Vim University

Despite its reputation for minimalism, Vim has a surprising depth that rewards study. Here we list many of its most loved features, some tips, and a list of ideas for things to study or practice to take your Vim usage to the next level.

Where to get help

:h (:help!)
:h tutor

Laying out your workspace

Splits:
- :sp
- :vs
- :on
- CTRL-W {H,J,K,L} move window to edge.
- CTRL-W r rotate windows.
- CTRL-W _ maximize current window (vertically); count to size to specific height 10 CTRL-W _.
- CTRL-W | maximize current window (horizontally).
- CTRL-W = equalize window sizes (vertically and horizontally).
- CTRL-W t jump to topmost window.
- CTRL-W b jump to bottommost window.
- Common re-mappings:
  - CTRL-h → CTRL-W h to focus window on left.
  - CTRL-j → CTRL-W j to focus window below.
  - CTRL-k → CTRL-W k to focus window above.
  - CTRL-l → CTRL-W l to focus window on right.
Tabs
- :tabe
- CTRL-W T
- gt/gT next/previous
- {count}gt jump to {count} indexed tab
tmux (Codespaces):
- Splits (panes)
- Windows
- Sessions
Foreground/backgrounding (CTRL-Z) vs :terminal
Folds
- zm: increase fold level (mnemonic: "more").
- zM: increase fold level to maximum.
- zr: reduce fold level (mnemonic: "reduce").
- zR: reduce fold level to minimum.
- zc: close fold, zC close folds recursively.
- zo: open fold, zO open folds recursively.
- za: toggle fold (Pro-tip™️: <Tab> is a good for mapping to this).
- zA: toggle fold recursively.
- zv: unfold folds to view cursor line (mnemonic: "view").
- :set foldlevelstart=1 (start with everything folded, 99 = start with nothing folded).
- :set foldmethod=indent vs marker (eg. ~/.config/nvim/init.lua).

Navigation

Movements/motions:
- H, L, M move cursor to high, middle, low positions.
- CTRL-F forward full screen, CTRL-B backward full screen.
- CTRL-D down half screen, CTRL-U up half screen.
- {, } move to previous/next blank line.
- gg jump to top of buffer, G jump to bottom of buffer.
- % jump to matching brace.
- Relative line numbers:
  - :set number
  - :set relativenumber
  - {count}j: move down {count} lines
  - {count}k: move up {count} lines
- Absolute line numbers:
  - {count}G: go to line {count}
  - :[range]: go to line [range] (eg. :50)
Scrolling:
- CTRL-E scroll up by one line, CTRL-Y scroll down by one line (cursor stays).
- zz center current cursor line in viewport.
- zt scroll current cursor line to top of viewport.
- zb scroll current cursor line to bottom of viewport.
Fuzzy finders:
- https://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim
- https://github.com/wincent/command-t
NvimTree: https://github.com/kyazdani42/nvim-tree.lua
- <LocalLeader>f: To reveal in tree.
vim-vinegar: https://github.com/tpope/vim-vinegar
vim-dirvish: https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish
vim-projectionist: https://github.com/tpope/vim-projectionist
- :A go to alternate file
- :AS open alternate in split
- :AV open alternate in a horizontal split
- Sample configurations: ~/.config/nvim/after/plugin/projectionist.lua
LSP-powered navigation
- Example project: ~/code/masochist/next
- Go-to-definition, hover, autocomplete, inline diagnostics.
Search-based navigation
- Quickfix list
  - :cn
  - :cp
  - :cnf
  - :cpf
  - :colder
  - :cnewer
  - Pro-tip™️: <Up>, <Down>, <Left>, <Right> are good for mapping to these.
- Location list:
  - :ln
  - :lp
  - :lnf
  - :lpf
  - :lolder
  - :lnewer
- Plug-ins:
  - Ferret: https://github.com/wincent/ferret
  - vcs-jump: https://github.com/wincent/vcs-jump
Within-file find-and-replace:
- :%s/
- Scalpel: https://github.com/wincent/scalpel
Jump list:
- :jumps
- CTRL-o, CTRL-i/<Tab>
- Filewise jumplist mappings: ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/leader.lua.
- Mappings to store big jumps in jump list: ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/normal.lua
CTRL-^: go to previous buffer (suggested mapping: <Leader><Leader>).
gf: go to file under cursor.
CTRL-W f: go to file under cursor, in split.

Editor fundamentals

Motions
- h, j, k, l for movement
- gj, gk for virtual movement
- w forward to beginning of word, or W (WORD)
- b back to beginning of word, or B (WORD)
- e forward to end of word, or E (WORD)
- ge back to end of last word, or gE (WORD)
f (mnemonic: "find"), F (in reverse)
t (mnemonic: "up to", "until"), T (in reverse)
; repeat last f/F/t/T operation
, repeat last f/F/t/T operation, but in opposite direction
.
*, # + n/N
/{pattern} + ?{pattern}
Composite commands:
- xp: swap two characters (really, x, p).
- ggn: go to first match in file (really, gg + n).
- GN: go to last match in file (really, G + N).
Common editor operations
- o open line below for editing in INSERT mode.
- O open line above for editing in INSERT mode.
- A enter INSERT mode at end of line.
- I enter INSERT mode at beginning of line.
Useful "fundamental" plugins:
- repeat.vim: https://github.com/tpope/vim-repeat (repeat entire mapping instead of last thing in it).
- surround.vim: https://github.com/tpope/vim-surround
  - cs{from}{to}: change surrounds.
  - ds{delimiter}: delete surrounds.
  - ys{motion}{delimiter}: add surrounds (mnemonic: "yes, surround").

