Save/Quit

Save file -> :w
Save file and quit -> :x or ZZ
Quit -> :q
Quit discarding changes -> :q! or ZQ

Modes

Normal -> ESC, Ctrl + c
Insert -> i, I, a, A
Replace -> R
Visual -> v, V, Ctrl + v
Command -> :

Indentation

Insert Mode:
- Ctrl + d : shift left
- Ctrl + t : shift right
Normal mode:
- Shift + « : shift current line left
- Shift + » : shift current line right
Visual mode:
- < : shift selection left
- > : shift selection right

Visual mode multi-line editing

Move the cursor exactly where you want to insert the new text
Ctrl + v
Move up or down the lines to select several lines
Shift + i
Type in the text
ESC

The typed text will replicate to all selected lines

Moving around

Search forward and backward once -> / and ?
On search: (next hit -> n, previous hit -> N)
f, F -> “find” the next character, including the character
t, T -> “find” the next character, up to that character
Search for next/previous match currently under cursor -> asterisk / #
Find and replace all occurrences of foo with bar -> :%s/foo/bar/g
Move to the paired parenthesis/curly braces -> %
Move to the beginning/end of a word (forward) -> w / e
Move to the beginning/end of a word (backward) -> b / ge
Move to beginning/end of line and start editing -> I / A
Move to the beginning/end of the line -> 0 / $
Move to the first character of the line -> _
Jump forward/backward one line -> j / k
Jump forward/backward one paragraph -> } / {
Jump to the top/middle/bottom of the page -> H / M / L
Jump forward/backward one page -> Ctrl + f / Ctrl + b
Jump up/down half page -> Ctrl + u / Ctrl + d
Jump to next line with same content -> Right Alt + 3
Move cursor to the /top/middle/bottom of the page -> zt / zz / zb
Move cursor to the beginning/end of document -> gg / G
Move cursor to a specific line number -> :10
Move cursor X lines above/below -> 10k/10j
Jump to the previous/next file cursor position -> Ctrl + o / Ctrl + i

Line numbers

Activate absolute line numbers -> :set nu
Activate relative line numbers -> :set rnu
Toggle absolute line numbers -> :set nu!
Toggle relative line numbers -> :set rnu!

Editing

Operators

Operators specify which operation to perfom:

d -> Delete/Cut
y -> Yank (copy)
c -> Change (delete and enter insert mode)
r -> Replace
v -> Visually select

Motion

Motion specifies where the Operators operate in relation to the cursor position:

w -> word
p -> paragraph
_ -> line
2j -> down 2 lines
e -> until the end of the word
$ -> until the end of the line
0 -> from the beginning of the line
t/T -> until a specific character
f/F -> until a specific character, including the specific character
Ctrl + v -> Select block
i -> INNER: inside/between something
- iw -> “inner word” (works from anywhere in a word)
- it -> “inner tag” (works within the contents of an HTML tag)
- i" -> “inner quotes”
- i_ -> “inner line”
- is -> “inner sentence”
- ip -> “inner paragraph”
a -> AROUND: like INNER, but including the tag, quotes, etc
- at -> “around tag” (works within the content of an HTML tag including the tags)
- a" -> “around quotes” (works within the content of including the quotes)
- as -> “around sentence”
- ap -> “around paragraph”

Examples:

Delete everything within/closest tag, type: dit
Delete everything until it finds a dot: dt.
Delete everything until it finds a dot, including the dot: df.
Delete everything between paired parenthesis/curly braces: da%
Select the content within/closest parenthesis: vi(
Delete the content within/closest parenthesis: di(
Delete the content within/closest parenthesis and start typing: ci(

Common commands

repeat last operation -> .
copy selection -> y
copy character-> yl
copy word -> yiw
copy line -> yy
copy paragraph -> yap
Select paragraph -> vip
delete/cut selection -> d
delete/cut word from cursor position forward -> dw
delete/cut word from cursor position backward -> db
delete/cut whole word -> diw
delete/cut word and insert mode -> cw
delete/cut paragraph -> dap
paste -> p
undo -> u
redo -> ctrl + r
delete character (Del) -> x
delete character (Backspace) -> X
replace character -> r
delete character and insert mode -> s
Switch to ‘Insert’ mode -> i
Exit ‘Insert’ mode -> ESC or Ctrl + c
Increase/Decrease the first number in a line: Ctrl + a/x
Format block of text -> V + text selection + =
Repeat command mode last command -> @:

