Vim Cheat Sheet for Beginners

vim_cheat_sheet_for_beginners.md

Vim Cheat Sheet for Beginners

Modes

Key	Mode
i	Insert
Esc	Normal
v	Visual
:	Command-line

Navigation (Normal mode)

Key	Action
h j k l	Left, Down, Up, Right
w / b	Next / prev word
0 / $	Start / end of line
gg / G	First / last line

Editing

Key	Action
i / a	Insert before / after
o / O	New line below / above
x	Delete character
dd	Delete line
yy	Copy line
p / P	Paste after / before

Search and Replace

Command	Action
/pattern	Search forward
?pattern	Search backward
n / N	Next / previous occurrence
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all 'old' with 'new'

File Operations

Command	Action
:w	Save
:q	Quit
:wq or :x	Save and quit
:q!	Force quit

Multiple Files

Command	Action
:e filename	Edit file in buffer
:bn / :bp	Next / prev buffer
:bd	Close buffer

Window Management

Command	Action
:split filename	Split horizontally
:vsplit filename	Split vertically
Ctrl-w w	Switch windows
Ctrl-w q	Close window

Text Objects

Key	Object
iw	Inner word
it	Inner tag
i"	Inner quotes
ip	Inner paragraph

Useful Commands

Key	Action
u	Undo
Ctrl-r	Redo
.	Repeat last cmd
> / <	Indent right/left

Tips

1. Practice in Normal mode
2. Combine commands (e.g., dw)
3. Use :help for documentation
4. Customize your .vimrc