My (Neo)Vim Cheat Sheet
I love Vim because I can do everything with the keyboard. The downside, is that you have to do everything with the keyboard.
In case you didn’t get the pun, the real problem is that you have to memorize a bunch of commands and key combinations to to do things like delete a line in the current text or how to format the current buffer.
To aid myself on memorizing this commands I created this cheat sheet that works with my configuration.
If you want something more complete, graphical and generic, you can visit the Graphical vi-vim Cheat Sheet and Tutorial site.
One thing tough. I try to use the default key-maps as much as I can, so this cheat sheet might still be useful to you in case you want to create you own.
TOC
Movements and insert
This commands are for normal mode:
| Command | Action |
|---|
w | Beginning of the next word |
b | Beginning of the previews word |
e | End of the next word |
o | To get to the other end of the selection |
$ | End of line |
f<char> | Go to forward to the next character. Pe. fx |
{ | Go to previous paragraph (empty line) |
} | Go to next paragraph (empty line) |
A | Add text at the end of the line |
I | Add text at the beginning of the line |
zz | Place the current line in the middle of the editor window |
z<enter> | Place the current line at the top of the editor window |
Advanced movement commands
All this commands are for normal mode:
| Command | Action |
|---|
gg | Go to beginning of file |
G | Go to end of file |
<C-f> | Page Down (Page Forward) |
<C-b> | Page Up (Page Backward) |
gd | Go to definition of word or function in current file |
gf | To to definition in other file |
<number>G | Go to line <number>. P.e. 16G |
<C-o> | Previous position or previous buffer (useful when using gd or gf) |
<C-i> | Next position or next buffer |
Advanced save
This commands are for normal mode:
| Command | Action |
|---|
<number1>,<number2>w file-name.txt | Saves lines to a new file. P.e. 12,43w |
:r <file-name.txt> | Inserts contents of file-name.txt in current position |
Delete Undo/Redo
This commands are for normal mode:
| Command | Action |
|---|
x | Cut (Works in visual mode too) |
s | Cut (Substitute) char and place in insert mode |
de | Delete to end of word |
d0 | Delete to the beginning of the line |
db | Delete back |
df<char> | Delete until the next <char>. P.e dfx |
:.,$d | Delete until the end of the buffer |
u | Undo |
U | Undo on the whole line |
<C-r> | Redo |
Repeat
Most commands, when preceded by a number, are executed multiple times:
| Command | Action |
|---|
6dw | Delete next 6 words |
6dd | Delete next 6 lines |
. | Redo last change action |
; | Redo last character find f{char} |
Clipboard
| Command | Action |
|---|
y<movement> | Copy (Yank). <movement> can be h, j, l, k, w, e, $, 0 |
p | Paste it after the cursor |
dd | Delete line |
O | Paste over the current line |
P | Paste under the current line |
- The last 2 command work to add a new line before or after the current line if you haven’t yanked anything yet
Registers
It’s like a clipboard history
| Command | Action |
|---|
:reg, :reg [char] | List registers. Show contents of one register |
"<number>p | Paste contents of register. P.e. "2p Pastes register 2 |
<C-r><char> | Paste the contents of register in insert mode |
"" | The register used when Copy (y), Cut (x) or Substitute (s) |
"0-"9 | Last yanked elements being "0 the newest ( "0p is the same as p) |
"% | Current file path starting from the project root |
- When you create a macro with
q, p.e. qw, the steps of the macro will be stored in the register w
:let @W='i;' (Uppercase W) will append a new step to the register w (lowercase w)
Changes
| Command | Action |
|---|
r | Replace current character |
R | Overwrite content (replace) until you escape |
ciw | Change Inside word no matter the position |
cip | Change Inside paragraph (between empty lines) no matter the position |
ci) | Change (inside) the contents until the next ) |
Folding
| Command | Action |
|---|
zi | Fold enable |
zf2j | Fold the next 2 lines (depends of the fold type) |
:20,40 fo | Fold from line 20 to 40 |
zfa} | Fold until the next } |
zo zO | Open current fold. Open recursively |
zc zC | Close current fold. Close recursively |
za zA | Toggle current fold. Toggle recursively |
zm zM | Reduce fold level by one. Close all folds |
zr zR | Increase fold level by one. Increase recursively |
- With
set foldmethod=marker the {{{ and }}} symbols will be used as markers
- Use
foldlevel (pe foldlevel=99) to fold all levels
Search
| Command | Action |
|---|
/ | Search |
? | Search backwards |
* | Search for the word under the cursor |
n | Next result |
N | Previous result |
Search & Replace
| Command | Action |
|---|
:s/original/new/g | Search and replace in the complete line |
:%s/original/new/gc | Search in all document asking if do the change (c) |
Visual
| Command | Action |
|---|
v | Start the visual (Use jkhl to move the selection) |
v$ | Select until the end of line |
vip | Select current paragraph (content between empty lines) |
V | Visual the complete line (Use jk to move the selection) |
Splits
| Command | Action |
|---|
:sp, :vs | Split and Vertical split |
:only | Focus on a splt |
gi | Open in split in NERDTree |
QuickFix and Location List
| Command | Action |
|---|
:copen | Open error list |
:cclose | Close error list |
:cnext | Go to next error |
Debug utilities
| Command | Action |
|---|
Ctrl-g | Show file status |
:verbose imap <tab> | Find if the <tab> key is defined |
:verbose imap <C-p> | Find if the <ctrl>p key is defined |
:lopen, :lclose | Open/closes the location list. Used by plugins like ALE to show a list of errors |
:copen, :close | Open/Closes/Focuses the list of errors |
Native Autocomplete
| Command | Action |
|---|
<C-x><C-p> | Autocomplete with an already present word |
- Native autocomplete works by searching the current buffer
Sessions
| Command | Action |
|---|
:mks <path> | Saves the current session to a path. Better if it’s a hidden dir |
Markers and Macros
| Command | Action |
|---|
m<character> | Creates a marker with the name <character |
'<character> | Jumps to marker. (Use backtick to include column ) |
Spell
Spell needs to have set spell option active on .vimrc and optionally use set spelllang=en_us. I use es_co for Spanish Colombia.
