Vi Editor Linux Shortcut Keys

Limited Time Offer!

For Less Than the Cost of a Starbucks Coffee, Access All DevOpsSchool Videos on YouTube Unlimitedly.
Master DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps Skills!

Here’s a comprehensive list of shortcuts for the Vi editor in Linux.

Command	Description
`h`	Move left
`l`	Move right
`j`	Move down
`k`	Move up
`0`	Move to the beginning of the line
`^`	Move to the first non-blank character of the line
`$`	Move to the end of the line
`w`	Move to the next word
`e`	Move to the end of the current/next word
`b`	Move to the beginning of the previous word
`gg`	Move to the beginning of the file
`G`	Move to the end of the file
`ng`	Move to line number `n` (e.g., `5G` moves to line 5)
`Ctrl + d`	Scroll down half a screen
`Ctrl + u`	Scroll up half a screen
`Ctrl + f`	Scroll forward one full screen
`Ctrl + b`	Scroll backward one full screen

Command	Description
`i`	Insert at the cursor position
`I`	Insert at the beginning of the line
`a`	Append after the cursor
`A`	Append at the end of the line
`o`	Open a new line below the cursor
`O`	Open a new line above the cursor
`r`	Replace a single character
`R`	Replace multiple characters (overwrite mode)
`x`	Delete character under the cursor
`X`	Delete character before the cursor
`dd`	Delete (cut) the entire line
`yy`	Copy (yank) the entire line
`p`	Paste after the cursor
`P`	Paste before the cursor
`u`	Undo the last action
`Ctrl + r`	Redo the last undone action
`J`	Join the current line with the next line

Command	Description
`dw`	Delete a word
`de`	Delete to the end of the current word
`d$`	Delete from cursor to end of line
`D`	Delete from cursor to end of line (same as `d$`)
`d0`	Delete from cursor to beginning of line
`dd`	Delete the current line
`dG`	Delete from current line to end of file
`dgg`	Delete from current line to beginning of file

Command	Description
`yy` or `Y`	Copy the current line
`yw`	Copy a word
`y$`	Copy to the end of the line
`y0`	Copy to the beginning of the line
`p`	Paste after the cursor
`P`	Paste before the cursor

Command	Description
`/text`	Search forward for “text”
`?text`	Search backward for “text”
`n`	Repeat last search in the same direction
`N`	Repeat last search in the opposite direction
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the file
`:s/old/new/g`	Replace all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the current line
`:s/old/new/gc`	Replace with confirmation

Command	Description
`:e filename`	Open another file in Vi
`:bn`	Go to the next buffer (file)
`:bp`	Go to the previous buffer (file)
`:bd`	Close the current buffer
`:sp filename`	Open file in a new horizontal split
`:vs filename`	Open file in a new vertical split
`Ctrl + w + w`	Switch between split windows

Command	Description
`ma`	Mark the current position as “a”
`'a`	Jump to the marked position “a”
	Jump back to the last cursor position
`Ctrl + o`	Jump to the previous location
`Ctrl + i`	Jump forward to the next location

Command	Description
`v`	Start visual mode (character selection)
`V`	Start line selection mode
`Ctrl + v`	Start block selection mode (column selection)
`y`	Copy the selected text
`d`	Delete the selected text
`>`	Indent the selected text
`<`	Un-indent the selected text

Command	Description
`:q`	Quit Vi (only if no changes were made)
`:q!`	Quit without saving changes
`:wq` or `ZZ`	Save and quit
`:x`	Save and quit (same as `:wq`)

To master Vi, start practicing:

Let me know if you need any specific Vi commands! 🚀🔥

Post Views: 1,596