vi Command Summary

MOVEMENT - moving the cursor and scrolling the screen
CHANGES - making changes to text
COPY and PASTE

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vi MOVEMENT (Figure 1.2)

Arrow keys to move cursor.

h j k l

Same as arrow keys above.

w

Move forward one WORD.

b

Move BACK one word.

e

Move to END of word.

^ u

Scroll UP a partial screen.

^ d

Scroll DOWN a partial screen.

^ f

Scroll FORWARD a full screen (page down).

^ b

Scroll BACKWARD a full screen (page up).

-

Move up one line.

[ret]

Return, move down one line.

0 (zero)

Move to BEGINNING of line.

$

Move to END of line.

G

Go to END of file.

n G

Go to line number n.

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vi SEARCH

/text [RET]

SEARCH for text.

/ [RET]

CONTINUE search for previous text.

?text

Search backwards for text.

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vi CHANGES

s

SUBSTITUTE for character.

S

SUBSTITUTE for line.

i text [Esc]

INSERT text before cursor.

cw text [Esc]

CHANGE word to text.

c3w text [Esc]

Change 3 words to text.

C text [Esc]

Change rest of line to text.

cc text [Esc]

Change line to text.

x

DELETE single character.

r p

REPLACE single character with p.

R text [esc]

Replace (type over) characters with text.

dw

DELETE word (4dw deletes 4 words).

dd

DELETE line (3dd deletes 3 lines).

D

DELETE from cursor to end of line.

u

UNDO last change (remember this one).

U

UNDO all changes to line (don't forget this one).

s

SUBSTITUTE character.

S

SUBSTITUTE lines.

J

JOIN lines.

a text [Esc]

ADD text after cursor.

A text [Esc]

ADD text to end of line.

I text [Esc]

INSERT text at start of line.

o text [Esc]

OPEN new line below with text.

O text [Esc]:

OPEN new line above with text.

esc, or `

END an insert, replace command.

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vi SUBCOMMANDS

:w fname

WRITE (save) fname (default: to present file).

ZZ

EXIT the editor, saving all changes (same as :wq).

:q!

QUIT emphatically, do not save changes (! is your

tool to insist; useful after messing up (also :w temp).

:e!

Edit again previous file, i.e., revert to last saved version.

:n

Edit NEXT file (after vi file1 file2 ...).

:f

Show current FILE name and cursor line number.

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vi COPY and PASTE

Y [RET]

YANK (copy) current line.

yy [RET]

YANK (copy) current line.

yw

YANK (copy) next word.

p

PUT last thing yanked before cursor.

P

PUT last thing yanked after cursor.