Vi Editor Cheat Sheet

Vi editor is a powerful and versatile text editor that has been around for over four decades. It is a command-line based editor that is widely used by programmers, system administrators, and other professionals who work with text files on Unix and Linux systems.

Vi editor is known for its speed, efficiency, and flexibility. It allows users to edit text files of any size, navigate through them quickly, and perform complex editing tasks with ease. Vi editor is also highly customizable, with a wide range of options and settings that can be tailored to suit individual preferences and workflows.

Basic Navigation

Command	Description
h	Move cursor left
j	Move cursor down
k	Move cursor up
l	Move cursor right
0	Move cursor to beginning of line
$	Move cursor to end of line
gg	Move cursor to beginning of file
G	Move cursor to end of file
:n	Move cursor to line number n

Inserting and Editing Text

Command	Description
i	Insert text before cursor
a	Append text after cursor
o	Open new line below cursor
O	Open new line above cursor
r	Replace character under cursor
x	Delete character under cursor
dd	Delete current line
yy	Yank (copy) current line
p	Paste yanked text after cursor
u	Undo last change
Ctrl + r	Redo last change

Searching and Replacing

Command	Description
/pattern	Search for pattern
n	Move to next search result
N	Move to previous search result
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all occurrences of old with new
:s/old/new/g	Replace first occurrence of old with new on current line
:s/old/new/gc	Replace first occurrence of old with new on current line, with confirmation

Saving and Quitting

Command	Description
:w	Save changes
:wq or :x	Save changes and quit
:q	Quit (only if no changes have been made)
:q!	Quit without saving changes

Advanced Navigation

Command	Description
f<char>	Move cursor to next occurrence of <char> on current line
F<char>	Move cursor to previous occurrence of <char> on current line
t<char>	Move cursor to just before next occurrence of <char> on current line
T<char>	Move cursor to just after previous occurrence of <char> on current line
;	Repeat last f, F, t, or T command
,	Repeat last f, F, t, or T command in opposite direction
%	Move cursor to matching bracket ((), {}, [])

Visual Mode

Command	Description
v	Enter visual mode
V	Enter visual line mode
Ctrl + v	Enter visual block mode
d	Delete selected text
y	Yank (copy) selected text
p	Paste yanked text after cursor

Macros

Command	Description
q<char>	Start recording macro into register <char>
q	Stop recording macro
@<char>	Execute macro in register <char>
@@	Execute last executed macro

Multiple Windows

Command	Description
:split	Split window horizontally
:vsplit	Split window vertically
Ctrl + w h	Move cursor to window on the left
Ctrl + w j	Move cursor to window below
Ctrl + w k	Move cursor to window above
Ctrl + w l	Move cursor to window on the right
Ctrl + w Ctrl + w	Cycle through windows
Ctrl + w +	Increase window size
Ctrl + w -	Decrease window size

Miscellaneous

Command	Description
.	Repeat last command
:set number	Show line numbers
:set nonumber	Hide line numbers
:set hlsearch	Highlight search results
:set nohlsearch	Disable search result highlighting
:set ignorecase	Ignore case when searching
:set noignorecase	Do not ignore case when searching
:set tabstop=n	Set tab width to n spaces
:set expandtab	Use spaces instead of tabs
:set noexpandtab	Use tabs instead of spaces
:set mouse=a	Enable mouse support
:set nomouse	Disable mouse support

Reference:

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19253-01/806-7612/editorvi-43/index.html