Vim Cheatsheet

" Switch to Normal mode (from any mode)
<Esc>          " Escape key
Ctrl+[         " Alternative to Escape

" Enter Insert mode
i              " Insert before cursor
a              " Insert after cursor
I              " Insert at beginning of line
A              " Insert at end of line
o              " Open new line below
O              " Open new line above

" Enter Visual mode
v              " Character-wise visual
V              " Line-wise visual
Ctrl+v         " Block-wise visual

" Enter Command-line mode
:              " Execute command
/              " Forward search
?              " Backward search

" Check current mode (in statusline)
:set showmode          " Show mode in statusline
:set noshowmode        " Hide mode indicator

" Visual feedback
:set cursorline         " Highlight current line
:set cursorcolumn       " Highlight current column

" Horizontal movement
h              " Move left (←)
l              " Move right (→)
0              " Move to start of line
^              " Move to first non-blank character
$              " Move to end of line
g_             " Move to last non-blank character

" Word movement
w              " Next word start (punctuation separated)
W              " Next WORD start (whitespace separated)
e              " Next word end
E              " Next WORD end
b              " Previous word start
B              " Previous WORD start
ge             " Previous word end
gE             " Previous WORD end

" Examples
" Text: "hello, world!"
w              " → cursor at ","
W              " → cursor at "world"
e              " → cursor at ","
E              " → cursor at "!"

" Vertical movement
j              " Move down one line
k              " Move up one line
gj             " Move down one visual line (wrapped)
gk             " Move up one visual line (wrapped)
-              " Move to first non-blank of previous line
+              " Move to first non-blank of next line
Enter          " Move to first non-blank of next line

" Line numbers
gg             " Go to first line
G              " Go to last line
123G           " Go to line 123
:123           " Go to line 123 (command-line)

" Screen scrolling
Ctrl+f         " Scroll forward one screen
Ctrl+b         " Scroll backward one screen
Ctrl+d         " Scroll down half screen
Ctrl+u         " Scroll up half screen
Ctrl+e         " Scroll down one line
Ctrl+y         " Scroll up one line

" Cursor positioning
H              " Move to top of screen (High)
M              " Move to middle of screen (Middle)
L              " Move to bottom of screen (Low)
zz             " Center cursor on screen
zt             " Move cursor to top of screen
zb             " Move cursor to bottom of screen

" Paragraph movement
{              " Previous paragraph (blank line separated)
}              " Next paragraph
(              " Previous sentence
)              " Next sentence

" Section movement
[[             " Previous section (function/class start)
]]             " Next section
[]             " Previous section end
][             " Next section end

" Insert mode entry
i              " Insert before cursor
I              " Insert at beginning of line
a              " Append after cursor
A              " Append at end of line
o              " Open new line below
O              " Open new line above
gi             " Insert at last insert position

" Replace mode
r              " Replace single character
R              " Replace mode (overwrite)
gr             " Virtual replace (preserves tabs)
gR             " Virtual replace mode

" Delete characters
x              " Delete character under cursor
X              " Delete character before cursor
dl             " Delete character under cursor (same as x)
dh             " Delete character before cursor (same as X)

" Delete words
dw             " Delete to start of next word
de             " Delete to end of word
dE             " Delete to end of WORD
db             " Delete to start of word
dB             " Delete to start of WORD
daw            " Delete a word (including surrounding whitespace)
diw            " Delete inner word (word only)

" Delete lines
dd             " Delete current line
D              " Delete to end of line (same as d$)
d0             " Delete to beginning of line
d^             " Delete to first non-blank
dj             " Delete current and next line
dk             " Delete current and previous line

" Change (delete + insert)
c              " Change (delete + enter insert mode)
cc             " Change entire line
C              " Change to end of line (same as c$)
ciw            " Change inner word
caw            " Change a word
ci"            " Change inside quotes
ca"            " Change around quotes
cit            " Change inside tag
cat            " Change around tag

" Yank (copy)
y              " Yank (copy)
yy             " Yank current line
Y              " Yank current line (same as yy)
yw             " Yank word
y$             " Yank to end of line
y0             " Yank to beginning of line
yiw            " Yank inner word
yaw            " Yank a word

" Put (paste)
p              " Put after cursor/line
P              " Put before cursor/line
gp             " Put after cursor and move cursor
gP             " Put before cursor and move cursor

" Examples
" Copy line 5-10
:5,10yank      " Yank lines 5-10
" or
5Gyy10G        " Go to line 5, yank, go to line 10

