| name | vim-motions |
| description | Vim keybindings, motions, text objects, operators, macros, registers, and modal editing for efficient text editing. Use when user asks about "vim commands", "vim motions", "text objects", "vim keybindings", "vim cheat sheet", "learn vim", "vim in VS Code", "neovim", "IdeaVim", "vim macros", "vim registers", "vim search and replace", "vimrc", "vim splits", or any Vim editing tasks. |
Vim Motions
Motions, operators, text objects, registers, macros, and configuration for efficient editing.
Modal Editing Fundamentals
Normal ESC or Ctrl-[ Navigate, manipulate, compose commands
Insert i, a, o, etc. Type text directly
Visual v, V, Ctrl-v Select text for operations
Command : Execute ex commands, search/replace
Replace R Overtype existing text
Normal mode is home base. Every other mode is entered for a specific purpose, then exited back to Normal.
Basic Motions
Character/Line
h j k l Left, Down, Up, Right
0 Start of line
^ First non-blank character
$ End of line
g_ Last non-blank character
Word
w / W Next word/WORD start
b / B Previous word/WORD start
e / E Next word/WORD end
ge Previous word end
word = letters/digits/underscores. WORD = anything non-blank. Use W/B/E for fast movement through punctuation-heavy code.
Line and File Navigation
gg First line
G Last line
5G or :5 Go to line 5
H / M / L Top / Middle / Bottom of screen
% Jump to matching bracket/paren/brace
{ / } Previous / Next blank line (paragraph boundary)
( / ) Previous / Next sentence
Search and Find
f{char} Find char forward on line
F{char} Find char backward on line
t{char} Till char forward (stop before)
T{char} Till char backward
; Repeat last f/F/t/T
, Repeat last f/F/t/T (reverse)
/{pattern} Search forward
?{pattern} Search backward
n / N Next / Previous match
* Search word under cursor forward
# Search word under cursor backward
gd Go to local definition
gf Go to file under cursor
Scrolling
Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u Scroll half page down / up
Ctrl-f / Ctrl-b Scroll full page down / up
zz / zt / zb Center / Top / Bottom current line
Ctrl-e / Ctrl-y Scroll one line down / up
Operators
d Delete c Change (delete + insert)
y Yank (copy) > Indent right
< Indent left = Auto-indent
gq Format/rewrap gu Lowercase
gU Uppercase g~ Toggle case
Operator + Motion = Action
dw Delete to next word start
d$ or D Delete to end of line
dG / dgg Delete to end / start of file
d3j Delete current + 3 lines down
cw Change to next word start
c$ or C Change to end of line
ct) Change till closing paren
yy Yank entire line
y$ Yank to end of line
>> Indent line right
3>> Indent 3 lines
=ap Auto-indent around paragraph
gqip Reformat inside paragraph
gUiw Uppercase inner word
Text Objects
i = inner (inside delimiters) a = around (including delimiters)
iw / aw Word iW / aW WORD
is / as Sentence ip / ap Paragraph
i" / a" Double quotes i' / a' Single quotes
i` / a` Backticks i( / a( Parentheses
i[ / a[ Brackets i{ / a{ Braces
i< / a< Angle brackets it / at HTML/XML tag
Common Text Object Actions
ciw Change inner word
ci" Change inside double quotes
ci( Change inside parentheses
da" Delete around quotes (including the quotes)
dap Delete around paragraph
dit Delete inside HTML tag
vit Select inside HTML tag
yiw Yank inner word
yi{ Yank inside braces
>ip Indent inner paragraph
=i{ Auto-indent inside braces
Insert Mode Entry
i / I Insert before cursor / at line start
a / A Append after cursor / at line end
o / O Open line below / above
s / S Delete char / line and insert
C Delete to end of line and insert
gi Insert at last insert position
Visual Mode
v Character-wise visual
V Line-wise visual
Ctrl-v Block (column) visual
o Jump to other end of selection
gv Reselect last visual selection
Ctrl-v → select → I → type → ESC Insert in all selected lines
Ctrl-v → select → A → type → ESC Append to all selected lines
Ctrl-v → select → c → type → ESC Change all selected lines
Ctrl-v → select → d Delete column
Ctrl-v → select → r{char} Replace with char
V3j> Select 4 lines, indent right
vip:sort Select paragraph, sort lines
Registers and Clipboard
"{reg}y Yank into register {reg}
"{reg}p Paste from register {reg}
"+y / "+p Yank to / paste from system clipboard
"0p Paste last yank (ignores deletes)
"_d Delete into black hole (don't overwrite default register)
"ayiw Yank word into register a
