Vim cheat sheet

Vim gotcha, undofile not working

Make sure to create the undo dir manually. Vim won’t automatically create it.

mkdir ~/.vim/undo  

Then, set this in ~/.vimrc

set undofile  
set undodir=~/.vim/undo/  

This will make undo span multiple vim sessions.
Closing and re-opening vim won’t interfere with undo history.

How to delete to the end of the line from cursor

D in normal mode

How to use marks

• Use m{A-Za-z} to set a mark
  
• The capital marks are global and lower case local
  
• I tend to use ma for local and mA for global
  
• For an a mark, jump to it with 'a

How to record and repeat a macro

• Start recording in normal mode using qq, end recording <Esc> q
  
• The macro is in register q, run it with @q
  
• Run subsequent times with @@

How to use ctags with vim

Build tags for macOS with:

brew install universal-ctags  
cd <my-proj>  
ctags -R *  

Add tags to ~/.gitexcludes

Modify ~/.vimrc to contain:

Plug 'vim-scripts/taglist.vim'  
set tags=./tags;  
noremap <leader>t :TlistToggle<CR>  

In vim:
- Use \t to toggle the tag list
- Use C-] to jump to a tag
- Use C-w C-] to split the window before jumping to tag
- Use :tn to go to the next tag and :tp for previous
- Use :ta <tagname> to jump to a tag (supports autocomplete)
- Use vim -t <tagname> to start vim at a tag
- Use :ts to see a list of matching tags, or :ts <tagname>

In taglist, use s to sort symbol list alphabetically, and s again to undo.

Autocomplete cheat sheet

• ctrl-space to show keyword completion (I map this for consistency with Xcode)
  
• ctrl-x ctrl-] to show autocomplete via ctags
  
• ctrl-n to move one completion down
  
• ctrl-p to move one completion up
  
• enter to accept (or ctrl-y, or ctrl-e)

How to increment numbers and decrement numbers

In normal mode or visual mode
increment with C-a
Decrement with C-x

Increment all these to 2 by visually selecting them and then C-a

1  
1  
1  

Increment these to 2,3,4 by visually selecting them and then g C-a

1  
1  
1  

How to use fzf with vim

Open a file in vim that I’ve fuzzy matched using fzf:

vim $(fzf)  

How to open the current directory in Finder from vim

:! open %:p:h  

How to find which version of python vim was compiled with:

:py3 import sys; print(sys.version)  

Which spit out
3.12.3 (main, Apr 9 2024, 08:09:14) [Clang 15.0.0 (clang-1500.3.9.4)]

Can also use vim --version and look at -L/opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.12 line.

I modified the 3.12 environment myself with:

/opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.12/bin (stable) $ ./pip3 install ollama --break-system-packages  

How to check the file encoding of a file

:set fileencoding  

How to format json of a visual selection

Create the visual selection, then

!jq .  

How to format full json file

Careful, this is destructive.
Open json file in vim, then
:%!python -m json.tool
Or
:%!jq

How to call a function I’ve defined in ~/.vimrc

:call TrimWhiteSpace()

How to turn off auto-indent

Some plugins set the indentexpr variable
Investigate it with :set indentexpr?
Turn it off with :set indentexpr=

How to open the command line window

In normal mode, use q:
If already in command mode, use C-f

How to move to beginning of line in command mode

C-e works to move to the end of line in command mode,
but C-a does not move to the start by default.

Use:

cnoremap <C-a> <Home>  
cnoremap <C-e> <End>  
cnoremap <C-p> <Up>  
cnoremap <C-n> <Down>  
" cnoremap <C-b> <Left>  
" cnoremap <C-f> <Right>  
" cnoremap <M-b> <S-Left>  
" cnoremap <M-f> <S-Right>  

I don’t use the <M-b> and <M-f> shortcuts, and prefer the default
<S-Left> and <S-Right> settings, which I also change in my .bash_profile
to navigate left and right by a word.

I also don’t use C-f because it breaks a handy feature of vim.
If already in command mode, C-f opens the full command window.

