Section 7.12. Alphabetical List of Keys in Command Mode

7.12. Alphabetical List of Keys in Command Mode

For brevity, control characters are marked by ^.

Command	Action
a	Append text after cursor.
A	Append text at end-of-line.
^A	Search for next occurrence of word under cursor. Increment number in vim when cursor is on a number.
b	Back up to beginning of word in current line.
B	Back up one word, treating punctuation marks as words.
^B	Scroll backward one window.
c	Change text up to target of next movement command.
C	Change to end of current line.
^C	End insert mode; interrupts a long operation.
d	Delete up to target of next movement command.
D	Delete to end of current line.
^D	Scroll down half-window; in insert mode, unindent to shiftwidth if autoindent is set (or when using vim ).
e	Move to end of word.
E	Move to end of word, treating punctuation as part of word.
^E	Show one more line at bottom of window.
f	Find next character typed forward on current line.
F	Find next character typed backward on current line.
^F	Scroll forward one window.
g	Unused in vi . Begins many multiple-character commands in vim .
G	Go to specified line or end of file.
^G	Print information about file on status line.
h	Left arrow cursor key.
H	Move cursor to home position.
^H	Left arrow cursor key; backspace key in insert mode.
i	Insert text before cursor.
I	Insert text before first nonblank character on line.
^I	Unused in command mode; in insert mode, same as Tab key.
j	Down arrow cursor key.
J	Join previous line to current line.
^J	Down arrow cursor key; in insert mode, move down a line.
k	Up arrow cursor key.
K	Unused in vi . Look up word using keywordprg in vim .
^K	Unused in vi . Insert multiple-keystroke character in vim .
l	Right arrow cursor key.
L	Move cursor to last position in window.
^L	Redraw screen.
m	Mark the current cursor position in register (a-z).
M	Move cursor to middle position in window.
^M	Move to beginning of next line.
n	Repeat the last search command.
N	Repeat the last search command in reverse direction.
^N	Down arrow cursor key.
o	Open line below current line.
O	Open line above current line.
^O	Unused in vi . Return to previous jump position in vim .
p	Put yanked or deleted text after or below cursor.
P	Put yanked or deleted text before or above cursor.
^P	Up arrow cursor key.
q	Unused in vi . Record keystrokes in vim .
Q	Quit vi and enter ex line-editing mode.
^Q	Unused in vi . Same as ^V in vim (On some terminals, resume data flow.)
r	Replace character at cursor with the next character you type.
R	Replace characters.
^R	Redraw the screen.
s	Change the character under the cursor to typed characters.
S	Change entire line.
^S	Unused. (On some terminals, stop data flow.)
t	Find next character typed forward on current line and position cursor before it.
T	Find next character typed backward on current line and position cursor after it.
^T	Unused in command mode for vi . Pop tag from tagstack in vim . In insert mode, move to next tab setting.
u	Undo the last change made. In vi , a second undo redoes an undone command. vim supports multiple levels of undo. To redo, use Ctrl-R.
U	Restore current line, discarding changes.
^U	Scroll the screen upward a half-window.
v	Unused in vi . Enter visual mode in vim .
V	Unused in vi . Enter linewise visual mode in vim .
^V	Unused in command mode for vi . Enter blockwise visual mode in vim . In insert mode, insert next character verbatim.
w	Move to beginning of next word.
W	Move to beginning of next word, treating punctuation marks as words.
^W	Unused in command mode in vi . Begins window commands in vim . In insert mode, back up to beginning of word.
x	Delete character under cursor.
X	Delete character before cursor.
^X	Unused in vi . Decrement number in vim when cursor is on a number. In insert mode in vim , begins several commands.
y	Yank or copy text up to target of following movement command into temporary buffer.
Y	Make copy of current line.
^Y	Show one more line at top of window.
z	Reposition line containing cursor. z must be followed by Return (reposition line to top of screen), . (reposition line to middle of screen), or - (reposition line to bottom of screen).
ZZ	Exit the editor, saving changes.