Back to the Linux Page

vi -- The Programmer's Editor

vi is the classic line editor used by Unix programmers. It seems to have been created before the advent of cursor keys...see the table for moving the cursor.

Follow these fast links:

• Starting the Program
• Writing Text to Disk & Exiting
• Editing a Second File
• Moving the Cursor
• Inserting New Text
• Modifying Text
• Deleting Text
• Undoing Changes
• Copying Text
• Moving Text
• Set Editor Options

Back to Top

Writing Text & Exiting

Function	Command
Write to current file	:w
Write to new file	:w filename
Write over existing file	:w! filename
Write and Quit	:wq
Quit (if nothing has been changed)	:q
Quit (ignoring changes)	:q!

Back to Top

Editing a Second File

Function	Command
Open a second file	:e filename
Toggle between files	^6

N.B. ^ stands for the CTRL key.

Back to Top

Moving the Cursor

Function	Command
Right one character	RightArrow or l or SPACE
Right to end of word	e
Right to end of line	$
Right to beginning of word	w
Left one character	LeftArrow or h
Left to beginning of word	b
Left to beginning of line	0
Left to start of next line	ENTER
Up one line	UpArrow or k or -
Down one line	DownArrow or j or +
Beginning of first line	H
Beginning of Middle line	M
Beginning of Last line	L
To next sentence	)
To previous sentence	(
To next paragraph	}
To previous paragraph	{
Forward one screen	^F
Forward (Down) ½ screen	^D
Backward one screen	^B
Backward (Up) ½ screen	^U
Scroll window down one line	^E
Scroll window up one line	^Y
Search forward for pattern	/pattern
Search backward for pattern	?pattern
Next occurrence forward	n
Next occurrence backward	N

N.B. ^ stands for the CTRL key. You do NOT need to learn all of these commands. Since the cursor keys work and you are not editing at 200 BAUD over a busy modem, running the cursor by holding down a cursor key is reasonably efficient. However, ^F and ^B are still useful.

Back to Top

Inserting New Text

Function	Command
Append after cursor	a
Append at end of line	A
Insert before cursor	i
Insert at beginning of line	I
Open new line above current	O
Open new line below current	o

N.B. All of these commands are terminated by tapping ESC.

Back to Top

Modifying Text

Function	Command
*Change to end of word	cw
*Change to end of line	c$ or C
*Change to beginning of line	c0
*Substitute for entire line	S
*Substitute for current character	s
*Replace multiple characters	R
Replace current character	r
Join current line to next	J

N.B. Commands marked by splat (*) are terminated by tapping ESC.

Back to Top

Deleting Text

Function	Command
Delete line(s)	[n]dd
Delete to end of current word	dw
Delete to end of current line	d$ or D
Delete to beginning of current line	d0
Delete current character	x

Back to Top

Undoing Most Recent Change

Function	Command
Undo previous command	u
Undo changes to current line	U

Back to Top

Copying Text

Function	Command
Copy (yank) line(s) into buffer	[n]Y or [n]yy
Copy (yank) word(s) into buffer	[n]yw
Copy (yank) to end of line	y$
Copy (yank) to beginning of line	y0
Copy (yank) to buffer x	"xy
Put buffer before/above cursor	P
Put buffer after/below cursor	p
Put from buffer x	"xp

Back to Top

Moving Text

Steps	Command
Step 1	Use a Delete command
Step 2	Move the cursor
Step 3	Use p or P

Back to Top

Set Editor Options

Function	Command
Review all editor options	:set all
Show command mode	:set showmode
Hide command mode	:set noshowmode
Change tab stop to 3 characters	:set tabstop=3
Show line numbers	:set number
Don't show line numbers	:set nonumber