h - Move cursor left
j - Move cursor down
k - Move cursor up
l - Move cursor right
gj - Move cursor down (multi-line text)
gk - Move cursor up (multi-line text)
H - Move to top of screen
M - Move to middle of screen
L - Move to bottom of screen
w - Jump forwards to the start of a word
W - Jump forwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
e - Jump forwards to the end of a word
E - Jump forwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation)
b - Jump backwards to the start of a word
B - Jump backwards to the start of a word (words can contain punctuation)
ge - Jump backwards to the end of a word
gE - Jump backwards to the end of a word (words can contain punctuation)
% - Move cursor to matching character (default supported pairs: (), {}, [] - use :h matchpairs in Vim for more info)
0 - Jump to the start of the line
_ - Jump to the first non-blank character of the line
$ - Jump to the end of the line
g_ - Jump to the last non-blank character of the line
gg - Go to the first line of the document
G - Go to the last line of the document
5gg or 5G - Go to line 5
gd - Move to local declaration
gD - Move to global declaration
fx - Jump to next occurrence of character x
tx - Jump to before next occurrence of character x
Fx - Jump to the previous occurrence of character x
Tx - Jump to after previous occurrence of character x
; - Repeat previous f, t, F or T movement
, - Repeat previous f, t, F or T movement, backwards
} - Jump to next paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)
{ - Jump to previous paragraph (or function/block, when editing code)
zz - Center cursor on screen
zt - Position cursor on top of the screen
zb - Position cursor on bottom of the screen
Ctrl + e - Move screen down one line (without moving cursor)
Ctrl + y - Move screen up one line (without moving cursor)
Ctrl + b - Move screen up one page (cursor to last line)
Ctrl + f - Move screen down one page (cursor to first line)
Ctrl + u - Move cursor and screen up 1/2 page
Ctrl + d - Move cursor and screen down 1/2 page
Tip: Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines.
i - Insert before the cursor
I - Insert at the beginning of the line
a - Insert (append) after the cursor
A - Insert (append) at the end of the line
o - Append (open) a new line below the current line
O - Append (open) a new line above the current line
ea - Insert (append) at the end of the word
Ctrl + h - Delete the character before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + w - Delete word before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + j - Add a line break at the cursor position during insert mode
Ctrl + t - Indent (move right) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
Ctrl + d - De-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth during insert mode
Ctrl + n - Insert (auto-complete) next match before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + p - Insert (auto-complete) previous match before the cursor during insert mode
Ctrl + rx - Insert the contents of register x
Ctrl + ox - Temporarily enter normal mode to issue one normal-mode command x
Esc or Ctrl + c - Exit insert mode
r - Replace a single character
R - Replace more than one character, until Esc is pressed
J - Join line below to the current one with one space in between
gJ - Join line below to the current one without space in between
gwip - Reflow paragraph
g~ - Switch case up to motion
gu - Change to lowercase up to motion
gU - Change to uppercase up to motion
cc - Change (replace) entire line
c$ or C - Change (replace) to the end of the line
ciw - Change (replace) entire word
ci" or ci' - Change (replace) string in double quotes or quotes
cw or ce - Change (replace) to the end of the word
s - Delete character and substitute text
S - Delete line and substitute text (same as cc)
xp - Transpose two letters (delete and paste)
u - Undo
U - Restore (undo) last changed line
Ctrl + r - Redo
. - Repeat last command
Ctrl + a - Increase number
Ctrl + x - Decrease number
Tip: If you make a visual block over numbers with Ctrl + v and then press g + Ctrl + a it would increment each number by n + 1. So from 1, 1, 1 you would get 2, 3, 4.
v - Start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank)
V - Start linewise visual mode
o - Move to other end of marked area
Ctrl + v - Start visual block mode
O - Move to other corner of block
aw - Mark a word
ab - A block with ()
aB - A block with {}
at - A block with <> tags
ib - Inner block with ()
iB - Inner block with {}
it - Inner block with <> tags
i" - Inner block with double quotes
i' - Inner block with quotes
Esc or Ctrl + c - Exit visual mode
Tip: Instead of b or B one can also use ( or { respectively.
