Simple Vim Usage and Examples

Vim is a powerful and highly configurable text editor that is popular among developers and system administrators. In this guide, we will cover the basics of Vim usage and provide some examples to help you get started.

Step 1: Opening and Closing Vim

To open a file in Vim, use the following command:

vim filename

To exit Vim:

Press Esc to ensure you are in normal mode.
Type :q and press Enter to quit.
If you have unsaved changes, use :q! to quit without saving.

To save changes and exit:

:wq

Step 2: Basic Modes in Vim

Vim has three primary modes:

Normal Mode: This is the default mode for navigation and commands.
Insert Mode: Used for editing text. Enter this mode by pressing i.
Command Mode: Used for executing commands like saving or quitting. Enter this mode by typing :.

h: Move left.
l: Move right.
j: Move down.
k: Move up.
gg: Go to the beginning of the file.
G: Go to the end of the file.
:n: Go to line n (e.g., :10 to go to line 10).

Step 4: Editing Text

i: Enter insert mode before the cursor.
a: Enter insert mode after the cursor.
o: Insert a new line below the current line.
dd: Delete the current line.
yy: Copy (yank) the current line.
p: Paste the copied or deleted text.

Step 5: Searching and Replacing

To search for a word:

/<word>

Press n to go to the next occurrence and N to go to the previous occurrence.

To replace a word:

:%s/old_word/new_word/g

Step 6: Undo and Redo

u: Undo the last change.
Ctrl + r: Redo the undone change.

Examples

Open a file, edit, and save:
- Open the file: vim example.txt
- Enter insert mode: Press i and edit the text.
- Save and exit: Press Esc, then type :wq.
Delete multiple lines:
- Navigate to the first line to delete.
- Type 5dd to delete the next 5 lines.
Search and replace:
- Replace all occurrences of “foo” with “bar”: :%s/foo/bar/g.