Tools

Marks
- a-z are in-file marks, A-Z are global marks.
- Special marks include:
  - [: last yanked text.
  - <: last visual selection (> is end of last visual selection).
  - ^: last place we left INSERT mode.
  - .: place where last change was made.
- Set a mark: :mark {mark} (or shorter, :k{mark}).
- Go to mark `{mark} (exact position within line).
- Go to mark '{mark} (beginning of line contents).
- For convenience: https://github.com/kshenoy/vim-signature
  - m{mark}: to toggle mark; m, to place next available mark.
  - dm{mark}: delete a mark.
- Jumping between marks without naming them:
  - ]' next (or ]`).
  - [' previous (or [`).
Registers
- :di/:registers
- "{register}y{motion} and "{register}p or "{register}P
Macros
- Recording a macro: q{register} (uppercase appends).
- Replaying a macro: @{register} (@@ repeats last replay command).
- Editing macros: "{register}p → edit → "{register}yy
  - <CTRL-v> can be handy here for typing literal control characters.
- Replay plug-in: https://github.com/wincent/replay (default mapping: <CR>)
Command-mode tricks:
- Global operations
  - :g/foo/ d delete lines matching "foo" (d is an "Ex" command; can use others, like :s etc).
  - :v/foo/ d delete lines not matching "foo".
  - :%sort sort everything (:%sort n sort numerically; for other modifiers, see :h :sort).
- Regex patterns:
  - Magic and "very magic":
    - Loupe: https://github.com/wincent/loupe
  - Perlisms in Vim syntax (these in "very magic" syntax):
    - Non-greedy mappings:
      - a{-} (ie. like a*?)
      - a{-1,} (ie. like a+?)
    - Positive look-ahead (zero-width match): ab@= (ie. like a(?=b)).
    - Negative look-behind (zero-width match): ab@! (ie. like a(?!b)).
    - Positive look-behind (zero-width match): a@<=b (ie. like a($<=b)).
    - Negative look-behind (zero-width match): a@<! (ie. like a(?<!b)).
    - Easy to remember:
      - \zs do a zero-width match anywhere, setting start of match to that position; eg:
        
        Positive look-behind: a\zsb
      - \ze do a zero-width match anywhere, setting end of match to that position; eg:
        
        Positive look-ahead: a\zeb
  - Replacement modifiers:
    - \u makes next character uppercase
    - \U makes everything uppercase until \E/\e
    - \l makes next character lowercase
    - \L makes everything lowercase until \E/\e

Miscellaneous tips

Indenting and dedenting:
- VISUAL mode: >>, <<
- INSERT mode: CTRL-d (mnemonic: "dedent"), CTRL-t (mnemonic: "tab")
In INSERT mode, CTRL-O to execute one command and return to insert mode.
gv reselect last VISUAL selection
ga show ASCII value at current position
g8 show UTF-8 value at current position
g CTRL-g show current cursor position and total counts (columns, lines, words, bytes)
gu{motion} make lowercase
gU{motion} make uppercase
g~{motion} toggle case
gq{motion} format lines
CTRL-a increment number
CTRL-x decrement number
In INSERT mode, CTRL-r ={expr} to insert the value of an expression.

Customizing Vim

Leader mappings:
- :let mapleader = " " (Vimscript), or vim.g.mapleader = ' ' (Lua)
- ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/leader.lua
Local leader:
- :let maplocalleader = "\\" (Vimscript), or vim.g.maplocalleader = '\\' (Lua)
ftplugins
- 'gitcommit': ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/gitcommit.lua
- 'markdown': ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/markdown.lua
Lua
- https://wincent.com/wiki/Lua_development_in_Neovim
Useful plug-ins:
- undotree: https://github.com/mbbill/undotree
- vim-easydir: https://github.com/duggiefresh/vim-easydir
- vim-fugitive: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
- vim-lion: https://github.com/tommcdo/vim-lion
- And many others: https://github.com/wincent/wincent/blob/main/.gitmodules
Pro-tip™️: Map <leader>q to :q, to avoid accidentally typing q:.
Useful settings
- 'colorcolumn'
- 'cursorline'
- 'shortmess'
- 'switchbuf' (see usetab, uselast)
- 'virtualedit' (block)

Debugging and troubleshooting

:verbose set ...?
:verbose map <prefix>
'verbose' and 'verboselog'
Startup profiling: vim --startuptime log.txt

Resources

Screencasts and streams:
Forums:
Books:
- "Practical Vim" by Drew Neil
- "Vim Reference Guide" by Sundeep Agarwal
Games and challenges:
- www.vimgolf.com

wincent/vim-university

wincent

Reviews

Repository Details