" Undo/Redo
u              " Undo last change
Ctrl+r         " Redo (undo the undo)
U              " Undo all changes on current line
:undo          " Undo (command-line)
:redo          " Redo (command-line)

" Undo tree (Vim 7.3+)
g+             " Go to newer state
g-             " Go to older state
:undolist      " Show undo tree
:earlier 5m    " Go back 5 minutes
:later 5m      " Go forward 5 minutes

" Enter visual mode
v              " Character-wise visual mode
V              " Line-wise visual mode
Ctrl+v         " Block-wise visual mode (column selection)
gv             " Reselect last visual selection

" Visual mode commands
d              " Delete selection
y              " Yank selection
c              " Change selection
>              " Indent right
<              " Indent left
=              " Auto-indent
~              " Toggle case
u              " Make lowercase
U              " Make uppercase
J              " Join lines

" Block selection examples
Ctrl+v         " Start block selection
j              " Select down
l              " Select right
I              " Insert at start of block
A              " Append at end of block
c              " Change block
d              " Delete block

" Example: Add comment to multiple lines
Ctrl+v         " Enter visual block
jjj            " Select 3 lines
I              " Insert mode
#              " Type comment character
Esc            " Apply to all lines

" Example: Change column
Ctrl+v         " Enter visual block
jjj            " Select lines
lll            " Select columns
c              " Change
" Type new text
Esc            " Apply to all lines

" Forward search
/pattern       " Search forward for pattern
/              " Repeat last search forward
n              " Next match
N              " Previous match

" Backward search
?pattern       " Search backward for pattern
?              " Repeat last search backward
n              " Previous match (in backward search)
N              " Next match (in backward search)

" Search options
/\cpattern     " Case-insensitive search
/\Cpattern     " Case-sensitive search
/pattern\c     " Case-insensitive (at end)
/pattern\>     " End of word
/\<pattern     " Start of word
/\<pattern\>   " Whole word

" Search history
/              " Then use ↑↓ to navigate history
q/             " Open search history window

" Substitute command
:s/old/new/           " Replace first occurrence in line
:s/old/new/g          " Replace all occurrences in line
:s/old/new/gc         " Replace with confirmation
:%s/old/new/g         " Replace all in file
:%s/old/new/gc        " Replace all with confirmation
:5,10s/old/new/g      " Replace in lines 5-10

" Using visual selection
" Select text in visual mode, then:
:'<,'>s/old/new/g     " Replace in selection

" Special characters
:s/\<old\>/new/g      " Whole word match
:s/old/new/gi         " Case-insensitive
:s/old/new/gI         " Case-sensitive
:s/old/\Unew/g        " Uppercase replacement
:s/old/\Lnew/g        " Lowercase replacement
:s/old/\Enew/g        " End case conversion

" Examples
:%s/foo/bar/g         " Replace all 'foo' with 'bar'
:%s/\<the\>/THE/g      " Replace whole word 'the' with 'THE'
:%s/.*/\U&/           " Uppercase entire file

" Regular expressions
/^pattern       " Line starts with pattern
/pattern$      " Line ends with pattern
/pattern\|other " Pattern OR other
/pattern.*other " Pattern followed by other
/\d\+          " One or more digits
/\w\+          " One or more word characters
/\s\+          " One or more whitespace

" Character classes
/[0-9]         " Single digit
/[a-z]         " Lowercase letter
/[A-Z]         " Uppercase letter
/[^0-9]        " Not a digit
/\d            " Digit (same as [0-9])
/\w            " Word character [a-zA-Z0-9_]
/\s            " Whitespace
/\D            " Non-digit
/\W            " Non-word character
/\S            " Non-whitespace

" Quantifiers
/pattern*      " Zero or more
/pattern\+     " One or more
/pattern\?     " Zero or one
/pattern\{3}   " Exactly 3
/pattern\{3,}  " 3 or more
/pattern\{3,5} " 3 to 5

" Open file
:e filename     " Edit file
:e!             " Reload current file (discard changes)
:enew           " New empty buffer
:sp filename    " Split and edit file
:vsp filename   " Vertical split and edit file

" Save file
:w              " Save file
:w filename     " Save as filename
:w!             " Force save (if readonly)
:wa             " Save all buffers
:wq             " Save and quit
:x              " Save and quit (only if modified)
ZZ              " Save and quit (normal mode)
ZQ              " Quit without saving

" Quit
:q              " Quit
:q!             " Quit without saving
:qa             " Quit all buffers
:wqa            " Save all and quit