"Ayy Append line to register a (uppercase = append)
:registers Show all register contents
Special: " last used 0 last yank 1-9 last deletes
. last insert % filename : last command / last search
Macros
qa Start recording macro into register 'a'
q Stop recording
@a Play macro 'a'
@@ Replay last played macro
5@a Play macro 'a' 5 times
:5,20normal @a Run macro on lines 5-20
Recursive: qaqqa...@aq — clears a, records actions + self-call, stops on failure
Edit macro: "ap to paste, edit text, "ayy to yank back
Marks
ma Set mark 'a' at cursor position
'a / `a Jump to line / exact position of mark 'a'
:marks List all marks
Automatic marks:
'' `` Last jump position
'. `. Last edit position
'^ `^ Last insert position
'[ `[ '] `] Start / end of last change or yank
'< `< '> `> Start / end of last visual selection
Uppercase marks (A-Z) are global across files:
mA Set global mark A
'A Jump to file and line of mark A
Search and Replace
:s/old/new/ Replace first on current line
:s/old/new/g Replace all on current line
:%s/old/new/g Replace all in file
:%s/old/new/gc Replace all with confirmation (y/n/a/q/l)
:5,20s/old/new/g Replace on lines 5-20
:'<,'>s/old/new/g Replace in visual selection
:%s/\v(\w+)/\U\1/g Very magic mode — uppercase all words
:%s/\s\+$// Strip trailing whitespace
Global command — run ex command on matching lines:
:g/TODO/d Delete all lines containing TODO
:g/^$/d Delete all blank lines
:g/pattern/normal A; Append semicolon to matching lines
Inverse global — run on NON-matching lines:
:v/keep/d Delete lines NOT containing "keep"
Window Management
:sp [file] Horizontal split (or Ctrl-w s)
:vsp [file] Vertical split (or Ctrl-w v)
Ctrl-w h/j/k/l Move to left/down/up/right window
Ctrl-w H/J/K/L Move window to far position
Ctrl-w = Equalize window sizes
Ctrl-w _ / Ctrl-w | Maximize height / width
Ctrl-w o Close all except current
Ctrl-w q Close current window
Ctrl-w T Move window to new tab
:tabnew New tab
gt / gT Next / previous tab
Buffer Navigation
:ls List open buffers
:bn / :bp Next / previous buffer
:b# Toggle to alternate buffer
:b {name} Switch by partial name
:bd Close current buffer
:bufdo %s/old/new/g Replace across all buffers
Useful Commands
. Repeat last change (most powerful command in Vim)
u / Ctrl-r Undo / Redo
J / gJ Join lines with / without space
~ Toggle case of character
g~~ Toggle case of entire line
Ctrl-a Increment number under cursor
Ctrl-x Decrement number under cursor
ga Show ASCII value of character
gf Open file under cursor
gx Open URL under cursor
:!cmd Run shell command
:r !cmd Insert shell command output
.vimrc Essentials
let mapleader = " "
set number relativenumber
set ignorecase smartcase
set incsearch hlsearch
set expandtab tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2
set scrolloff=8
set clipboard=unnamedplus
nnoremap <leader>w :w<CR>
nnoremap <leader>q :q<CR>
nnoremap <leader>/ :noh<CR>
nnoremap Y y$
vnoremap < <gv
vnoremap > >gv
nnoremap n nzzzv
nnoremap N Nzzzv
Vim in VS Code
"vim.leader": "<space>",
"vim.useSystemClipboard": true,
"vim.hlsearch": true,
"vim.smartRelativeLine": true,
"vim.handleKeys": {
"<C-d>": true, "<C-u>": true,
"<C-w>": false, "<C-b>": false, "<C-p>": false
}
Let VS Code handle Ctrl-w (close tab), Ctrl-b (sidebar), Ctrl-p (quick open). Let Vim handle Ctrl-d and Ctrl-u (scrolling).
Vim in JetBrains (IdeaVim)
# ~/.ideavimrc
set ideajoin surround commentary NERDTree
map <leader>r <Action>(RenameElement)
map <leader>f <Action>(GotoFile)
map <leader>b <Action>(ToggleLineBreakpoint)
map <leader>d <Action>(Debug)
Neovim Differences
vim.g.mapleader = " "
vim.opt.number = true
vim.opt.relativenumber = true
vim.opt.tabstop = 2
vim.opt.shiftwidth = 2
vim.opt.expandtab = true
vim.opt.clipboard = "unnamedplus"
vim.keymap.set("n", "<leader>w", ":w<CR>")
vim.keymap.set("v", "J", ":m '>+1<CR>gv=gv")
vim.keymap.set("v", "K", ":m '<-2<CR>gv=gv")
Productivity Patterns
ci" Change inside quotes — cursor anywhere between them
da( Delete around parens including the parens
yiw Yank word without needing to be at word start
dap Delete entire paragraph
*cwfix<ESC> Find word under cursor, change it, then n. to repeat everywhere
xp Transpose two characters
ddp Swap current line with next
gf Open filename under cursor
:e %:h/ Open file in same directory as current
qaI// <ESC>jq Record macro to comment lines, repeat with @a