Lines

create new line below -> o
create a new line above -> O
copy line -> yy
copy all lines under the cursor -> :.,$y or :+,$y
paste -> p
paste line above -> P
delete/cut line -> dd
delete/cut everything from the beginning of the line up to the cursor -> d0
delete/cut everthing from the cursor to the end of the line -> D or d$
delete/cut the rest of the line and insert mode -> C
delete/cut the whole line and insert mode -> S
delete/cut from the current line to the end of the file -> :.,$d or :+,$d
delete/cut from the current line to the beginning of the file -> :.,1d
delete/cut from line 3 to line 10 -> :3,10d
delete/cut from line 3 to the end of the file -> :3,$d
delete/cut the last line-> :$d
delete/cut all lines-> :%d
move current line after line 6 -> :m 6
move line two lines above -> :m-2 (note that :m-1 won’t work)
move line one line below -> :m+1
move line to beginning/end of document -> :m 0 / :m $
move block of lines -> :5,7m 12 (move lines 5,6,7 after line 12)
move block of lines -> :5,7m+4 (move lines 5,6,7 four lines below)
indent current line -> « or »
indent current line plus 2 lines below -> 3« or 3»
select a range of lines and indent -> :4,17<
Delete all lines containing the string “foo”. It also removes line where “foo” is embedded in larger words, such as “football” -> :g/foo/d
Delete all lines not containing the string “foo” -> :g!/foo/d
Remove all comments from a Bash script. The pattern ^# means each line beginning with # -> :g/^#/d
Remove all blank lines. The pattern ^$ matches all empty lines -> :g/^$/d

Special operations

Comment a block of lines:
1. Select the block of lines with V
2. Enter command mode and type: norm I#
Uncomment a block of lines:
1. Select the block of lines with V
2. Enter command mode and type: norm x
Find and replace all occurrences of foo with bar -> :%s/foo/bar/g
Find and replace foo with bar X number of times:
1. Search for foo: /foo + enter
2. Type cgn + bar
3. ESC
4. Iterate through the results:
- Press . to replace next foo instance for bar
- Press n to skip next foo instance
Move all lines that start with specific character/s to the end of the document. In this example, the specific characters is static:

:g/^static/m$`

File Management

Explorer

Open file explorer -> :e .
Open file explorer -> :Ex
Open file explorer -> :Explore
Create a directory within Explorer -> d
Create a file within Explorer -> %
Delete a file/directory within Explorer -> Place the cursor over the file/directory and press D
Create a new file: :e filename
List files in current directory -> :e then press Space and Ctrl+d
Open/create a file in new window horizontally -> split filename or sp: filename
Open/create a file in new window vertically -> vsplit filename or vsp: filename

Windows

Split window horizontally -> :split or :sp or Ctrl + w + s
Split window vertically -> :vsplit or :vs or Ctrl + w + v
Cycle through windows -> Ctrl + w + w
Move to previous active window -> Ctrl + w + p
Move to left window -> Ctrl + w + h
Move to right window -> Ctrl + w + l
Swap windows positions -> Ctrl + w + r
Move windows directionally -> Ctrl + w + H/J/K/L
Close current window -> Ctrl + q or :hide
Close all windows except current one: -> :only

Tabs

New tab -> :tabnew
Go to next tab -> gt
Go to previous tab -> gT
Go to tab number -> #gt
Go to first tab -> :tabr
Go to last tab -> :tabl
Move current tab to the last position -> :tabm
Move current tab to the # position -> :tabm #
Close tab -> :close

Buffers

Open a new 100 characters width window buffer explorer -> :100vs .
Toggle between open windows: -> Ctrl + w + w
Open new file in buffer -> :e <filename path>
Open a new file and split screen horizontally -> :sp
Open a new file and split screen vertically -> :vsp
List active buffers -> :ls
Change to specific buffer -> :b <buffer-number>
Move to next/previous buffer -> :bn / :bp
Delete current buffer -> :bd
Jump back/forward to last jump location -> Ctrl + o / Ctrl + i

Customize Vim

You can customize Vim by editing ~/.vimrc

let mapleader = "," 
set tabstop=4
set autoindent
set number " enable line numbering
set relativenumber "enable relative line number
syntax enable " syntax highlighting enabled


" KEY MAPPINGS

nmap <leader>ee :vsplit<cr> :Explore<cr> " pressing ,ee will open Explore in a new vertical window
nmap <leader>zz :split $MYVIMRC<cr> " Pressing ,zz will open ~/.vimrc in a new window
nmap <leader>zx :source $MYVIMRC<cr> " Pressing ,zx will source the changes made in ~/.vimrc
vmap <buffer> ;bo "zdi<strong><c-r>z</strong><esc>

