Linux BASH: vi Editor Commands

Linux BASH syntax : vi Editor Commands

Switch to Text or Insert mode:

		Open line above cursor	O
Insert text at beginning of line	I	Insert text at cursor	i	Insert text after cursor	a	Append text at line end	A
		Open line below cursor	o

Switch to Command mode:

Switch to command mode

<ESC>

Cursor Movement (command mode):

		Scroll Backward 1 screen	<ctrl>b
		Scroll Up 1/2 screen	<ctrl>u
Go to beginning of line	0	Go to line n	nG	Go to end of line	$
		Scroll Down 1/2 screen	<ctrl>d	Go to line number ##	:##
		Scroll Forward 1 screen	<ctrl>f
		Go to last line	G
Scroll by sentence f/b	( )
Scroll by word f/b	w b	Move left, down, up, right	h j k l	Left 6 chars	6h
		Directional Movement	Arrow Keys	Go to line #6	6G

Deleting text (command mode):

Change word	cw	Replace one character	r
Delete word	dw	Delete text at cursor	x	Delete entire line (to buffer)	dd
		Delete current to end of line	D	Delete 5 lines (to buffer)	5dd
				Delete lines 5-10	:5,10d

Editing (command mode):

Copy line	yy	Copy n lines	nyy	Copy lines 1-2/paste after 3	:1,2t 3
Paste above current line	P
Paste below current line	p			Move lines 4-5/paste after 6	:4,5m 6
				Join previous line	J
Search backward for string	?string	Search forward for string	/string	Find next string occurrence	n
% (entire file) s (search and replace) /old text with new/ c (confirm) g (global - all)	:%s/oldstring/newstring/cg			Ignore case during search	:set ic
Repeat last command	.	Undo previous command	u	Undo all changes to line	U

Save and Quit (command mode):

Save changes to buffer	:w	Save changes and quit vi	:wq	Save file to new file	:w file
		Quit without saving	:q!	Save lines to new file	:10,15w file

Related commands:

Book - Learning the vi Editor (6th Edition)
Full list of VI commands
vi Tutorial
nano-editor.org - simple text editor
Pico - short for Pine Composer
Gnotepad.sourceforge.net

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Simon Sheppard
SS64.com