vi Cheat Sheet Cursor Movement

Moving by characters h (or backspace)

Editing Modes move left one character
j move down one line
Command mode Keystrokes used as commands k move up one line
Insert mode Characters inserted into file l (or space) move right one character

Arrow keys may also be used

% vi filename Moving by lines 1G go to first line

nG go to nth line
i, a insert mode command G go to last line
^ go to beginning of line
$ go to end of line

command mode insert mode Moving by words w go forward one word

b go backward one word
Scrolling Ctrl-f scroll forward one screen
Ctrl-b scroll backward one screen
<ESC> escape Ctrl-d scroll down one half screen
Ctrl-u scroll up one half screen
:wq exit (save changes)
:q! quit (discard changes) Inserting Text
%
Inserting Text The following commands place you in insert mode:

Invoking and Terminating i insert text before cursor

a append text after cursor
Invoking % vi filename I insert text at beginning of line
A append text at end of line
Make sure terminal setup is correct (% set term=vt100)
o start adding text in new line below
% vi -R filename present line
invoke vi in read only mode O start adding text in new line above
present line
Terminating :wq exit vi, saving changes
:q! quit vi, without saving changes Use Escape to return to command mode
Recovering Lost % vi -r filename Replacing Text r char substitute char for character under
Editing Sessions recover file after system crash cursor
R overwrite old text (end with Esc)
% vi -r list all recoverable files w change current word to new word (end
with Esc)
Initialization .exrc file containing ex commands to be
executed upon startup Setting Margins :set wrapmargin=x

EXINIT environment variable containing vi Sets right margin to x, automatic word wrap
commands to be executed upon startup
Deleting, Copying, and Pasting Text Searches and Substitution (cont.)
Deleting Text x delete character at cursor Special Characters [ccc] matches any specified character
dd delete line [^ccc] matches any character except those
ndd delete n lines specified
ndw delete n words [c1-c2] matches any character in range
d$ delete to end of line ^ matches beginning of line
d^ delete to beginning of line $ matches end of line
dG delete to end of file . matches any one character
d1G delete to beginning of file * matches zero or more occurrences of
previous character
Copying Text yy yank current line into buffer
.* matches any number of characters
nyy yank n lines into buffer
yw yank word Case Sensitivity :set ignorecase
nyw yank n words disable case sensitivity
:set noic enable case sensitivity
Pasting Text p put most recently deleted or yanked
characters or words after cursor; put lines
below current line
Miscellaneous Commands
P put most recently deleted or yanked
characters or words before cursor; put Shell Commands :!command execute command
lines above current line :sh invoke subshell; use the exit command
to return to vi
:r !command insert output of command below current
Searches and Substitution line
Undoing Commands u undo last change
Simple Searches /string search forward for string U undo recent changes made to current line
?string search backward for string
n repeat search Repeating Com- . repeat last command that made an
N repeat search in opposite direction mands editing change

Global Search :g/string/command Reading in Files :r filename insert filename below current line
execute command on lines containing
string Joining Lines J join next line to current line
:v/string/command Line Numbers Ctrl-g display current line number and number
execute command on lines not containing of lines in file
string
:set number display line numbers
Substitution :x,ys/oldstring/newstring/flags :set nonumber remove displayed line numbers
Substitutes newstring for oldstring in line range x,y. Screen Refresh Ctrl-l refresh screen
flags (optional):
c wait for confirmation (y or n)
g replace all occurrences within specified
lines (default is to replace only first
occurrence)

Range specifiers:

. current line
$ last line
% entire file