VI Editor Quick Reference

Starting Vi

• edit an empty buffer: vi
• edit a file: vi filename

Leaving Vi

• write buffer to file: :w
• write buffer to file filename: :w filename
• quit: :q
• quit discarding changes: :q!
• write changes and quit: :wq
• write changes and quit: ZZ

Special Notes

• Use the escape key, <esc>, to leave insert mode or to cancel an incomplete command.
• If a command doesn't work, try hitting <esc> and entering the command again.

Motion commands

• move up one line: k
• move down one line: j
• move left one character: h
• move right one character: l
• scroll up one line: <ctrl>y
• scroll down one line: <ctrl>e
• scroll up (default is a half page): <ctrl>u
• scroll down (default is a half page): <ctrl>d
• show next page page: <ctrl>f
• show previous page page: <ctrl>b
• move to beginning of next line: +
• move to beginning of previous line: -
• move to beginning of first screen line: H
• move to middle line of screen: M
• move to last line of screen: L
• move to the nth line: nG
• move to the nth line: :n
• move to the next occurrence of c on the current line: fc
• move to the character in front of the next occurrence of c on the current line: tc
• move forward to the next word: w
• move forward to the end of the next word: e
• move backward to the previous word: b

All commands except M, nG, and :n can be preceeded by an integer to indicate the distance to move.

Text entering commands

• append text at end of line: A
• append text after cursor: a
• insert text at beginning of line: I
• insert text before cursor: i
• open a new line above cursor: O
• open a new line below cursor: o

All commands must be terminated with an <esc> after the text has been entered.

Text deletion commands

• delete character left of cursor: X
• delete character under cursor: x
• delete rest of word: dw
• delete rest of sentence: d)
• delete rest of paragraph: d}
• delete to beginning of current line: d^
• delete to end of current line: d$
• delete to end of current line: D
• delete line containing cursor: dd
• delete the current line upto and including c: dfc
• delete the current line upto c: dtc

All commands can be preceeded by an integer to indicate the number of characters, words, lines etc. to be deleted.

Text alteration commands

• replace text: R
• replace character with c: rc
• transpose two characters: xp
• join the next line to the end of the current line: J
• undo last change: u
• undo last change to current line: U
• change rest of word: cw
• change rest of sentence: c)
• change rest of paragraph: c}

The commands R, cw, c) and c} must be terminated with an <esc> after the new text has been entered. All commands, except xp, u, and U can be preceded by an integer to indicate the amount of alteration to perform.

Text moving commands

• yank a copy of the current line and place it in a buffer: yy
• put the last item yanked or deleted before the cursor: P
• put the last item yanked or deleted after the cursor: p
• yank a copy of the current line and place it in buffer c: "cY
• put contents of buffer c on a new line above the cursor: "cP
• put contents of buffer c on a new line below the cursor: "cp

The commands Y and "cY can be preceeded by and integer to indicate the number of lines to copy.

Search Commands

• search forward for pattern: :/pattern/
• search forward for pattern: /pattern/
• search backward for pattern: :?pattern?
• search backward for pattern: ?pattern?
• delete the next line containing pat1: :/pat1/d
• substitute the next occurance of pat1 with pat2: :/pat1/s/pat1/pat2
• repeat the last search: n
• repeat the last search in opposite direction: N

Global parameter

• substitute pat2 for pat1: :g/pat1/s/pat1/pat2
• delete all occurrences of pat1: :g/pat1/d
• print all occurrences of pat1: :g/pat1/p

Addresses

• the nth line: n
• lines n through k: n,k
• the current line: .
• the last line: $
• n lines after the current line: +n
• n lines before the current line: -n
• the last n+1 lines: $-n,$

Miscellaneous

• read file filename into the buffer after the current line: :r filename
• read the output of command cmd into: the buffer after the current line: :r !cmd
• write the buffer to file filename replacing its previous contents: :w! Filename
• write the buffer to the end of file filename: :w >> filename
• turn on line numbering: :set number
• turn off line numbering: :set nonumber
• turn on auto indenting: :set autoindent
• turn on auto indenting: :set ai
• turn off auto indenting: :set noautoindent
• turn off auto indenting: :set noai