Vim

Vim Motions & Operations (Simple Guide)

Think of Vim as:

Verb (what to do) + Motion (where to do it)

Example:

• dw = delete (d) word (w)

• y$ = yank (y) to end of line ($)

MODES (you must know these)

Insert

Type text

i, a, o

Visual

Select text

v, V, Ctrl+v

Command

Run commands

:

👉 If Vim does something weird, press Esc twice.

BASIC MOVEMENT (the core)

Cursor movement

h  left
j  down
k  up
l  right

WORD MOVEMENT (very important)

w   next word start
b   previous word start
e   end of word

Examples:

dw   delete a word
yw   copy a word
ce   change until word end

LINE MOVEMENT

0   start of line
^   first non-space
$   end of line

Examples:

d$   delete to end of line
y^   copy to line start

FILE MOVEMENT

gg   top of file
G    bottom of file

Examples:

ggdG   delete everything
ggyG   copy everything

SEARCHING

/pattern    search forward
?pattern    search backward
n           next match
N           previous match

Example:

/foo
n

DELETE (CUT)

d{motion}

Examples:

dd     delete line
dw     delete word
d$     delete to end of line
dG     delete to end of file

YANK (COPY)

y{motion}

Examples:

yy     copy line
yw     copy word
y$     copy to end of line
:%y    copy whole file

To copy to system clipboard:

"+yy
"+y

PUT (PASTE)

p   paste after cursor
P   paste before cursor

CHANGE (DELETE + INSERT)

c{motion}

Examples:

cw    change word
cc    change whole line
c$    change to end of line

INSERT MODE SHORTCUTS

i   insert before cursor
a   insert after cursor
I   insert at line start
A   insert at line end
o   new line below
O   new line above

UNDO / REDO

u       undo
Ctrl+r  redo

VISUAL MODE (SELECTION)

v     character selection
V     line selection
Ctrl+v  block selection

Then apply a command:

v + d   delete selection
V + y   copy lines

FIND CHARACTER (super fast)

fX   find X forward
FX   find X backward
tX   before X
TX   after X (backwards)
;    repeat
,    reverse repeat

Example:

dt,   delete until comma

REPLACE

rX   replace one character
R    replace mode

SEARCH & REPLACE

:%s/old/new/g

Examples:

:%s/foo/bar/g
:%s/foo/bar/gc   (ask each time)

MULTIPLE LINES AT ONCE

3dd   delete 3 lines
5yy   copy 5 lines

INDENTING

>>   indent line
<<   unindent line

Visual:

V + >   indent selection
V + <   unindent selection

COMMENTS (manual)

I#    add comment at line start (visual mode)

COMMAND MODE ESSENTIALS

:w     save
:q     quit
:wq    save & quit
:q!    quit without saving

DELETE EVERYTHING (common ask)

:%d

Without copying:

:%d_

THE GOLDEN RULE

If you remember only one thing, remember this:

Vim = operator + motion

Examples:

• d + w → delete word

• y + $ → copy to end of line

• c + G → change to end of file

MINIMAL MUST-KNOW LIST (for real life)

If you can do these, you’re productive:

• i, Esc

• w b e

• 0 ^ $

• d y c p

• dd yy

• / n

• u

• :%s