Ganesh Joshi

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Vim commands

Updated 2026-02-14

Vim keybindings: navigation, editing, search, and ex commands. Quick reference for daily use.

Navigation

```
h j k l
```
Left, down, up, right.
```
w / b
```
Next / previous word start.
```
0 / ^ / $
```
Line start / first non-blank / line end.
```
gg / G
```
First line / last line.
```
Ctrl+u / Ctrl+d
```
Half page up / down.
```
/pattern / ?pattern
```
Search forward / backward.
```
n / N
```
Next / previous match.

Editing

```
i / a
```
Insert before / after cursor.
```
I / A
```
Insert at line start / end.
```
o / O
```
New line below / above.
```
dd / yy
```
Delete / yank line.
```
x / X
```
Delete char under / before cursor.
```
p / P
```
Paste after / before cursor.
```
u / Ctrl+r
```
Undo / redo.
```
ci" / ciw
```
Change inside " / word.

Ex commands

```
:w
```
Save.
```
:q
```
Quit.
```
:wq / :x
```
Save and quit.
```
:q!
```
Quit without saving.
```
:s/old/new/g
```
Substitute in line (g = all).
```
:%s/old/new/g
```
Substitute in file.
```
:set number
```
Show line numbers.
```
:noh
```
Clear search highlight.

Vim commands | Cheatsheet | Ganesh Joshi