| Command | Action |
|---|
z= | Search for alternatives of the current word |
zg | Add current word to dictionary |
zw | Remove current word from dictionary |
]s | Jump to next spell error |
[s | Jump to previous spell error |
Plugins
NERDTree Commands
This are particular to my configuration
| Command | Action |
|---|
<C-k><C-k> | Toggle NERDTree (open if closed, close if open) |
<C-k><C-f> | Toggle NERDTree and select the current file |
This commands are to be executed while inside the NERDTree sidebar:
| Command | Action |
|---|
s | Open on left |
vs | Open on top |
t | Open on new tab |
This are the default key-maps
| Command | Action |
|---|
<leader>c<space> | Toggle comments |
<leader>ci | Toggles the comment state of the selected line(s) individually. |
<leader>cs | Toggle sexy Comments out the selected lines with a pretty block formatted layout. |
FZF Commands
Its really helpful to use :help fzf-vim-comands to browse the documentation
| Command | Action |
|---|
:BCommits | Commits for the current buffer (Requires Fugitive) |
:Commands | Searchable list of ALL commands |
:GFiles | Ignores files in .gitignore |
:History | Opens up the list of last edited files |
:Rg! | Like grep for all the project files but faster |
:Snippets | UtilSnips snippets |
:Tags | Tags in the project |
<C-k><C-u> | Executes :Buffers |
<C-6> | Loops through the 2 most recent buffers |
- Most commands support CTRL-T / CTRL-X / CTRL-V key bindings to open in a new
tab, a new split, or in a new vertical split
GitGutter
| Command | Action |
|---|
:GitGutterToggle | Show/Hide file changes |
[c | Show next block of changes |
]c | Show previous block of changes |
<Leader>hu | Remove hunk |
:GitGutterFold | Toggle fold of the file changes |
Fugitive
This commands are to be executed on the :Gstatus window
| Command | Action |
|---|
g? | Show help |
= | Toggle small diff of the file under the cursor |
- | Toggle stage/unstage file under cursor |
dv | Diff split vertically |
<leader>gs | Toggle Status (my .vimrc) |
CoC commands
This commands assume you used the example configuration suggested by the CoC GitHub page
| Command | Action |
|---|
:Format | Code beautify |
:Fold | Fold functions |
:OR | Organize Imports |
:CocConfig | Open the configuration file |
:CocInstall <plugin name> | Install a new CoC plugin |
Vim-Surround
A complete tutorial can be viewed here
| Command | Action |
|---|
ys<motion><char> | You surround. Pe, ysiw', ysa2w" |
cs<char><char> | Change surrounding. Pe. cs'" Change surrounding ' with ". Or cstt change tag with another tag |
ds<char> | Delete surrounding. Pe. ds' Remove surrounding quote. dst will delete a tag |
dW | Delete word including it’s surrounding space |
yss<char> | The line. Pe yss" Surround the line with " |
yssf, ysiwf | You surround with a function (It will prompt you for the function name). iw its inside a word |
ysst, ysiwt | You surround with an html tag. (it will prompt you for the tag) |
ysas" | You surround a Sentence |
yS | Surround a motion and adds a line afterwards. Pe. ySi2w( |
ySS | Surround the complete line and add a line afterwrds. Pe ySS( |
- You have to provide a motion after the prefix. Pe:
ysiw':
you surround.inside.- Around a
word.
- The char
'.
- If you use the opening character (
[({<), instead of the closing one, you’ll get an additional space in the surround
In visual mode
| Command | Action |
|---|
S | Surround the selected words |
gS | Suppress auto indent |
Aliases
| Char | Alias |
|---|
) | b |
} | B |
] | r |
> | a |
_ (space) | s |
< (html) | t |
f | Function |
- If you change
t with <C-T>. Surround will add an empty line before and after. And it will also indent the paragraph.