Vim Cheatsheet

Motions and Marks

Use this Vim reference while you build software engineering projects, review code, or refresh the syntax you reach for most.

Character and Line Motions

Key	Moves to
`h` `j` `k` `l`	left, down, up, right
`0`	First column of the line
`^`	First non-blank character
`$`	End of line
`g_`	Last non-blank character
`gg`	First line of the file
`G`	Last line of the file
`42G` or `:42`	Line 42
`gj` `gk`	Down/up by screen line (wrapped text)
`g0` `g$`	Start/end of the screen line
`+` `-`	First non-blank of next / previous line
`\|`	Column 1; `20\|` goes to column 20

Word Motions

Key	Moves to
`w`	Start of next word
`W`	Start of next WORD (whitespace-delimited)
`b`	Start of previous word
`B`	Start of previous WORD
`e`	End of current or next word
`E`	End of current or next WORD
`ge`	End of previous word

A word stops at punctuation, a WORD only at whitespace. In foo.bar_baz, w walks foo → . → bar_baz, while W jumps over the whole thing.

Find on the Line

Key	Action
`f{char}`	Jump forward onto the next `{char}`
`F{char}`	Jump backward onto the previous `{char}`
`t{char}`	Jump forward until just before `{char}`
`T{char}`	Jump backward until just after `{char}`
`;`	Repeat the last `f`/`t` in the same direction
`,`	Repeat it in the opposite direction

" Cursor at the start of:  parse(input, opts)
f,      " lands on the comma
dt)     " deletes ' opts' up to but not including ')'
ci(     " change everything inside the parentheses

Screen and Scrolling

Key	Action
`H` `M` `L`	Top / middle / bottom line of the screen
`zt` `zz` `zb`	Scroll so the current line is at top / center / bottom
`Ctrl-e` `Ctrl-y`	Scroll one line down / up
`Ctrl-d` `Ctrl-u`	Scroll half a screen down / up
`Ctrl-f` `Ctrl-b`	Scroll a full screen forward / back

zz is the one to build a habit around: it recenters what you are reading without moving the cursor.

Paragraphs, Sentences, Brackets

Key	Moves to
`{` `}`	Previous / next blank line (paragraph)
`(` `)`	Previous / next sentence
`%`	The matching bracket, paren, or brace
`[[` `]]`	Previous / next section (or top-level `{`)
`[{` `]}`	Start / end of the enclosing block
`[(` `])`	Start / end of the enclosing parens
`[m` `]m`	Start of previous / next method (Java-like)

Jumps and Changes

Vim records a jumplist and a changelist so you can retrace your steps.

Key	Action
`Ctrl-o`	Go to the previous position in the jumplist
`Ctrl-i` or `Tab`	Go to the next position
`:jumps`	Show the jumplist
`g;`	Go to the previous change
`g,`	Go to the next change
`:changes`	Show the changelist
` `	Back to the position before the last jump
`''`	Back to the line before the last jump
` . ``	To the position of the last change
`gi`	Insert mode at the last insert position
`gv`	Reselect the last Visual selection

A "jump" is a big move (G, /, %, {). Small moves like j and w do not touch the jumplist, which is what makes Ctrl-o useful.

Marks

Key	Action
`m{a-z}`	Set a mark, local to the buffer
`m{A-Z}`	Set a global mark (works across files)
` {mark} ``	Jump to the mark's exact position
`'{mark}`	Jump to the mark's line
`:marks`	List every mark
`:delmarks a b`	Delete marks a and b
`:delmarks!`	Delete all lowercase marks

Automatic mark	Set to
` [ ` ] ``	Start / end of the last change or yank
` < ` > ``	Start / end of the last Visual selection
` " ``	Position when you last left the file
` ^ ``	Position where Insert mode was last stopped

ma       " mark this spot as 'a'
G        " go read the end of the file
`a       " snap back exactly where you were
d'a      " or: delete from here to the line of mark a

Counts and Relative Numbers

Motions take counts, and with relative line numbers on you can read the count straight off the gutter.

:set number relativenumber   " absolute on the cursor line, relative elsewhere

Command	Action
`5j`	Down 5 lines
`d7k`	Delete 7 lines upward
`3fx`	Jump to the third `x` on this line
`2}`	Forward 2 paragraphs
`10x`	Delete 10 characters