Sources:
https://superuser.com/a/1100910/47546
https://stackoverflow.com/a/6923282/143447

How to sort lines

I use a visual selection and then :sort

How to run the current file being edited

Use the %, for example:

!clear && python %  

Nerdtree cheat sheet

• To add a file: press m then a, use a forward slash to specify directory
  
• To delete a file: m then d
  
• To copy a file: press m then c
  
• Open a buffer without losing focus: go
  
• Use ‘t’ to open a new tab editing what is under the cursor
  
• Toggle nerdtree by typing :NERDTreeToggle (I map this to C-n)
  
• Within nerdtree, open a file in vertical split with s
  
• Reveal in nerdtree using :NERDTreeFind (I map this to \r)
  
• Show hidden files with I
  
• Remember ? for more

How to use vim-surround

Surround word under cursor with quotes: ysiw"
Change the surrounding from single to double quotes: cs'"
Delete the single quotes surrounding: ds'

How to use easymotion

I use easymotion for jumping to a specific word in the window.
I find it works better than incremental search because I already have my eye on
where I want to go. Sometimes with incremental search I fat finger a character
and the buffer jumps to an odd location and then I’m disoriented.

I use easymotion and map

nmap <Leader>s <Plug>(easymotion-sn)  

Then use \s and start typing.
I also sometimes use \\f if I want to jump to a specific character that is
not in the same line as my cursor.

How to show a vertical column as a wrap guide

Turn on with :set colorcolumn=110
Turn off with set colorcolumn=0

Tabs cheat sheet

I don’t use tabs often.
- The thing at the top is called the tabline
- Create a new tab with :tabnew
- Switch between tabs with gt or :tabn :tabp

It’s enticing to use set autochdir when working with tabs, but I leave it off because I lose all rails.vim shortcuts.

How to get started

Run vimtutor

How to show all tab matches in command mode

Normally when I’m in command mode and press tab I get a single completion at a time.
Add this to ~/.vimrc

set wildmode=longest,list  

then when I use :e pattern<Tab> I get a command buffer with height to acccommodate all matches.

I use this less, though, now that ctrl-p is in my fingertips.

How to see the full directory

:e .

Or use nerdtree

How to change the working directory to file’s directory

:cd %:h  

Note: this changes the working directory for all tabs

How to save your wrist on macOS

Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Modifier Keys > map caps lock to control  

How to use escape alternatives

Once you have mapped caps lock to control, C-[ is a viable alternative for escape.
I also map escape to jj in insert mode:

imap jj <Esc>  

C-c also works as escape in insert mode out of the box.

How to view the output of a command in vim

Pipe to view -, e.g. ps aux | view -

How to replace text up to a specific character

cf a will delete upto and including the next ‘a’ and drop you in insert mode
ct a will delete upto the next ‘a’ and drop you in insert mode

These are special cases of movement with f,F,t,T
Repeat with ; (forward) or , backwards

How to repeat deletes

Similar to the tip above, use dta to delete to the ‘a’, then d; to repeat in forward direction.

How to replace a full line

cc deletes the full line and drops you in insert mode

How to split windows

:sp splits windows horizontally
:vsp splits windows vertically
:vsp <my-file> splits windows and opens the my-file
ctrl-ww moves between views
C-w r swaps the order of split windows

How to resize windows

:vertical resize 80  
:vertical resize +5  
:vertical resize -5  

I use the following mappings:

nmap <Leader>= :vertical resize +5<CR>  
nmap <Leader>- :vertical resize -5<CR>  

How to move between windows

Move left one pane: C-w h
Move right one pane: C-w l
Move down one pane: C-w j
move up one pane: C-w k

If I only have two panes open, it’s easy to move between them with C-w w

How to navigate buffers

Toggle between the two most recent buffers with C-Shift-6
Move forward a buffer with tab key or :bn or hammer ctrl-i
Move backward with :bp hammer ctrl-o

To open a buffer window, I use a simple mapping in ~/.vimrc on \bb

nmap <Leader>bb :ls<CR>:buffer<Space>  

A nice plugin is also bufexplorer:
Install with Plug 'jlanzarotta/bufexplorer'
Open bufexplorer with \be
Navigate with normal motion, press enter to open a buffer

Can also use vanilla vim feature:

:b start-typing-and-hit-tab-for-fuzzy-search  
:bn  
:bp  

How to use matchit

% is the matchit power key. It can:
- match end of function/method
- cycle through if/then/else branches
- match html tags such as <div> with </div>
- match open and close parens (this is built into vim and does not depend on matchit)

Use :help matchit

The modern equivalent looks to be vim-matchup

Rails vim stuff

Outdated, I believe. I think all of these start with E now:
:R will switch between controller and view
:Rprev will open up browser
:Rserver starts mongrel
:Rserver! restarts it
:Rserver!- stops it

How to jump to a file

Use gf to jump to file under cursor.
Works with rails partials if vim rails is installed.