> - Shift text right
< - Shift text left
y - Yank (copy) marked text
d - Delete marked text
~ - Switch case
u - Change marked text to lowercase
U - Change marked text to uppercase
:register - Show registers content
"xy - Yank into register x
"xp - Paste contents of register x
"+y - Yank into the system clipboard register
"+p - Paste from the system clipboard register
Tip: Registers are being stored in ~/.viminfo, and will be loaded again on next restart of vim. Special registers:
0 - Last yank
" - Unnamed register, last delete or yank
% - Current file name
# - Alternate file name
* - Clipboard contents (X11 primary)
+ - Clipboard contents (X11 clipboard)
/ - Last search pattern
: - Last command-line
. - Last inserted text
- - Last small (less than a line) delete
= - Expression register
_ - Black hole register
:marks - List of marks
ma - Set current position for mark a
`a - Jump to position of mark a
y`a - Yank text to position of mark a
`0 - Go to the position where Vim was previously exited
`" - Go to the position when last editing this file
`. - Go to the position of the last change in this file
`` - Go to the position before the last jump
:jumps - List of jumps
Ctrl + i - Go to newer position in jump list
Ctrl + o - Go to older position in jump list
:changes - List of changes
g, - Go to newer position in change list
g; - Go to older position in change list
Ctrl + ] - Jump to the tag under cursor
Tip: To jump to a mark you can either use a backtick (`) or an apostrophe ('). Using an apostrophe jumps to the beginning (first non-blank) of the line holding the mark.
A local mark is specific to a particular file and is indicated by a lowercase letter, while global marks are universal across all of your files and use uppercase letters. That is, many files can have an `a mark, while `A points to a particular location in one particular file.
qa - Record macro a
q - Stop recording macro
@a - Run macro a
@@ - Rerun last run macro
gc - Toggle comment for selection
gcc - Toggle comment for the current line
yy - Yank (copy) a line
2yy - Yank (copy) 2 lines
yw - Yank (copy) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
yiw - Yank (copy) word under the cursor
yaw - Yank (copy) word under the cursor and the space after or before it
y$ or Y - Yank (copy) to end of line
p - Put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
P - Put (paste) before cursor
gp - Put (paste) the clipboard after cursor and leave cursor after the new text
gP - Put (paste) before cursor and leave cursor after the new text
dd - Delete (cut) a line
2dd - Delete (cut) 2 lines
dw - Delete (cut) the characters of the word from the cursor position to the start of the next word
diw - Delete (cut) word under the cursor
daw - Delete (cut) word under the cursor and the space after or before it
d$ or D - Delete (cut) to the end of the line
x - Delete (cut) character
:3,5d - Delete lines starting from 3 to 5
:g/{pattern}/d - Delete all lines containing pattern
:g!/{pattern}/d - Delete all lines not containing pattern
Tip: You can also use the following characters to specify the range:
:.,$d - From the current line to the end of the file
:.,1d - From the current line to the beginning of the file
:10,$d - From the 10th line to the beginning of the file
>> - Indent (move right) line one shiftwidth
<< - De-indent (move left) line one shiftwidth
>% - Indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
<% - De-indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
>ib - Indent inner block with ()
>at - Indent a block with <> tags
3== - Re-indent 3 lines
=% - Re-indent a block with () or {} (cursor on brace)
=iB - Re-indent inner block with {}
gg=G - Re-indent entire buffer
]p - Paste and adjust indent to current line
:w - Write (save) the file, but don't exit
:w !sudo tee % - Write out the current file using sudo
:wq - Write (save) and quit
:x - Write (save) and quit
:q - Quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
:q! or ZQ - Quit and throw away unsaved changes
:wqa - Write (save) and quit all
/pattern - Search for pattern
?pattern - Search backward for pattern
\vpattern - Non-alphanumeric characters are interpreted as special regex symbols (no escaping needed)
n - Repeat search in same direction
N - Repeat search in opposite direction
:%s/old/new/g - Replace all old with new throughout file
:%s/old/new/gc - Replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations
:%s/old/new/gci - Replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations (case insensitive)
:%s/old/new/gcI - Replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations (case sensitive)
:noh or ESC - Remove highlighting of search matches
:cope[n] - Open the quickfix window
:ccl[ose] - Close the quickfix window
:chi[story] - Show list of quickfix lists
:cnew[er] - Go to newer quickfix list
:col[der] - Go to older quickfix list
:#chi[story] - Go to quickfix list number #
[q - Go to previous item in quickfix list
]q - Go to next item in quickfix list
dd - Delete item from quickfix list
d - Delete visual selected items from quickfix list
Tip: To replace a pattern in multiple files, use :grep to add all files with this pattern to the quickfix list. Afterwards :cfdo %s/old/new/gcI | update can be used to replace the old pattern with a new one.
