Vim Commands Cheat Sheet - Moving - Searching - Inserting - Editing - Undoing/Redoing - Deleting - Copying - Cutting - Pasting - Marking - Visual Commands - Color Schemes - Marks and Jumps - Macros - Multiple Files

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Rowan

Vim Commands Cheat Sheet provides a structured reference of essential Vim keyboard and ex-command shortcuts. It groups navigation, screen-based movement, searching, inserting, editing, undo and redo, and deletion into concise command tables. Additional sections cover copying and cutting, pasting, marking and visual mode operations, color scheme commands, marks and jumps, macros, and working with multiple files and buffers. Designed for fast recall during daily editing workflows.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages1

AccessFree to download

Moving

Searching

Inserting

Editing

Undoing/Redoing

Deleting

Copying

Cutting

Pasting

Marking

Visual Commands

Color Schemes

Marks and Jumps

Macros

Multiple Files

Vim Commands Cheat Sheet Moving | h | move cursor left | | --- | --- | | j | move cursor down | | k | move cursor up | | l | move cursor right | | \#h [j/k/l] | move in a speciﬁed direction multiple times | | b / B | move to the start of a word / token | | w / W | move to the start of the next word / token | | e / E | move to the end of a word / token | | | | | 0 (zero) | jump to the beginning of line | | $ | jump to the end of line | | ^ | jump to the ﬁrst (non-blank) character of line | | \#G / \#gg / :\# | move to a speciﬁed line number (replace \# with the line number) | Moving by Screens | Ctrl+b | move back one full screen | | --- | --- | | Ctrl+f | move forward one full screen | | Ctrl+d | move forward 1/2 a screen | | Ctrl+u | move back 1/2 a screen | | Ctrl+e | move screen down one line (without moving cursor) | | Ctrl+y | move screen up one line (without moving cursor) | | Ctrl+o | move backward through the jump history | | Ctrl+i | move forward through the jump history | | H | move to the top of the screen | | M | move to the middle of the screen | | L | move to the bottom of the screen | Searching | * | jump to the next instance of a word | | --- | --- | | \# | jump to the previous instance of a word | | /pattern | search forward for the speciﬁed pattern | | ?pattern | search backward for the speciﬁed pattern | | n | repeat the search in the same direction | | N | repeat the search in the opposite direction | Inserting | i | switch to insert mode before the cursor | | --- | --- | | I | insert text at the beggining of the line | | a | switch to insert mode after the cursor | | A | insert text at the end of the line | | o | open a new line below the current one | | O | open a new line above the current one | | ea | insert text at the end of the word | | Esc | exit insert mode | Editing | r | replace a single character (+ return to command mode) | | --- | --- | | cc | replace entire line (+ move into insert mode) | | C / c$ | replace from cursor to the end of line | | cw | replace from cursor to the end of the word | | s | delete a character (+ move into insert mode) | | J | merge with line below, separated with a single space | | gJ | merge with line below, with no space between | | . | repeat last command | Undoing/Redoing | u / :u / :undo | undo changes made in last entry | | --- | --- | | \#u | undo multiple changes | | U | undo latest changes in line | | Ctrl+r | redo the last undone entry | | \#Ctrl+r | redo multiple changes | | :undolist | list undo branches | Deleting | dd / D | delete a single line | | --- | --- | | dw | delete a single word | | \#dd / d\#d | delete multiple lines | | :\#,\#d | delete a range of lines | | :%d | delete all lines | | :.,$d | delete from current line to the end of ﬁle | | dgg | delete from current line to the beggining of ﬁle | | :g /pattern/d | delete lines containing a speciﬁed pattern | | :g!/pattern/d | delete lines that don't contain aspeciﬁed pattern | | :g/^$/d | delete all blank lines | Copying | yy | copy an entire line | | --- | --- | | \#yy | copy the speciﬁed number of lines | | yaw | copy a word with its trailing whitespace | | yiw | copy a word without its trailing white-space | | y$ | copy everything right of the cursor | | y^ | copy everything left of the cursor | | ytx | copy everything between the cursor and a speciﬁed character (x) | | yfx | copy everything between the cursor | and a speciﬁed character (including that character) Cutting dd cut the entire line \#dd cut a speciﬁed number of lines d$ everything right of the cursor Pasting p paste text after the cursor P paste text before the cursor Marking | v | marking text using character mode | | --- | --- | | V | mark lines using line mode | | Ctrl+v | mark text using block mode | | o | move from one end of the marked text to the other | | aw | mark a word | | ab | mark a block with () | | aB | mark a block with {} | | at | mark a block with <> | | ib | m

FAQs

How do I move the cursor in Vim using basic keys?

Use h, j, k, l to move left, down, up, and right. Use 0, $, and ^ to jump to the beginning of the line, end of the line, and first non-blank character.

What commands help me search for text in Vim?

Use /pattern to search forward and ?pattern to search backward. Use n to repeat in the same direction and N to repeat in the opposite direction, and * or # to jump to the next or previous instance of a word.

How can I copy, cut, and paste in Vim?

Use yy to copy a line and p/P to paste after or before the cursor. For cutting, dd deletes a line. For copying ranges or multiple lines, use the numbered variants like #yy or #dd.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Rowan