Neovim / Vim Essentials

Neovim (Nvim) is a highly configurable, modal text editor built for efficiency.

Core Concepts: Modes

Nvim operates in several modes. The most common are:

1. Normal Mode (or Command Mode): The default mode. Keystrokes are interpreted as commands (e.g., for navigation, deletion, copying, pasting). You'll spend most of your time here navigating and manipulating text.

   • Press <Esc> from any other mode to return to Normal mode.

2. Insert Mode: Used for typing text like in a regular editor. Characters you type are inserted into the buffer.

   • Enter from Normal mode with commands like i, a, o (see below).

3. Replace Mode: Similar to Insert mode, but typed characters overwrite existing characters at the cursor position.

   • Enter from Normal mode with R (replace multiple characters) or r (replace a single character).

4. Visual Mode: Used for selecting text. Once text is selected, you can operate on it (e.g., delete, copy, change case).

   • v: Character-wise visual mode.
   • V: Line-wise visual mode.
   • <C-v> (Ctrl+v): Block-wise visual mode.

5. Command-Line Mode (or Ex Mode): Used for executing more complex commands, file operations, searching, and substitutions.

   • Enter from Normal mode by typing : (colon), / (forward search), or ? (backward search).

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I. Entering & Exiting Modes

• <Esc>: Exit current mode (Insert, Visual, Replace, Command-Line prompt) and return to Normal Mode.
• i: Enter Insert Mode before the cursor.
• I: Enter Insert Mode at the beginning of the current line.
• a: Enter Insert Mode after the cursor.
• A: Enter Insert Mode at the end of the current line.
• o: Open a new line below the current line and enter Insert Mode.
• O: Open a new line above the current line and enter Insert Mode.
• gi: Go to the position of the last edit and enter Insert Mode.
• r{char}: Enter Replace Mode for a single character, then return to Normal Mode. (e.g., rx replaces the character under cursor with 'x').
• R: Enter Replace Mode continuously until <Esc> is pressed.
• v: Enter character-wise Visual Mode.
• V: Enter line-wise Visual Mode.
• <C-v> (Ctrl+v): Enter block-wise Visual Mode.
• <C-o>: (In Insert Mode) Execute one Normal mode command and return to Insert mode.

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II. Cursor Movement (Normal Mode)

(Can often be prefixed with a [count] to repeat, e.g., 10j moves 10 lines down)

Basic Movement:

• h: Move cursor left.
• j: Move cursor down.
• k: Move cursor up.
• l: Move cursor right.

Word Movement:

• w: Move to the start of the next word.
• W: Move to the start of the next WORD (words separated by whitespace).
• b: Move to the start of the previous word.
• B: Move to the start of the previous WORD.
• e: Move to the end of the current/next word.
• E: Move to the end of the current/next WORD.
• ge: Move to the end of the previous word.

Line Movement:

• 0 (zero): Move to the beginning of the current line (first column).
• ^: Move to the first non-blank character of the current line.
• $: Move to the end of the current line.
• g_: Move to the last non-blank character of the current line.

Screen Movement:

• H: Move to the High (top) line of the screen.
• M: Move to the Middle line of the screen.
• L: Move to the Low (bottom) line of the screen.
• <C-u> (Ctrl+u): Move up half a screen (Up).
• <C-d> (Ctrl+d): Move down half a screen (Down).
• <C-b> (Ctrl+b): Move up one full screen (Back).
• <C-f> (Ctrl+f): Move down one full screen (Forward).
• zt: Scroll screen to make current line appear at the top.
• zz: Scroll screen to make current line appear in the middle.
• zb: Scroll screen to make current line appear at the bottom.

File Movement / Jumping:

• G: Go to the last line of the file.
• gg: Go to the first line of the file.
• [N]G: Go to line number N (e.g., 40G goes to line 40).
• %: Jump to the matching bracket (), brace {}, or square bracket []. Also used with if/else/endif etc. in some filetypes.
• Ctrl+G: Display current file name, line number, and position.