:e[dit] file - Edit a file in a new buffer
:%!xxd - Switch to binary format for existing file
:bn[ext] - Go to the next buffer
:bp[revious] - Go to the previous buffer
:ls or :buffers - List all open buffers
:bd[elete] - Delete a buffer (close a file)
:b[uffer]# - Go to a buffer by index #
:b[uffer] file - Go to a buffer by file
:sp[lit] file - Open a file in a new buffer and split window
:vs[plit] file - Open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window
:vert[ical] ba[ll] - Edit all buffers as vertical windows
Ctrl + ws - Split window
Ctrl + wv - Split window vertically
Ctrl + ww - Switch windows
Ctrl + wq - Quit a window
Ctrl + wx - Exchange current window with next one
Ctrl + w+ and Ctrl + w- - Increase / decrease window height
Ctrl + w> and Ctrl + w< - Increase / decrease window width
Ctrl + w_ - Maximize window height
Ctrl + w| - Maximize window width
Ctrl + w= - Make all windows equal height & width
Ctrl + wo - Make current window the only window
Ctrl + wh - Move cursor to the left window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wl - Move cursor to the right window (vertical split)
Ctrl + wj - Move cursor to the window below (horizontal split)
Ctrl + wk - Move cursor to the window above (horizontal split)
Ctrl + wH - Make current window full height at far left (leftmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wL - Make current window full height at far right (rightmost vertical window)
Ctrl + wJ - Make current window full width at the very bottom (bottommost horizontal window)
Ctrl + wK - Make current window full width at the very top (topmost horizontal window)
:tabnew - Open a new tab
Ctrl + wT - Move the current split window into its own tab
gt - Go to the next tab
gT - Go to the previous tab
#gt - Move to tab number #
:tabm[ove] # - Move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0)
:tabc[lose] - Close the current tab and all its windows
:tabo[nly] - Close all tabs except for the current one
zf - Manually define a fold up to motion
zd - Delete fold under the cursor
za - Toggle fold under the cursor
zo - Open fold under the cursor
zc - Close fold under the cursor
zr - Reduce (open) all folds by one level
zm - Fold more (close) all folds by one level
zi - Toggle folding functionality
]c - Jump to start of next change
[c - Jump to start of previous change
do or :diffg[et] - Obtain (get) difference (from other buffer)
dp or :diffpu[t] - Put difference (to other buffer)
:diffthis - Make current window part of diff
:dif[fupdate] - Update differences
:diffo[ff] - Switch off diff mode for current window
Tip: The commands for folding (e.g. za) operate on one level. To operate on all levels, use uppercase letters (e.g. zA). To view the differences of files, one can directly start Vim in diff mode by running vimdiff (nvim -d) in a terminal. One can even set this as git difftool.
:h default-mappings - Show default key mappings
:h motion.txt - Show available motions
:h vim_diff.txt - Show differences between Vim and Neovim
Shift + Up and Shift + Down - Increase / decrease window height
Shift + Right and Shift + Left - Increase / decrease window width
Ctrl + Left - Move cursor to the left window (vertical split)
Ctrl + Right - Move cursor to the right window (vertical split)
Ctrl + Down - Move cursor to the window below (horizontal split)
Ctrl + Up - Move cursor to the window above (horizontal split)
Alt + j - Move line down
Alt + k - Move line up
gs( or gs) - Surround selection with ()
gs{ or gs} - Surround selection with {}
gs[ or gs] - Surround selection with []
gs< or gs> - Surround selection with <>
gs" - Surround selection with ""
gs' - Surround selection with ''
gs` - Surround selection with ``
gs* - Surround selection with **
gs_ - Surround selection with __
Space + ee - Open explorer
Space + en - Create a new file
Space + ew - Write a file without auto commands and with creating directories
Tip: You can use the following keymaps within the explorer:
l - Confirm
h - Close directory
a - Add
d - Delete
r - Rename
c - Copy
m - Move
o - Open with system application
P - Toggle preview
u - Update
I - Toggle ignored
H - Toggle hidden
Z - Close all
y - Yank
s - Search in directory
D - Diff selected files
Space + ff - Find files
