Cheatsheets: Vim Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet — Printable PDF Reference

Q: How do I exit Vim?

Press Esc to ensure you’re in normal mode, then type :q and press Enter. To save and exit, type :wq or :x. To force quit without saving, type :q!. If you see E37: No write since last change, use :q! to discard changes or :wq to save them.

Q: How do I search and replace in Vim?

Use the substitute command: :%s/old/new/g replaces all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the file. Add c at the end (:%s/old/new/gc) for confirmation on each match. For a line range, use :5,10s/old/new/g to replace only between lines 5 and 10.

Cheatsheets & Quick References

Vim Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet — Printable PDF Reference

DodaTech Updated Jun 20, 2026 5 min read

📄 Printable PDF: Use your browser’s Print (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) → “Save as PDF” to get a printer-friendly PDF of this Vim shortcut cheatsheet.

Complete Vim keyboard shortcuts reference for efficient text editing without touching the mouse. Covers normal mode, insert mode, visual mode, buffers, windows, marks, registers, and ex commands.

Basic Navigation (Normal Mode)

Shortcut	What it does
`h` / `j` / `k` / `l`	Left / Down / Up / Right
`w` / `b`	Next word / Back word
`W` / `B`	Next WORD / Back WORD
`e` / `ge`	End of word / End of prev word
`0` / `$`	Start of line / End of line
`^`	First non-blank character
`gg` / `G`	First line / Last line
`:42` or `42G`	Go to line 42
`Ctrl+d` / `Ctrl+u`	Page down / Page up (half)
`Ctrl+f` / `Ctrl+b`	Page down / Page up (full)
`H` / `M` / `L`	Top / Middle / Bottom of screen
`%`	Matching bracket
`{` / `}`	Previous / Next paragraph
`(` / `)`	Previous / Next sentence
`zz`	Center screen on cursor
`zt` / `zb`	Cursor to top / bottom of screen

Insert Mode

Shortcut	What it does
`i`	Insert before cursor
`I`	Insert at start of line
`a`	Append after cursor
`A`	Append at end of line
`o`	Open new line below
`O`	Open new line above
`s`	Delete char and insert
`S`	Delete line and insert
`gi`	Resume last insert position
`Esc` / `Ctrl+[`	Return to normal mode
`Ctrl+h`	Delete char before cursor (backspace)
`Ctrl+w`	Delete word before cursor
`Ctrl+u`	Delete to start of line
`Ctrl+r {reg}`	Insert from register

Visual Mode

Shortcut	What it does
`v`	Start character-wise visual
`V`	Start line-wise visual
`Ctrl+v`	Start block-wise visual
`gv`	Reselect previous visual
`o`	Move to other end of selection
`aw` / `iw`	Select a word / inner word
`a(` / `i(`	Select around / inside parens
`a{` / `i{`	Select around / inside braces
`a[` / `i[`	Select around / inside brackets
`a"` / `i"`	Select around / inside quotes
`>` / `<`	Indent / outdent selection
`~` / `u` / `U`	Toggle / lowercase / uppercase
`d` / `y`	Delete / yank (copy) selection

Editing & Yank/Paste

Shortcut	What it does
`x`	Delete character under cursor
`X`	Delete character before cursor
`dd`	Delete line
`dw` / `daw`	Delete word / a word
`d$` / `d0`	Delete to end / start of line
`diw` / `daw`	Delete inner word / a word
`yy`	Yank (copy) line
`Y`	Yank to end of line
`yw` / `y$`	Yank word / to end of line
`p` / `P`	Paste after / before cursor
`gp` / `gP`	Paste and move cursor after
`u` / `Ctrl+r`	Undo / Redo
`.`	Repeat last change
`J`	Join lines
`r{x}`	Replace char under cursor
`R`	Enter replace mode
`cc`	Change (replace) whole line
`C`	Change to end of line
`c$`	Change to end of line
`ciw` / `ci(`	Change inner word / inside parens

Search & Replace

Shortcut	What it does
`/pattern`	Search forward
`?pattern`	Search backward
`n` / `N`	Next match / Previous match
`*` / `#`	Search word under cursor forward / backward
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all in file
`:%s/old/new/gc`	Replace all with confirm
`:5,10s/old/new/g`	Replace in lines 5–10
`:noh`	Clear search highlight

Windows & Tabs

Shortcut	What it does
`:sp [file]`	Split window horizontally
`:vs [file]`	Split window vertically
`Ctrl+w s`	Horizontal split
`Ctrl+w v`	Vertical split
`Ctrl+w w`	Cycle windows
`Ctrl+w h/j/k/l`	Navigate windows
`Ctrl+w H/J/K/L`	Move window to far left/down/up/right
`Ctrl+w =`	Equal size windows
`Ctrl+w _` / `Ctrl+w	`
`:q` or `Ctrl+w q`	Close window
`:tabnew`	New tab
`gt` / `gT`	Next tab / Previous tab
`{n}gt`	Go to tab n
`:tabclose`	Close tab

Buffers

Shortcut	What it does
`:e file`	Edit file (open in buffer)
`:bnext` or `:bn`	Next buffer
`:bprev` or `:bp`	Previous buffer
`:bfirst` / `:blast`	First / last buffer
`:bd`	Delete (close) buffer
`:ls`	List all buffers
`:b {n}`	Go to buffer n
`Ctrl+^`	Toggle to alternate buffer
`:bdelete`	Delete buffer
`:bufdo`	Command on all buffers

Marks & Registers

Shortcut	What it does
`m{a-z}`	Set local mark
`m{A-Z}`	Set global mark (across files)
`'{a-z}`	Jump to line of mark
`{a-z}	Jump to exact position of mark
`:marks`	List all marks
`"{reg}y`	Yank into specific register
`"{reg}p`	Paste from specific register
`"0` / `"1`	Yank register / delete register
`"+y`	Yank to system clipboard
`"+p`	Paste from system clipboard
`:reg`	List all registers
`qq` / `q`	Start / stop recording macro to q
`@q`	Play macro from register q

Ex Commands

Command	What it does
`:w`	Save file
`:q`	Quit
`:wq` or `:x`	Save and quit
`:q!`	Force quit (discard changes)
`:w!`	Force write (overwrite read-only)
`:e!`	Reload file (discard changes)
`:set number`	Show line numbers
`:set nonumber`	Hide line numbers
`:set relativenumber`	Relative line numbers
`:set hlsearch`	Highlight search matches
`:set incsearch`	Incremental search
`:set ignorecase`	Case-insensitive search
`:set smartcase`	Smart case search
`:set tabstop=4`	Tab width = 4
`:set shiftwidth=4`	Indent width = 4
`:set expandtab`	Tabs → spaces
`:colorscheme {name}`	Change color scheme
`:help {topic}`	Open help for topic
`:!{cmd}`	Run shell command

How do I exit Vim?

Press Esc to ensure you’re in normal mode, then type :q and press Enter. To save and exit, type :wq or :x. To force quit without saving, type :q!. If you see E37: No write since last change, use :q! to discard changes or :wq to save them.

How do I search and replace in Vim?

Use the substitute command: :%s/old/new/g replaces all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the file. Add c at the end (:%s/old/new/gc) for confirmation on each match. For a line range, use :5,10s/old/new/g to replace only between lines 5 and 10.

See the full Vim guide for advanced configuration and custom key mappings.

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