" File explorer
:e .            " Open file explorer
:Ex             " Explore current directory
:Sex            " Split and explore
:Vex            " Vertical split and explore

" Netrw navigation (file explorer)
<Enter>         " Open file/directory
-               " Go up directory
d               " Create directory
D               " Delete file/directory
R               " Rename file/directory
%               " Create new file

" File info
:f              " Show filename and position
:file           " Show full filename
:pwd            " Print working directory
:cd path        " Change directory
:lcd path       " Change local directory (buffer only)

" File encoding
:set encoding=utf-8    " Set encoding
:set fileencoding=utf-8 " Set file encoding
:set fileformat=unix   " Unix line endings
:set fileformat=dos    " Windows line endings

" Buffer commands
:ls             " List buffers
:buffer N       " Switch to buffer N
:bn             " Next buffer
:bp             " Previous buffer
:bfirst         " First buffer
:blast          " Last buffer
:bdelete N      " Delete buffer N
:bd             " Delete current buffer
:bw             " Wipeout buffer (force delete)
:ball           " Open all buffers in windows

" Buffer shortcuts
Ctrl+^          " Switch to alternate buffer
:sbuffer N      " Split and switch to buffer

" Split windows
:split          " Horizontal split
:sp             " Horizontal split (short)
:vsplit         " Vertical split
:vs             " Vertical split (short)
Ctrl+w s        " Split current window
Ctrl+w v        " Vertical split current window

" Window navigation
Ctrl+w h        " Move to left window
Ctrl+w j        " Move to window below
Ctrl+w k        " Move to window above
Ctrl+w l        " Move to right window
Ctrl+w w        " Cycle through windows
Ctrl+w p        " Previous window

" Window resizing
Ctrl+w +        " Increase height
Ctrl+w -        " Decrease height
Ctrl+w >        " Increase width
Ctrl+w <        " Decrease width
Ctrl+w =        " Equalize window sizes
:resize N       " Set height to N
:vertical resize N " Set width to N

" Window closing
Ctrl+w c        " Close current window
Ctrl+w q        " Quit window
Ctrl+w o        " Close all other windows (only current)

" Tab commands
:tabnew         " New tab
:tabnew file    " New tab with file
:tabclose       " Close current tab
:tabonly        " Close all other tabs
:tabnext        " Next tab
:tabprev        " Previous tab
:tabfirst       " First tab
:tablast        " Last tab
:tabmove N      " Move tab to position N

" Tab shortcuts
gt              " Next tab
gT              " Previous tab
Ngt             " Go to tab N

" Record macro
qa              " Start recording macro 'a'
" ... perform actions ...
q               " Stop recording

" Play macro
@a              " Play macro 'a'
@@              " Repeat last macro
N@a             " Play macro 'a' N times

" Example: Add semicolon to end of lines
qa              " Start recording
A;              " Append semicolon
<Esc>           " Exit insert mode
j               " Move down
q               " Stop recording
@a              " Play once
10@a            " Play 10 times

" View macro
:reg a          " View contents of macro 'a'
:reg            " View all registers

" Edit macro
" 1. Paste macro: "ap (paste macro 'a')
" 2. Edit the text
" 3. Yank back: "ayy (yank line into macro 'a')

" Append to macro
qa              " Start recording
@a              " Play existing macro
" ... add more actions ...
q               " Stop (macro 'a' now includes new actions)

" Set mark
ma              " Set mark 'a' at current position
mA              " Set global mark 'a' (works across files)
m.              " Set mark at last change
m[              " Set mark at start of last change
m]              " Set mark at end of last change

" Jump to mark
'a              " Jump to mark 'a' (line and column)
`a              " Jump to mark 'a' (exact position)
''              " Jump to previous position
``              " Jump to previous position (exact)
`.              " Jump to last change
`"              " Jump to last edit position

" List marks
:marks          " List all marks
:marks a        " List mark 'a'

" Jump list
Ctrl+o          " Go to older position in jump list
Ctrl+i          " Go to newer position (or Tab)
:jumps          " List jump positions

" Common jumps
%               " Jump to matching bracket/parenthesis
*               " Jump to next occurrence of word under cursor
#               " Jump to previous occurrence of word
gd              " Jump to local definition
gD              " Jump to global definition

" Text object syntax: operator + text-object
daw             " Delete a word
ci"             " Change inside quotes
yit             " Yank inside tag