Character Search (on current line):

• f{char}: Find next occurrence of {char} forwards on the current line.
• F{char}: Find next occurrence of {char} backwards on the current line.
• t{char}: Move cursor to just before the next occurrence of {char} forwards.
• T{char}: Move cursor to just after the next occurrence of {char} backwards.
• ;: Repeat the last f, F, t, or T command.
• ,: Repeat the last f, F, t, or T command in the opposite direction.

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III. Editing Text (Normal Mode)

(Many editing commands follow the structure operator{motion} or operator[count]{motion})

Deleting (Cutting) Text:

• x: Delete character under the cursor (like dl).
• X: Delete character before the cursor (like dh).
• d{motion}: Delete text over {motion}.
  • dw: Delete from cursor to the start of the next word.
  • db: Delete from cursor to the start of the previous word.
  • d$: Delete from cursor to the end of the line (same as D).
  • d0: Delete from cursor to the beginning of the line.
  • d^: Delete from cursor to first non-blank character of line.
  • diw: Delete inner word (word under cursor, excluding surrounding spaces).
  • daw: Delete a word (word under cursor, including one surrounding space).
  • di(, di{, di[: Delete inside parentheses/braces/brackets.
  • da(, da{, da[: Delete around parentheses/braces/brackets (includes them).
• dd: Delete (cut) the current line.
• D: Delete from cursor to the end of the line (same as d$).
• [N]dd: Delete N lines starting from the current line.

Changing Text (Delete then Insert):

• c{motion}: Change text over {motion} (deletes and enters Insert Mode).
  • cw: Change from cursor to the start of the next word.
  • caw: Change a word.
  • ciw: Change inner word.
  • c$: Change from cursor to the end of the line (same as C).
  • cc: Change (replace) the entire current line.
  • ci(, ci{, ci[: Change inside parentheses/braces/brackets.
• C: Change from cursor to the end of the line (same as c$).
• s: Substitute character under cursor and enter Insert mode (like cl).
• S: Substitute (delete and enter Insert mode) the entire current line (like cc).

Yanking (Copying) Text:

• y{motion}: Yank (copy) text over {motion}.
  • yw: Yank from cursor to the start of the next word.
  • y$: Yank from cursor to the end of the line.
  • yiw: Yank inner word.
• yy or Y: Yank (copy) the current line.
• [N]yy: Yank N lines starting from the current line.

Pasting Text:

• p: Paste (put) the yanked/deleted text after the cursor (if character-wise) or on the line below (if line-wise).
• P: Paste (put) the yanked/deleted text before the cursor or on the line above.
• gp, gP: Like p and P, but leave cursor after the pasted text.

Registers (Buffers for Cut/Copy/Paste):

• Text deleted or yanked is stored in registers.
• "": The unnamed register (default for d, c, y, p).
• "0: The yank register (last yanked text).
• "1 - "9: Numbered registers (last 9 deletes, 1 is newest).
• "a - "z: Named registers. To use: "{register}{command} (e.g., "ayy yanks current line into register a; "ap pastes from register a).
• "_: The black hole register (deletes text without saving it).
• "+: System clipboard register (use "+y to copy to system clipboard, "+p to paste from it).
• "*: X11 primary selection register (often used for middle-click paste on Linux).

Undo and Redo:

• u: Undo the last change.
• U: Undo all changes on the current line (since the cursor last moved to it).
• <C-r> (Ctrl+r): Redo the last undone change.
• :earlier [N]s/m/h/d: Go back to text state N seconds/minutes/hours/days ago.
• :later [N]s/m/h/d: Go forward.
• (Nvim specific) Persistent Undo: Nvim saves undo history even after closing files.

Joining Lines:

• J: Join the current line with the next line (removes indentation and adds a space).
• gJ: Join lines without adding a space.
• [N]J: Join N lines starting from the current line.

Transposing & Case:

• xp: Transpose character under cursor with the next one.
• ~: Toggle case of character under cursor and move right.
• gU{motion}: Convert text covered by {motion} to UPPERCASE. (e.g., gUw for a word, gUU for a line).
• gu{motion}: Convert text to lowercase. (e.g., guw, guu).
• g~{motion}: Toggle case of text. (e.g., g~w, g~~).