Note: For the changes to take affect, run this command inside Vim:

:so $MYVIMRC

Key mapping

List keymaps: :map
Remove keymap: :unmap <keymap>

Snippet insertion

Create in ~/.vim/templates/ directory the text file containing the snippet
Add this lines in ~/.vimrc:

function Rsf() 
 :read ~/.vim/templates/<textfile>
endfunction

Restart vim: :so $MYVIMRC
When you need to insert the snippet, type: :call Rsf()

Note: Rsf() is used as an example. You can name your function whatever you want.

Macros

[move the cursor where you want to start to record the macro]
$ qq
[do all the staff]
$ ESC
$ q
[move the cursor where you want to apply the macro]
$ @q

Plugins

It is recommended to install a plugin manager in order to install, load and uninstall plugins. In this case we are using vim-plug

Download vim-plug:

$ curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

Add vim-plug in your ~/.vimrc file:

" vim-plug
call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

" plugin section

" end vim-plug
call plug#end()

Add, for instance, vim-jsx-pretty, emmet-vim and Intellisense plugins in your ~/.vimrc file:

" vim-plug
call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

" plugin section
Plug 'maxmellon/vim-jsx-pretty'
Plug 'mattn/emmet-vim'
Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', {'branch': 'release'}

" end vim-plug
call plug#end()

Launch Vim and run: :PlugInstall

That’s it. This is how you install plugins in Vim with vim-plug.

.VIMRC

This is a useful .vimrc file:

" map leader key to comma key
let mapleader = ","

" vim-plug
call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

" plugin section
Plug 'maxmellon/vim-jsx-pretty'
Plug 'mattn/emmet-vim'
Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', {'branch': 'release'}

" end vim-plug
call plug#end()

" Set tab width and indentations with spaces (no hard tabs) 
set expandtab
set shiftwidth=4
set tabstop=4

" Auto-indenting
set autoindent
set smartindent
filetype indent on
filetype plugin indent on

" Line numbers
set number " enable absolute line number
set relativenumber "enable relative line number
syntax enable " syntax highlighting enabled

"set hidden

"--- KEY MAPPINGS ---

" pressing <leader>ee will open Explore in a new vertical window
nmap <leader>ee :vsplit<cr> :Explore<cr> 

" Pressing <leader>zz will open ~/.vimrc in a new window
nmap <leader>zz :split $MYVIMRC<cr> 

" Pressing <leader>zx will source the changes made in ~/.vimrc
nmap <leader>zx :source $MYVIMRC<cr> 

"-- EMMET CONFIG --
"redefine trigger key (press emmet_leader key (,) twice to trigger
let g:user_emmet_leader_key=','

NeoVim

Install last version (Ubuntu)

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neovim-ppa/unstable -y
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install make gcc ripgrep unzip git xclip neovim

Launch NeoVim

$ nvim

kickstart.nvim

Readme Page: https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim?tab=readme-ov-file

Installation

$ git clone https://github.com/nvim-lua/kickstart.nvim.git "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/nvim
$ nvim

Edit config file

Within NeoVim, type: :e $MYVIMRC

Golang support

Edit the config file and uncomment this line:

-- gopls = {},

Edit the config file and make these lines to look like this:

        dependencies = {
          -- `friendly-snippets` contains a variety of premade snippets.
          --    See the README about individual language/framework/plugin snippets:
          --    https://github.com/rafamadriz/friendly-snippets
          {
            'rafamadriz/friendly-snippets',
            config = function()
              require('luasnip.loaders.from_vscode').lazy_load { include = {"go", "html", "css"}}
            end,
          },
        },

Edit the config file and add ‘go’ to this line:

ensure_installed = { 'go', 'bash', 'c', 'diff', 'html', 'lua', 'luadoc', 'markdown', 'markdown_inline', 'query', 'vim', 'vimdoc' },

Run :TSUpdate

Restart your computer

Useful commands

Space + s + g -> Search for any word in the whole project
Space + s + w -> Search for the word where the cursor is on in the whole project
Space + s + f -> Search for files in the project
g + d -> Go to Definition of the function/variable where the cursor is on
g + D -> Go to Declaration of the function/variable where the cursor is on
g + I -> Go to Implementation of the function/variable where the cursor is on
g + I -> Go to Implementation of the function/variable where the cursor is on
:e . -> Open file explorer

Docs

Vim