" Word objects
iw              " Inner word (word only)
aw              " A word (word + surrounding whitespace)
iW              " Inner WORD
aW              " A WORD

" Sentence/Paragraph
is              " Inner sentence
as              " A sentence
ip              " Inner paragraph
ap              " A paragraph

" Quotes
i"              " Inside double quotes
a"              " Around double quotes
i'              " Inside single quotes
a'              " Around single quotes
i`              " Inside backticks
a`              " Around backticks

" Brackets
i(              " Inside parentheses
a(              " Around parentheses (or ib/ab)
i[              " Inside square brackets
a[              " Around square brackets
i{              " Inside curly braces
a{              " Around curly braces (or iB/aB)
i<              " Inside angle brackets
a<              " Around angle brackets

" Tags (HTML/XML)
it              " Inside tag
at              " Around tag

" Example: Change text inside quotes
" Text: "Hello world"
ci"             " Change inside quotes
" Type: Goodbye
" Result: "Goodbye"

" Example: Delete entire tag
" HTML: <div>content</div>
dat             " Delete around tag
" Result: (empty)

" Example: Yank function body
" Code: function test() { return true; }
ci{             " Change inside braces
" Or: di{ to delete, yi{ to yank

" Unnamed register (default)
""              " Last delete/yank/change

" Numbered registers
"0              " Last yank
"1              " Last delete
"2              " Second-to-last delete
"9              " Ninth-to-last delete

" Named registers
"a-"z           " User-defined registers
"A-"Z           " Append to register (uppercase)

" Special registers
":              " Last command-line command
".              " Last inserted text
"%              " Current filename
"#              " Alternate filename
"/              " Last search pattern
"-              " Last small delete
"+              " System clipboard (X11 primary)
"*              " System clipboard (X11 clipboard)
"=              " Expression register
"_              " Black hole register (discard)

" Yank to register
"ayy            " Yank line to register 'a'
"ayw            " Yank word to register 'a'
"Ayy            " Append line to register 'a'

" Put from register
"ap             " Put from register 'a'
"aP             " Put before from register 'a'

" Delete to register
"add            " Delete line to register 'a'
"adw            " Delete word to register 'a'

" View registers
:reg            " List all registers
:reg a          " List register 'a'

" Expression register
"=              " Enter expression mode
" Type: 2+2
" Press Enter, then p to paste result (4)

" Essential settings
:set number              " Show line numbers
:set relativenumber      " Show relative line numbers
:set nonumber            " Hide line numbers
:set number relativenumber " Both absolute and relative

" Indentation
:set autoindent          " Auto-indent new lines
:set smartindent        " Smart auto-indent
:set cindent            " C-style indentation
:set expandtab          " Use spaces instead of tabs
:set tabstop=4          " Tab width (display)
:set shiftwidth=4       " Indent width
:set softtabstop=4      " Tab key width
:set noexpandtab        " Use tabs

" Search
:set hlsearch           " Highlight search results
:set incsearch          " Incremental search
:set ignorecase         " Case-insensitive search
:set smartcase          " Case-sensitive if uppercase
:noh                    " Clear search highlighting

" Display
:set wrap               " Wrap long lines
:set nowrap             " Don't wrap lines
:set linebreak          " Wrap at word boundaries
:set showcmd            " Show command in statusline
:set showmode           " Show mode
:set ruler              " Show cursor position
:set cursorline         " Highlight current line
:set colorcolumn=80     " Highlight column 80

" Behavior
:set hidden             " Allow hidden buffers
:set autoread           " Auto-reload changed files
:set confirm            " Confirm before quitting
:set mouse=a            " Enable mouse
:set clipboard=unnamedplus " Use system clipboard

" Vim config location
" Unix/Linux/macOS: ~/.vimrc
" Windows: $HOME\_vimrc or $VIM\_vimrc

" Example .vimrc
set number
set relativenumber
set expandtab
set tabstop=2
set shiftwidth=2
set hlsearch
set incsearch
set ignorecase
set smartcase
set mouse=a

" Source config
:source ~/.vimrc        " Reload config
:so ~/.vimrc            " Short form

" Map key sequence
:map <key> <command>    " Map in normal/visual/operator mode
:nmap <key> <command>   " Map in normal mode only
:vmap <key> <command>   " Map in visual mode only
:imap <key> <command>   " Map in insert mode only
:cmap <key> <command>   " Map in command-line mode

" Non-recursive mapping (recommended)
:noremap <key> <command>     " Non-recursive normal map
:vnoremap <key> <command>    " Non-recursive visual map
:inoremap <key> <command>    " Non-recursive insert map