Indentation:

• >>: Indent current line by shiftwidth.
• <<: Unindent current line by shiftwidth.
• [N]>>: Indent N lines.
• ==: Auto-indent current line (requires proper filetype settings).
• ={motion}: Auto-indent text covered by {motion}.

Increment/Decrement Numbers:

• <C-a> (Ctrl+a): Increment number under/after cursor.
• <C-x> (Ctrl+x): Decrement number under/after cursor.

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IV. File & Buffer Management (Command-Line Mode)

(Commands typically start with : in Normal Mode)

Saving & Quitting:

• :w: Write (save) the current file.
• :w [filename]: Write to filename (Save As).
• :q: Quit (close current window/buffer). Fails if there are unsaved changes.
• :wq or :x: Write (save) and quit.
• :q!: Quit without saving (discard changes).
• :wa: Write all changed buffers.
• :qa: Quit all (close all windows). Fails if any buffer has unsaved changes.
• :wqa or :xa: Write all changed buffers and quit all.
• :qa!: Quit all without saving any changes.

Opening & Editing Files:

• :e [filename]: Edit filename. Opens in current window.
• :e!: Revert to the last saved version of the current file (discard unsaved changes).
• :r [filename]: Read filename and insert its content below the current line.
• :r !{cmd}: Read output of external command {cmd} and insert below current line.
• :new [filename]: Open filename in a new horizontal split.
• :vnew [filename]: Open filename in a new vertical split.

Buffer Management:

• :ls or :buffers: List all open buffers.
• :b [N/name]: Switch to buffer number N or buffer with partial name. (e.g., :b 3, :b index).
• :bn: Go to the next buffer in the list.
• :bp: Go to the previous buffer in the list.
• :bd [N/name]: Delete (close) buffer N or buffer with name. Fails if unsaved.
• :bd! [N/name]: Delete buffer forcefully.

Window (Split) Management:

• :sp [filename] or <C-w>s: Split current window horizontally (open filename or duplicate current).
• :vsp [filename] or <C-w>v: Split current window vertically.
• <C-w>q or <C-w>c: Close current window split.
• <C-w>o: Close all other window splits (make current window the only one).
• <C-w>h/j/k/l: Move cursor to window left/down/up/right.
• <C-w>w: Cycle through open windows.
• <C-w>H/J/K/L: Move current window to far left/bottom/top/right.
• <C-w>=: Equalize window sizes.
• <C-w>+/-: Increase/decrease window height.
• <C-w></>: Increase/decrease window width.

Tab Management:

• :tabnew [filename]: Open filename in a new tab.
• :tabe [filename]: Edit filename in a new tab (similar to :tabnew).
• gt or :tabn: Go to the next tab.
• gT or :tabp: Go to the previous tab.
• [N]gt: Go to tab number N.
• :tabc: Close current tab.
• :tabo: Close all other tabs.

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V. Searching & Replacing

Searching (Normal Mode initiates, then Command-Line Mode):

• /pattern: Search forwards for pattern.
• ?pattern: Search backwards for pattern.
• n: Repeat last search in the same direction.
• N: Repeat last search in the opposite direction.
• *: Search forwards for the word currently under the cursor (whole word match).
• #: Search backwards for the word currently under the cursor (whole word match).
• g*: Like * but finds partial matches.
• g#: Like # but finds partial matches.
• :set ic / :set noic: Ignore case / respect case in searches.
• :set hls / :set nohls: Highlight search matches / no highlight.
• :nohlsearch or :noh: Clear current search highlighting temporarily.

Substitution (Command-Line Mode):

• Format: :[range]s/source_pattern/target_pattern/[flags]
• range:
  • %: All lines in the file (equivalent to 1,$).
  • .: Current line.
  • N,M: Lines N through M.
  • '<,'>: Current visual selection (automatically inserted when in Visual mode and typing :s).
• source_pattern: The text/regex to find.
• target_pattern: The text/regex to replace with. If empty, deletes the source_pattern.
• flags:
  • g (global): Replace all occurrences on each line in range (default is first only).
  • c (confirm): Ask for confirmation before each replacement (y/n/a/q/l/^E/^Y).
  • i (ignore case): Case-insensitive for this substitution only.
  • I (case sensitive): Case-sensitive for this substitution only.
• Examples:
  • :%s/director/member/g: Replace all "director" with "member" in the entire file.
  • :s/old/new/: Replace first "old" with "new" on the current line.
  • :1,50s/unsigned//g: Delete all "unsigned" in lines 1 to 50.
  • :'<,'>s/foo/bar/gc: Replace "foo" with "bar" in the visual selection, confirming each.

