Vi & Vim

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Command Mode

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This mode of vi/vim accepts commands which are usually in the form of individual letters such as a and i.

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Command Mode: l

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Moves the cursor one character to the right.

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Command Mode: h

Back 3

Moves the cursor one character to the left.

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Command Mode: j

Back 4

Moves the cursor down one line.

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Command Mode: k

Back 5

Moves the cursor up one line.

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Command Mode: yy

Back 6

Will yank (copy) the line the cursor is currently on. 2yy will copy the entire line and the one beneath it (2 lines), 3yy does 3, and so on.

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Command Mode: p

Back 7

Paste the contents from yanked yy text starting at the line below the cursor.

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Command Mode: P

Back 8

Paste the contents from yanked yy text starting at the line above the cursor.

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Command Mode: G

Back 9

Moves cursor to the beginning of the last line of the file, by default.

To move to a different line you append the line number before G (for example, to move to the beginning of the first line 1G).

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Command Mode: L

Back 10

Moves the cursor to the beginning of the last line in the terminal screen.

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Command Mode: H

Back 11

Moves the cursor to the beginning of the first line in the terminal screen.

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Command Mode: o

Back 12

Opens insert mode to insert text, creating a new line below the current cursor position.

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Command Mode: u

Back 13

Undo

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Command Mode: / or ?

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Search function. Example: /root (will search the current file for all occurrences of root). Navigate to the next occurrence using the n key. Navigate to the previous occurrence using N (Shift+n). / searches forward. ? searches backward.

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Insert Mode

Back 15

Insert mode allows you to add/edit text inside of a file.

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Inserting into Insert Mode: i

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Insert text and not replace it.

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Inserting into Insert Mode: R

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Overwrite existing text when new text added.

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Inserting into Insert Mode: cw

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Remove current word that the cursor is on and insert into insert mode to add text.

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Inserting into Insert Mode: cc

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Removes the entire line of text the cursor is on and enters into insert mode to add text.

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ex Mode (colon (:) Mode)

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You enter into ex mode by typing a :. This will open on the bottom of the screen a command prompt starting with a :. This is why it's sometimes referred to as colon mode.

ex mode is used for saving and manipulating files. You must be in command mode before entering into ex mode.

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ex Mode :w

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Saves changes to a file.

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ex Mode :wq

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Saves changes to a file and quits out of a file.

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ex Mode :q

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Quits a file without saving changes

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ex Mode Searching and Replacing Text:

%s/{search}/{replacement}

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Will replace the first occurrence on each line of the search value with the replacement value.

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ex Mode Searching and Replacing Text:

%s/{search}/{replacement}/g

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Will replace all occurrences of the search value with the replacement value. Adding the g means "global"

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ex Mode :e {file path}

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Will load the new file into the vi editor for editing. This will only occur if the current changes to the file being edited are saved.

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ex Mode :r

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Allows you to bring contents of an old file into a new one.

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ex Mode :!

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Allows you to run shell commands from within vi. Example: !ls /etc.