Space + fs - Find files (smart)
Space + fb - Find buffers
Space + fr - Find recent files
Space + fu - Find undo
Space + fm - Find marks
Space + fd - Find buffer diagnostics
Space + fD - Find workspace diagnostics
Tip: You can use the following keymaps within the picker:
/ - Toggle focus
Enter - Confirm
Down or Ctrl + j or Ctrl + n or j - List down
Up or Ctrl + k or Ctrl + p or k - List up
Ctrl + d - List scroll down
Ctrl + u - List scroll up
G - List bottom
gg - List top
Ctrl + Down - History forward
Ctrl + Up - History back
Tab - Select and next
Shift + Tab - Select and prev
Ctrl + a - Select all
Ctrl + b - Preview scroll up
Ctrl + f - Preview scroll down
Ctrl + g - Toggle live
Ctrl + q - Quickfix list
Ctrl + s - Edit split
Ctrl + v - Edit vsplit
Ctrl + x - Delete buffer
Alt + f - Toggle follow
Alt + h - Toggle hidden
Alt + i - Toggle ignore
Alt + r - Toggle regex
Esc or Ctrl + c or q - Close
Space + ss - Search for a pattern
Space + s/ - Search for a pattern in buffers
Space + sw - Search for the word / selection
Space + st - Search for all todo comments
Space + rr - Replace in buffer / in visual selection
Space + rw - Replace word under cursor in buffer
Space + rw - Replace visual selection in buffer
Space + rR - Replace in quickfix list
Space + rW - Replace word under cursor in quickfix list
Space + rW - Replace visual selection in quickfix list
]c - Jump to next hunk
[c - Jump to previous hunk
Space + gss - Stage hunk
Space + gsr - Reset hunk
Space + gsS - Stage all hunks in current buffer
Space + gsR - Reset all hunk in current buffer
Space + gsu - Undo last hunk
Space + gsp - Preview hunk
Space + gsb - Git blame line
Space + gsB - Git blame file
Space + gsd - Diff this
Space + gsd - Diff this ~
Space + gst - Toggle word diff and deleted lines
Space + gff - Git files
Space + gfd - Git diff
Space + gfb - Git branches
Space + gfl - Git log for buffer
Space + gfL - Git log for workspace
Space + gfs - Git status
Space + gfS - Git stash
Space + gfm - Git merge conflicts
Space + gb - Git browse
Space + ghi - Open GitHub issues
Space + ghI - All GitHub issues
Space + ghp - Open GitHub pull requests
Space + ghP - All GitHub pull requests
Tip: You can use the following keymaps within the GitHub buffers:
Enter - Select action
i - Edit
a - Add comment
c - Close
o - Reopen
Space + mz - Toogle zen mode
Space + ms - Toogle spell checking
Tip: You can use the following keymaps for spell checking:
]s - Next misspelled word
[s - Previous misspelled word
zg - Mark word as good
zw - Mark word as wrong
grn - Rename
gra - Code actions
grf - Format
gd - Definitions
gD - Declarations
grr - References
gri - Implementations
grt - Type definition
grh - Toggle inlay hints
gO - Show document symbols
K - Hover documentation
Ctrl + s - Hover signature help
Ctrl + w + d - Hover diagnostics
[d - Go to previous diagnostic
]d - Go to next diagnostic
[D - Go to first diagnostic
]D - Go to last diagnostic
an - Incremental selection (outwards)
in - Incremental selection (inwards)
Ctrl + Space or Ctrl + x + Ctrl + o - Trigger completion
Ctrl + x + Ctrl + f - Trigger file path completion
Ctrl + e - Hide completions
Enter or Ctrl + y - Accept completion
Ctrl + n or Down - Select next completion
Ctrl + p or Up - Select previous completion
Ctrl + Enter - Accept inline completion
Ctrl + n - Add cursor for next word
Ctrl + a - Add cursor for all words
Ctrl + j - Add cursor below
Ctrl + k - Add cursor above
Ctrl + m - Match cursors in visual selection by regex
Space + an - Toggle next edit suggestion
Tab - Jump to / accept next edit suggestion
Space + aa - Toggle AI chat window and focus
Space + ap - Select a predefined prompt or context
Esc + Esc - Enter normal mode
q or Ctrl + q - Hide AI chat window
Ctrl + w + p or Ctrl + o - Leave the AI chat window
Ctrl + p - Insert prompt or context
Space + nd - Open daily note
Space + ny - Open daily note for yesterday
Space + nf - Find notes
Space + ns - Search in notes
Space + nt - Show open tasks
Space + nk - Show keywors / tags
Space + ne - Open explorer
The Vim Cheat Sheet is inspired by the Vim Cheat Sheet from rtorr.
The configuration for the plugins with the mentioned keymaps can be found in my personal dotfiles.
More Neovim related links: