Vim Commands Lookup | Searchable Vim Cheat Sheet

Vim commands lookup: search real commands by task - exit vim, delete a line, search and replace across a file. Grouped by mode with practical notes. Works offline, free. Designed specifically for developers and professionals, this free online utility runs entirely in your browser to process tasks quickly and securely. Enjoy unlimited usage with no data tracking and no registration required.

Also known as: vim commands lookup · vim commands cheat sheet · how to exit vim · vim search and replace · vim delete line · vim keyboard shortcuts

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Look Up a Command

122 commands

What do you want to do?

Describe the task or type the keys - the search matches keystrokes, descriptions and notes.

Filter by category

The four Vim modes

normal

The default mode. Keys are commands, not text - Esc always gets you back here.

insert

Typing inserts text. Enter it with i, a, o and friends; leave with Esc.

visual

Select text with motions, then run an operator like d, y or > on the selection.

command-line

Ex commands typed at the bottom of the screen, starting with :, / or ?.

All Commands

122 results

:qQuit the current window

Fails if the buffer has unsaved changes.

command-line

:q!Quit without saving

Discards all unsaved changes in the current buffer.

command-line

:wqSave the file and quit

command-line

:xSave only if the file changed, then quit

Unlike :wq it does not touch the modification time when nothing changed.

command-line

ZZSave if changed and quit, without the colon

Same as :x, typed from normal mode.

normal

ZQQuit without saving, without the colon

Same as :q!.

normal

:wSave the file and keep editing

command-line

:w filenameWrite the buffer to a different file

Keeps editing the original file; use :saveas to switch to the new one.

command-line

:qa!Quit every window and tab without saving anything

The nuclear exit when multiple splits refuse to close.

command-line

:saveas filenameSave under a new name and continue editing that file

command-line

h j k lMove left, down, up, right

Prefix with a count: 5j moves down five lines.

normal

wJump forward to the start of the next word

normal

bJump backward to the start of the previous word

normal

eJump forward to the end of the current or next word

normal

0Go to the very first column of the line

normal

^Go to the first non-blank character of the line

normal

$Go to the end of the line

normal

ggGo to the first line of the file

normal

GGo to the last line of the file

normal

{number}GJump to a specific line number

42G jumps to line 42; :42 does the same from the command line.

normal

Ctrl-dScroll down half a screen

normal

Ctrl-uScroll up half a screen

normal

Ctrl-fScroll down a full screen

normal

Ctrl-bScroll up a full screen

normal

%Jump to the matching bracket, parenthesis or brace

Works on (), [] and {} - put the cursor on either half of the pair.

normal

{Jump to the previous blank line (paragraph back)

normal

}Jump to the next blank line (paragraph forward)

normal

f{char}Jump to the next occurrence of a character on this line

fx lands on the x; combine with operators, e.g. dfx deletes through it.

normal

t{char}Jump to just before the next occurrence of a character

tx stops one column short of the x - handy with c and d.

normal

;Repeat the last f or t jump forward

normal

,Repeat the last f or t jump backward

normal

HMove the cursor to the top of the screen

normal

MMove the cursor to the middle of the screen

normal

LMove the cursor to the bottom of the screen

normal

zzCenter the screen on the current line

Lowercase - ZZ saves and quits.

normal

iInsert text before the cursor

Enters insert mode; press Esc to return to normal mode.

normal

aInsert text after the cursor

normal

IInsert at the beginning of the line

normal

AInsert at the end of the line

normal

oOpen a new line below and start typing

normal

OOpen a new line above and start typing

normal

xDelete the character under the cursor

normal

r{char}Replace the character under the cursor with another

Stays in normal mode - no Esc needed afterwards.

normal

sDelete the character and start typing in its place

normal

ccReplace the whole line and start typing

normal

cwChange from the cursor to the end of the word

normal

ciwChange the whole word under the cursor

Works from anywhere inside the word, unlike cw.

normal

ci"Change everything inside the surrounding double quotes

Also works with ci' and ci` for other quote styles.

normal

ci(Change everything inside the surrounding parentheses

ci{ and ci[ do the same for braces and brackets; cib is a synonym for ci(.

normal

CChange from the cursor to the end of the line

normal

ddDelete the current line

The deleted line lands in the unnamed register - p pastes it back.

normal

dwDelete from the cursor to the start of the next word

normal

diwDelete the whole word under the cursor

normal

DDelete from the cursor to the end of the line

normal

JJoin the next line onto the end of this one

gJ joins without inserting a space.

normal

uUndo the last change

normal

Ctrl-rRedo a change you just undid

normal

.Repeat the last change

One of Vim's most powerful keys - repeats the whole last edit, not just a keystroke.

normal

~Toggle the case of the character under the cursor

normal

>>Indent the current line one level

normal

<<Unindent the current line one level

normal

==Auto-indent the current line

gg=G re-indents the whole file.

normal

gUUppercase text covered by a motion

gUw uppercases a word, gUU the whole line.

normal

guLowercase text covered by a motion

guw lowercases a word, guu the whole line.

normal

yyCopy (yank) the current line

5yy copies five lines.

normal

ywCopy from the cursor to the start of the next word

normal

yiwCopy the whole word under the cursor

normal

y$Copy from the cursor to the end of the line

normal

pPaste after the cursor or below the line

normal

PPaste before the cursor or above the line

normal

"0pPaste the last yank even after deleting something

normal

"+yCopy to the system clipboard

Needs a Vim built with +clipboard; check with :version.

normal

"+pPaste from the system clipboard

normal

:regShow what is stored in every register

Useful when a paste brings back the wrong thing.

command-line

/patternSearch forward for a pattern

Press Enter to jump; patterns are regular expressions.

command-line

?patternSearch backward for a pattern

command-line

nJump to the next search match

normal

NJump to the previous search match

normal

*Search forward for the word under the cursor

normal

#Search backward for the word under the cursor

normal

:%s/old/new/gSearch and replace in the whole file

Without the trailing g only the first match on each line is replaced.

command-line

:%s/old/new/gcSearch and replace with a confirmation for each match

y replaces, n skips, a replaces all remaining, q stops.

command-line

:s/old/new/gSearch and replace on the current line only

Prefix a range to widen it, e.g. :10,20s/old/new/g.

command-line

:nohClear leftover search highlighting

The highlight comes back on the next search - this only hides the current one.

command-line

:g/pattern/dDelete every line matching a pattern

:v/pattern/d does the opposite - keeps only matching lines.

command-line

vStart selecting text character by character

normal

VStart selecting whole lines

normal

Ctrl-vStart a rectangular block selection

With I or A you can insert on every selected line at once - great for commenting.

normal

gvReselect the previous visual selection

normal

oJump to the other end of the selection

Lets you extend the selection from whichever end you need.

visual

awSelect a word including the trailing space

Text objects also follow d, c and y outside visual mode: daw, caw, yaw.

visual

abSelect a parenthesized block including the parentheses

visual

ibSelect inside a parenthesized block, excluding the parentheses

visual

atSelect an HTML/XML tag block including the tags

visual

itSelect inside an HTML/XML tag block, excluding the tags

visual

:e filenameOpen another file for editing

Tab-completes paths; :e! reloads the current file and discards changes.

command-line

:bnSwitch to the next buffer

command-line

:bpSwitch to the previous buffer

command-line

:bdClose (delete) the current buffer

The file stays on disk - this only removes it from the buffer list.

command-line

:lsList all open buffers

% marks the current buffer, # the alternate one.

command-line

:b {number}Jump straight to a buffer by its number

:b also accepts a partial file name, e.g. :b conf.

command-line

gfOpen the file whose path is under the cursor

Ctrl-o jumps back to where you were.

normal

Ctrl-^Toggle between the current and the previous file

Also written Ctrl-6 - the fastest way to bounce between two files.

normal

:spSplit the window horizontally

:sp filename opens another file in the new split.

command-line

:vspSplit the window vertically

command-line

Ctrl-w sSplit horizontally without the command line

normal

Ctrl-w vSplit vertically without the command line

normal

Ctrl-w wCycle to the next window

normal

Ctrl-w h/j/k/lMove to the window on the left, below, above or right

normal

Ctrl-w qClose the current window

normal

Ctrl-w =Make all windows equal size

normal

:tabnewOpen a new tab page

:tabnew filename opens a file directly in the new tab.

command-line

gtGo to the next tab

2gt jumps to tab 2.

normal

gTGo to the previous tab

normal

:tabcloseClose the current tab page

command-line

qa ... qRecord a macro into register a

Everything you type between qa and q is recorded; any letter a-z works as the register.

normal

@aPlay back the macro stored in register a

10@a runs it ten times.

normal

@@Repeat the last macro you played

normal

maSet mark a at the cursor position

Lowercase marks are per file; uppercase marks work across files.

normal

`aJump to the exact position of mark a

The backtick restores line and column; `` jumps back to where you came from.

normal

'aJump to the first non-blank character of mark a's line

normal

:marksList every mark that is currently set

command-line

About Vim Commands Lookup

Search 122 essential Vim commands by what you want to do - "delete the current line", "search and replace", "quit without saving" - instead of trying to remember the keystroke. Every entry is tagged with its mode (normal, insert, visual or command-line), and the whole reference works offline with nothing sent anywhere.

Key Features

Task-first search: type the goal in plain words and get the exact keystroke, or type keys like ciw to see what they do
Nine categories covering exiting and saving, movement, editing, copy and paste, search and replace, visual mode, buffers, windows and tabs, and macros and marks
Mode badge on every command plus a built-in legend explaining normal, insert, visual and command-line modes
Gotcha notes on the tricky ones: registers surviving deletes, :x versus :wq, the backtick versus apostrophe mark jumps
Copy the filtered list as plain text for a personal cheat sheet or team wiki

Use Cases

Finally answering the classic question of how to exit Vim, with or without saving
Finding the precise motion or operator for an edit, like changing everything inside quotes
Learning text objects such as ciw, ci" and it that make edits repeatable and fast
Looking up split, window and tab management commands you use too rarely to memorize

Related Keywords

vim commands lookup

vim commands cheat sheet

how to exit vim

vim search and replace

vim delete line

vim keyboard shortcuts

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Frequently asked questions

What is Vim Commands Lookup used for?

Vim commands lookup: search real commands by task - exit vim, delete a line, search and replace across a file. Grouped by mode with practical notes. Works offline, free.

Is Vim Commands Lookup free to use?

Yes. Vim Commands Lookup is completely free with no usage limits, and there is no paid tier required to use it.

Do I need an account to use Vim Commands Lookup?

No. Vim Commands Lookup works immediately in your browser with no signup, login, or email address required.

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