Vim Basic Commands Tutorial

Vim Basic Commands Tutorial | Generated by AI

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Vim (short for Vi IMproved) is a powerful, modal text editor that’s the default on many Linux systems like Red Hat. It’s keyboard-driven and efficient once you learn the basics. Vim has three main modes: Normal (for navigation and commands, default), Insert (for typing text), and Visual (for selecting text). Press Esc to return to Normal mode from anywhere.

The best way to learn hands-on is to run vimtutor in your terminal—it launches an interactive tutorial.

1. Opening and Closing Vim

Open or create a file: vim filename.txt (e.g., vim notes.txt).
Quit without saving: In Normal mode, type :q! and press Enter.
Exit Vim: See saving section below.

2. Modes

Normal mode: Default—use for commands. Press Esc to enter.
Insert mode: Press i (insert before cursor) or a (append after cursor) to enter. You’ll see -- INSERT -- at the bottom.
Visual mode: Press v to select text.
Command-line mode: Press : to enter (for save, quit, search).

Use these instead of arrow keys for efficiency:

h: Left one character
j: Down one line
k: Up one line
l: Right one character
w: Forward to start of next word
b: Backward to start of previous word
0: Start of line
$: End of line
gg: Top of file
G: Bottom of file
:n: Jump to line n (e.g., :5)
Prefix with numbers: 5j (down 5 lines)

Enable line numbers: :set number

4. Inserting and Editing Text

Enter Insert mode:
- i: Insert before cursor
- I: Insert at start of line
- a: Append after cursor
- A: Append at end of line
- o: New line below (enters Insert mode)
- O: New line above (enters Insert mode)
Exit Insert mode: Esc
Replace single character: r (then type the new char)
Undo: u
Redo: Ctrl + r
Repeat last command: .

5. Deleting, Copying, and Pasting

Delete character: x
Delete line: dd
Delete range: :3,5d (lines 3 to 5)
Copy (yank) line: yy
Copy selected text: In Visual mode (v), highlight with arrows, then y
Paste after cursor: p
Paste before cursor: P
Select text: v (character-wise), then move cursor; Esc to exit Visual.

6. Saving and Quitting

Save: :w
Save and quit: :wq or :x or ZZ (capital Z twice)
Force save and quit: :wq!
Quit without saving: :q! or ZQ

7. Searching

Search forward: /pattern (e.g., /hello), then Enter; n for next.
Search backward: ?pattern
Replace: :%s/old/new/g (replace all “old” with “new”)

Quick Tips

Help: :help or :h keyword
Split screen: :split filename (horizontal) or :vsplit filename (vertical); Ctrl + w w to switch.
Practice in a test file to avoid mistakes.
Syntax highlighting: :syntax on

This covers the essentials to get you editing files quickly. For more, explore :help in Vim or the resources below.

Getting started with Vim: The basics
Basic Vim Commands
Vim Cheat Sheet

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