	Insert new line below
`O`	Insert new line above

Deleting Text

Command	Action
`x`	Delete character under cursor
`dw`	Delete word
`dd`	Delete entire line
`D`	Delete from cursor to end of line

Copy & Paste (Yank & Put)

Command	Action
`yy`	Copy (yank) entire line
`yw`	Copy word
`p`	Paste (put) after cursor
`P`	Paste before cursor

5. Searching & Replacing

Command	Action
`/word`	Search forward for "word"
`?word`	Search backward for "word"
`n`	Go to next match
`N`	Go to previous match
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all "old" with "new"
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace with confirmation

6. Undo & Redo

Command	Action
`u`	Undo last change
`Ctrl + r`	Redo last undo

7. Saving & Exiting

Command	Action
`:w`	Save file
`:w filename`	Save as new file
`:q`	Quit (if no changes)
`:q!`	Quit without saving
`:wq` or `:x`	Save and quit
`ZZ`	Save and quit (shortcut)

8. Bonus Tips

Open multiple files: vim file1 file2 → :n (next file), :N (previous file).
Split screen: :split filename (horizontal), :vsplit filename (vertical).
Line numbers: :set number (show), :set nonumber (hide).
Syntax highlighting: :syntax on.

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

i → Insert | Esc → Normal Mode  
h j k l → Move  
yy → Copy | p → Paste  
dd → Delete line | u → Undo  
:w → Save | :q → Quit | :wq → Save & Quit

🚀 Practice Vim with vimtutor (run in terminal)!

This guide covers the basics—mastering Vim takes time, but it’s worth it! 🎯

Vim