" Leader key
:let mapleader = ","    " Set leader to comma
:let maplocalleader = "\\" " Set local leader

" Examples
:map <leader>w :w<CR>   " Save with ,w
:nmap <C-s> :w<CR>      " Save with Ctrl+s
:inoremap jk <Esc>      " Exit insert mode with jk

" vim-plug (recommended)
" Install: curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
"   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

" Add to .vimrc:
call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')
Plug 'tpope/vim-surround'
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }
Plug 'junegunn/fzf.vim'
call plug#end()

" Commands
:PlugInstall   " Install plugins
:PlugUpdate    " Update plugins
:PlugClean     " Remove unused plugins
:PlugUpgrade   " Upgrade vim-plug itself

" File navigation
" fzf.vim - Fuzzy file finder
" Install: Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }
" Install: Plug 'junegunn/fzf.vim'
:Files          " Find files
:Buffers        " Find buffers
:History        " Command history

" Text manipulation
" vim-surround - Surround text with brackets/quotes
" Install: Plug 'tpope/vim-surround'
" Usage: cs"' (change surrounding " to ')
" Usage: ysiw" (surround word with ")

" Git integration
" vim-fugitive - Git wrapper
" Install: Plug 'tpope/vim-fugitive'
:Gstatus        " Git status
:Gcommit        " Git commit
:Gdiff          " Git diff

" Syntax & colors
" Install: Plug 'sheerun/vim-polyglot'
" Auto-detects file types and loads syntax

" Statusline
" Install: Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline'
" Shows mode, file info, git branch, etc.

" ✅ Use relative line numbers for easier navigation
set relativenumber

" ✅ Use leader key for custom mappings
let mapleader = " "

" ✅ Use non-recursive mappings to avoid conflicts
nnoremap <leader>w :w<CR>

" ✅ Enable hidden buffers for better workflow
set hidden

" ✅ Use system clipboard for copy/paste
set clipboard=unnamedplus

" ✅ Enable incremental search
set incsearch
set hlsearch

" ✅ Use text objects for precise editing
" ci" - change inside quotes
" dat - delete around tag

" ✅ Use marks for navigation
ma              " Set mark
'a              " Jump to mark

" ✅ Use macros for repetitive tasks
qa              " Record macro
@a              " Play macro

" ✅ Configure indentation consistently
set expandtab
set tabstop=2
set shiftwidth=2

" ❌ Don't use arrow keys (use hjkl)
" Arrow keys work but break muscle memory

" ❌ Don't use mouse for navigation
" Use keyboard for efficiency

" ❌ Don't use :q then :w (use :wq or :x)
" Inefficient workflow

" ❌ Don't use recursive mappings unless necessary
" Can cause infinite loops

" ❌ Don't disable syntax highlighting
" Helps catch errors

" ❌ Don't use tabs for indentation in most languages
" Use spaces (set expandtab)

" ❌ Don't ignore .vimrc configuration
" Customize for your workflow

" 1. Open file
vim file.js

" 2. Navigate to function
/function        " Search for function
n                " Next match

" 3. Edit function
ci{              " Change inside braces
" Type new code
<Esc>            " Exit insert mode

" 4. Save and continue
:w               " Save
:bn              " Next buffer

" 1. Find and replace variable name
:%s/oldVar/newVar/gc    " Replace with confirmation

" 2. Use visual block to edit multiple lines
Ctrl+v           " Visual block
jjj              " Select lines
I                " Insert mode
" Type prefix
<Esc>            " Apply to all

" 3. Use macro for repetitive changes
qa               " Record macro
" Perform change
j                " Next line
q                " Stop
@a               " Play macro
10@a             " Play 10 times

" 1. Open multiple files
vim file1.js file2.js file3.js

" 2. Navigate buffers
:ls              " List buffers
:bn              " Next buffer
:bp              " Previous buffer
Ctrl+^           " Alternate buffer

" 3. Split windows
:sp file2.js     " Horizontal split
Ctrl+w w         " Switch windows

" 4. Use tabs for different projects
:tabnew          " New tab
gt               " Next tab

" 1. Search for pattern
/pattern         " Search forward
?pattern         " Search backward

" 2. Navigate matches
n                " Next match
N                " Previous match

" 3. Replace in selection
" Select text in visual mode
:'<,'>s/old/new/g " Replace in selection

" 4. Replace in entire file
:%s/old/new/gc   " Replace all with confirmation