a quick vi survival guide

May 20, 2023

Dev Tools

Cheat Sheets

This is for when you get stuck with an abomination of an editor called vi. No sophisticated vi-foo here, this is just the basics that get you covered for simple editing of files.

modes

The Vi editor has two modes: Command mode and Insert mode:

When you open a file with Vi, you are in Command mode. In Command mode, you can use keyboard keys to navigate, delete, copy, paste, and do some other stuff – except entering text.
To enter Insert mode from Command mode, hit . In Insert mode, you can enter text, use the Enter key to go to a new line, and use the arrow keys to navigate text. To enter Command mode from Insert mode, hit .

Some docs and tutorials refer to a third mode, the last line mode, which is for file operations like save and exit. This mode can be entered from Command mode with , or from Insert mode with , followed by . This mode can be seen as a sub-mode of the Command mode.

Got stuck in vi? Hit Esc to make sure in Command mode.

Now, in Command mode, to quit without saving, type , followed by return.

command mode

command mode is entered with the key


i	input mode (insert before cursor)
a	input mode (insert after cursor)
x	delete char under cursor
<num>x	delete <num> chars from under cursor
dd	delete actual line
<num>dd	delete delete <num> of lines
u	undo last command
J	append next line to actual line
.	repeat last command
:	go into last line mode

command mode, file operations aka last line mode


:q!	quit without save
:w [<file>]	save as [<file>]
:x	save and quit
:e <file>	edit <file>
:u	undo last command

Key	Function
, h	move one character to the left
, l	move one character to the right
, k	move one line up
, j	move one line down
	move one page up
	move one page down

Key	Function
h	move one character to the left
l	move one character to the right
k	move one line up
j	move one line down

search in Command mode

hit , then enter word to search for.

replace in Command mode

replace in line x to line y text1 with text2, without confirmation:

replace in line x to line y text1 with text2, with confirmation (note the at the end instead of ):