How to jump to dependencies in ruby

A good trick with ctags is to symlink actionpack and then run ctags again, this
way I can jump to view helpers

How to reload ~/.vimrc

:source ~/.vimrc  

How to jump to a line

Jump to line 30 with :30 or 30G

How to make the meta key work on macOS

Go to Terminal > Settings > Profiles > Keyboard > Use option as meta key

How to use vimgrep

I mainly use ack.vim, but it can be handy:

:vimgrep PATTERN **/*.erb  

open results with :copen
Move between results :cprev or :cnext

How to repeat a movement

Only certain motions can be repeated.
Using f,F,t, or T movements can be repeated with ; to move forwards or , to move backwards

How to move to the last edited line

'.  

How to move to the last edited position

`.  

How to move to the next occurrence of the word under the cursor

Forward: *
Backward: #

How to toggle numbers and relative numbers

Turn on numbers: :set nu
Turn off numbers: :set nonu
Turn on relative numbers: :set rnu
Turn off relative numbers: :set nornu

How to move a paragraph at a time

Down: }
Up: {

How to toggle invisibles

:set list  
:set nolist  

How to reformat text

In visual mode, use =

How to retab a file from tabs to spaces

:set expandtab  
:%retab!  

How to remove whitespace at the end of every line

:%s/\s\+$//g  

How to search and replace in a visual selection

Type S-v and select
then type :s/$/,/ to replace all end of lines with a comma

How to use regex backreferences in find and replace

Note the backreference \1. This will change ‘xyzfoo’ to ‘barxyz’

:s/\(.*\)foo/bar\1/  

Can also use tricks like converting the matched backreference to uppercase.
This will change ‘xyzfoo’ to ‘barXYZ’

:s/\(.*\)foo/bar\U\1/  

How to search and replace

I use visual mode and select an area that I want to search/replace in, then:

:s/foo/bar/g  

If I want to replace all instances in a whole file (with confirmation), I use:

%s/foo/bar/gc  

Collection of search and replace tips: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Search_and_replace
How to use a regex and incsearch in search and replace: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1295244/143447

How to insert a newline as part of a substitution command

Use \r. For example, to turn spaces into newlines:

s/ /\r/g  

How to bulk rename files with vim

Plug ‘qpkorr/vim-renamer’
Open a directory with vim, then type :Renamer
Make modifications, then type :Ren

How to enter a new line below current line

Normal mode: o
Insert mode: C-o o

C-o o is a special case of a general pattern: use C-o to temporarily leave insert mode.

How to turn off autocommenting

I wanted to turn autocommenting off, the feature that adds a new comment on a newline if you hit enter in an existing comment.
Added to ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/ruby.vim:

set fo=cql  

Used this to determine what was overwriting my vimrc settings:

:verbose set fo  

In what order does vim load certain settings?

:help startup

How to search with ack

I use Plug 'mileszs/ack.vim'

Use it and follow symlinks:
:Ack –follow ‘pattern’

Use it with a certain filetype:
:Ack –csharp ‘pattern’

How to delete without copying deleted text to register

I often yank in normal mode, then x or d something, then go to paste and paste the wrong thing.

Three solutions:
1. Use vim-scripts/YankRing.vim and punch C-k after pasting
2. Remember to use gv after deleting and yank again
3. Delete without copying text with "_d

I use 1. Paste something with p, then hit ctrl+k and ctrl+j to cycle through options. Set:

let g:yankring_replace_n_pkey = '<c-k>'  
let g:yankring_replace_n_nkey = '<c-j>'  

Discussion: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/54255/i-vim-is-there-a-way-to-delete-without-putting-text-in-the-register

How to combine yank with motion

Yank to the end of the line with y$
Yank word under cursor with yiw
Yank whole line with Y

How to paste a specific yanked register

In insert mode, paste register zero with: C-r C-p 0

How to do a visual block selection of ragged line endings

C-v  
2j  
$  

How to reselect the previous visual selection

gv

How to undo

Normal mode undo: u
Normal mode redo: C-r
Insert mode undo: ctrl-u
Also see undotree for much more power and control.