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VI. Other Useful Commands & Features

Repeating Commands:

• . (dot): Repeat the last change (e.g., last delete, paste, insert + text). Extremely powerful.

Macros:

• q{register}: Start recording keystrokes into {register} (e.g., qa).
• q: Stop recording (when already recording).
• @{register}: Execute the macro stored in {register} (e.g., @a).
• @@: Repeat the last executed macro.
• [N]@{register}: Execute macro N times.

Marks:

• m{char}: Set mark {char} (a-z lowercase for current file, A-Z uppercase for global) at cursor position.
• ``{char}(backtick): Jump to the exact position (line and column) of mark`.
• '{char} (single quote): Jump to the beginning of the line of mark {char}.
• ```` or '': Jump to the position before the last jump.

Visual Mode Operations:

• After selecting text with v, V, or <C-v>:
  • d or x: Delete selected text.
  • y: Yank selected text.
  • c: Change selected text.
  • U: Convert selected text to UPPERCASE.
  • u: Convert selected text to lowercase.
  • ~: Toggle case of selected text.
  • >: Indent selected text.
  • <: Unindent selected text.
  • J: Join selected lines.
  • :command: Execute Ex command on selected lines (range '<,'> is auto-inserted).

Text Objects:

• Used with operators like d, c, y, v.
• iw: Inner word (e.g., diw deletes the word under cursor).
• aw: A word (includes one surrounding space).
• i(, i), ib: Inner block of ().
• a(, a), ab: A block of () (includes the parentheses).
• i{, i}, iB: Inner block of {}.
• a{, a}, aB: A block of {}.
• i[, i]: Inner block of [].
• a[, a]: A block of [].
• i<, i>: Inner block of <>.
• a<, a>: A block of <>.
• i" i' i`: Inner quotes/backticks.
• a" a' a`: Around quotes/backticks.
• it: Inner XML/HTML tag.
• at: Around XML/HTML tag.
• ip: Inner paragraph.
• ap: Around paragraph.

Executing External Commands:

• :!{command}: Execute shell command {command} (e.g., :!ls -l).
• :[range]!{filter_cmd}: Filter lines in range through external filter_cmd.

Completion (Insert Mode):

• <C-n>: Next completion.
• <C-p>: Previous completion.
• <C-x><C-f>: File name completion.
• <C-x><C-l>: Whole line completion.
• <C-x><C-o>: Omni-completion (language-specific, requires configuration/plugins).

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VII. Help System & Configuration

Getting Help:

• :help: Open general help window.
• :help {subject}: Get help on a specific {subject} (e.g., :help x, :help i_CTRL-O, :help :quit).
• :help {word}<Ctrl-d>: List all help tags matching {word}.
• :help quickref: Excellent quick reference sheet.
• While in a help buffer:
  • <C-]> (Ctrl + Right Square Bracket) or double-click: Jump to tag under cursor.
  • <C-t> or <C-o>: Jump back to previous position/tag.
• K (Shift+k) in Normal Mode: Look up keyword under cursor (often man page or language keyword).

Tutorial:

• :Tutor: Start the built-in interactive Nvim tutorial (highly recommended for beginners).

Built-in Terminal:

• :terminal or :term: Open a terminal session inside Nvim.
• Use <C-\><C-n> to go from terminal job mode to terminal normal mode.
• From terminal normal mode, use i to re-enter job mode, or other Nvim commands.

Configuration:

• Neovim's main configuration file is typically ~/.config/nvim/init.vim (for Vimscript) or ~/.config/nvim/init.lua (for Lua, increasingly common).
• Older Vim users might have ~/.vimrc.
• This is where you customize settings (:set option=value), define key mappings (:map ...), and load plugins.