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=== THE ULTIMATE VI / VIM MASTER GUIDE & REFERENCE CHEAT SHEET ===

The Ultimate vi / vim Master Guide & Reference Cheat Sheet

Whether you are SSH’ed into an emergency server recovery prompt or fine-tuning your Hugo markdown posts, vi (and its enhanced sibling vim) is an essential tool in any systems administrator’s toolkit. This guide covers everything from core movement to powerful macros and regex replacements.

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

1. Modes & Basic Navigation

Action Key Combination / Command
Enter Insert Mode (Type text) i (before cursor), a (after cursor), I (start of line), A (end of line)
Enter Command/Line Mode Esc (Press twice to be safe)
Move Up / Down / Left / Right k (up), j (down), h (left), l (right) or Arrow Keys
Move by Words w (next word start), b (previous word start), e (word end)
Move by Lines 0 (start of line), $ (end of line), gg (top of file), G (bottom of file)
Jump to Specific Line :[line-number] (e.g., :42)

2. Saving & Exiting (: commands)

Action Key Combination / Command
Save (Write) file :w
Save and Exit :wq or ZZ
Quit without saving (Discard) :q!
Open file for editing vim filename

3. Editing: Deleting, Yanking (Copying), & Pasting

Action Key Combination / Command
Delete (Cut) current line dd
Delete N lines [N]dd (e.g., 5dd)
Delete character x
Yank (Copy) current line yy
Yank N lines [N]yy
Paste after cursor / line p
Paste before cursor / line P
Undo last action u
Redo last action Ctrl + r

4. Searching & Replacing

Action Key Combination / Command
Search forward /keyword (Press n for next match, N for previous)
Search backward ?keyword
Global Search & Replace :%s/old/new/g
Search & Replace with Confirmation :%s/old/new/gc

Understanding Modal Editing

The defining characteristic of vi is modal editing. Unlike modern graphical text editors where typing keys instantly inserts characters, vi separates input into distinct states:

  1. Normal Mode: The default state when opening a file. In this mode, every keystroke is interpreted as a command (moving the cursor, deleting lines, saving, or switching modes).
  2. Insert Mode: Entered by pressing i, a, or o. In this mode, keys behave like a normal typewriter, inserting text directly into the buffer. Pressing Esc returns you safely to Normal Mode.
  3. Command-Line Mode (Ex Mode): Entered by typing : while in Normal Mode. This drops your cursor to the bottom row for executing file operations, searches, and configurations.

Advanced Navigation & Text Manipulation

Text Objects and Motion Modifiers

vi commands are a language consisting of Verbs combined with Motions:

  • dw = Delete Word (d = delete, w = word)
  • caw = Change A Word (c = change/replace, aw = a word)
  • di" = Delete Inside Quotes (d = delete, i = inside, " = quotes)
  • yip = Yank Inside Paragraph (y = yank, i = inside, p = paragraph)

Visual Mode

Pressing v (character-wise), V (line-wise), or Ctrl + v (block/column-wise visual mode) allows you to highlight text using your arrow keys or navigation buttons, and then apply operations like y (yank), d (delete), or > (indent block) to the exact selection.

Power User Tips & Environment Configuration

Customizing Your .vimrc

You can persist custom preferences by creating or editing a configuration file at ~/.vimrc:

syntax on            " Enable syntax highlighting
set number           " Show line numbers
set tabstop=4        " Set tab width to 4 spaces
set shiftwidth=4     " Auto-indent width
set expandtab        " Use spaces instead of actual tabs
set hlsearch         " Highlight search results
set incsearch        " Search incrementally as you type


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