Comprehensive Guide to Vi Command Shortcuts

Vi Editor ShortCuts

Mastering Text Editing

Basic VI Editor Commands

To start vi:

Example: vi letter will open a new file called letter to edit, or if letter already exists, open the existing file.

Command	Effect
vi filename	Edit filename starting at line 1
vi +n filename	Edit filename beginning at line n
vi +filename	Edit filename beginning at the last line
vi -r filename	Recover filename after a system crash
vi +/pattern filename	Edit filename starting at the first line containing pattern

Command Mode vs. Insert Mode

Insert mode is used for entering text. Command mode is used for issuing commands like moving the cursor, deleting text, copying, pasting, and saving.

To insert text:

Command	Insert Text
i	Before cursor
a	After cursor
A	At the end of the line
o	Open a line below the current line
O	Open a line above the current line
r	Replace the current character
R	Replace characters until Esc, overwrite

Moving the Cursor

You must be in Command Mode to move the cursor. Each command can be preceded with a Repeat Factor.

Command	Moves the Cursor
SPACE, l, or right arrow	Space to the right
h or left arrow	Space to the left
j or down arrow	Down one line
k or up arrow	Up one line
w	Word to the right
b	Word to the left
$	End of the line
0 (zero)	Beginning of the line
e	End of the word to the right
–	Beginning of previous line
)	End of the sentence
(	Beginning of the sentence
}	End of paragraph
{	Beginning of paragraph

To Delete Text

The d command removes text. If you delete by mistake, use u (undo) immediately.

Command	Action
d0	Delete to beginning of line
dw	Delete to end of word
d3w	Delete to end of third word
db	Delete to beginning of word
dW	Delete to end of blank delimited word
dB	Delete to beginning of blank delimited word
dd	Delete current line
5dd	Delete 5 lines starting with the current line
dL	Delete through the last line on the screen
dH	Delete through the first line on the screen
d)	Delete through the end of the sentence
d(	Delete through the beginning of the sentence
x	Delete the current character
nx	Delete the number of characters specified by n
nX	Delete n characters before the current character

Viewing Different Parts of the Work Buffer

Command	Moves the Cursor
^D	Forward one-half screenful
^U	Backward one-half screenful
^F	Forward one screenful
^B	Backward one screenful
nG	To line n (Ex: 25G moves the cursor to line #25)
H	To the top of the screen
M	To the middle of the screen
L	To the bottom of the screen
^L	Refresh the screen

Yanking (Copy) and Putting (Paste) Text

Example: 3yy will yank (copy) 3 lines. p will put the 3 lines just yanked below the current line.

Command	Effect
yM	Yank text specified by M
y3w	Yank 3 words
nyy	Yank n lines
Y	Yank to the end of the line
P	Put text above current line
p	Put text below current line

Changing Text

Example: cw allows you to change a word. The word may be replaced by as many words as needed. Stop the change by hitting Esc.

Command	Effect
cw	Change a word
c3w	Change 3 words

Ending an Editing Session

Command	Effect
:w	Writes the contents of the work buffer to the file
:q	Quit
:q!	Quit without saving changes
ZZ	Save and quit
:wq	Save and quit
:w filename	Saves to filename (change the name of the file)

Miscellaneous Commands

Command	Effect
J	Join the current line and the following line
:set number	Number the lines on the screen
:set nonumber	Turn off numbering of lines
:r filename	Reads filename into the current file at the cursor location
:set showmode	Displays INPUT MODE at the bottom right corner of screen
~	Change uppercase to lowercase and vice-versa

Searching for an Expression

When in command mode, enter /Bill will find the next occurrence of Bill.

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