Vim & Neovim Commands Cheat Sheet

Comprehensive keyboard shortcut and command reference for Vim and Neovim. Modes, navigation, editing, search/replace, and buffers.

Exiting & Saving

Write (save) current file without quitting:w

Quit Vim (fails if unsaved changes exist):q

Write changes and quit Vim:wq or :x or ZZ

Quit immediately and discard all unsaved changes:q!

Move left, down, up, righth / j / k / l

Jump forward / backward to start of next wordw / b

Jump to end of next / previous worde / ge

Jump to absolute beginning / end of line0 / $

Jump to first non-blank character of line^

Jump to very first / very last line of filegg / G

Jump directly to line number:<number> or <number>G

Insert mode before cursor / append mode after cursori / a

Open new line below / above and enter insert modeo / O

Delete character under cursorx

Delete (cut) current line / multiple linesdd / <number>dd

Yank (copy) current line / multiple linesyy / <number>yy

Paste after / before cursorp / P

Undo last change / redo changeu / Ctrl+r

Change word (deletes word and enters insert mode)cw

Search forward for pattern/pattern

Search backward for pattern?pattern

Repeat search in same / opposite directionn / N

Substitute all occurrences of old with new across entire file:%s/old/new/g

Substitute with interactive confirmation prompt for each occurrence:%s/old/new/gc

• How do I safely exit Vim without saving broken edits?

Press `Esc` multiple times to ensure you are in Normal mode, then type `:q!` and press `Enter` to force quit without saving.