How to background and foreground vim

I tend to do this more on accident than on purpose.

• Return to shell with ctrl+z
  
• Return to vim with fg

If I suddenly see:

[1]+  Stopped                 vim  

Enter fg to bring the vim process back to the foreground.

How to toggle case sensitivity

I do this for case insensitive searching, or when using find and replace:

set :ic  
set :noic  

How to force save afile that I’ve opened as read-only

:w !sudo tee %

How to set a filetype to get syntax highlighting

For example, apache conf files don’t always show up highlighted in vim

:setf apache  

How to jump to a symbol when opening vim

ctags -R *  
vim -t MyType  

How to open two files split

Split vertically: vim -O a b
Split horizontally: vim -o a b

How to toggle highlighted search results

set :hls or set :nohls
I use h to toggle:

nmap <leader>h :set invhls<cr>  

How to replace text across multiple lines with a visual selection

ctrl+v {movement} s

How to switch between header files and implementation files

Jump to header file with: :e %<.h
Jump to implementation file with: :e %<.m
Split header and implementation: :vsp %<.h

How to toggle word wrap behavior

:set wrap
:set nowrap

How to set a maximum line width

:set tw=110

How to reformat text to satisfy new line width

• I use visual mode to select text and then gq
  
• In normal mode use gq} and then . to repeat for additional paragraphs

How to refresh the ctrl-p plugin

I often run into a stale file list in ctrl-p. Use F5 to refresh

How to ignore node_modules with ctrl-p

let g:ctrlp_custom_ignore = 'node_modules'  

How to paste text to the command line

I often need to yank text (e.g. yiw) and paste it to the command line:

Yank some text with y
Open command line with :
Use C-r " to paste it

How to paste the text under the cursor to the command line

There is a shorter way than the approach above. Place the cursor on a word and :C-r-w. Do not let go of control between the r and w.
:C-r-f also seems to work

How to copy to system clipboard

Copy to system clipboard in visual mode: "=y
Paste from system clipboard in normal mode: "=p
Paste from system clipboard in insert mode: cmd-v
Paste from system clipboard with better formatting: C-r C-p *

I no longer use these, maybe vim versions improved pasting:

:set paste  
:set nopaste  

Paste in normal mode:

  :r! cat  
  <paste in contents>  
  C-d  

How to check the current value of a vim setting

Append a question mark. For example, :set statusline?

How to find which plugin is touching my variable

For example, to find what is touching textwidth, use:

:verbose set textwidth?  

How to align assignments on an equals sign

Get the tabular plugin. I use Plug 'godlygeek/tabular'
Then, to align text on equals:

:Tab /=  

How to use spellcheck

Turn on spellcheck with :set spell
Turn off spellcheck with :set nospell
Move between words with ]s or [s
Suggest fixes with zs
Add a word to dictionary with zg
Undo add with zug

How to comment and uncomment code

I use \c to toggle comments using Plug 'tomtom/tcomment_vim'

vmap <nowait> <leader>c :TComment<CR>  

How to modify ultisnips

• Use :UltiSnipsEdit to edit the snippet definition file (or now) for the filetype of the currently opened file
  
• Use tab and shift+tab to move between placeholders in snippet
  
• I wiped out all the built in definitions that were in ~/.vim/bundle/ultisnips/UltiSnips
  
• :help ultisnips for more

How to see all loaded plugins

:scriptnames
source: http://stackoverflow.com/a/48952/143447

How to indent

I usually use visual block mode, where indent and deindent is a single > or <, e.g.:

ctrl-v  
j  
>  

In normal mode use >> or <<.
Can also put a count in front of it, e.g. 5>>

In insert mode, use ctrl-i and ctrl-d

How to select the word under the cursor

I prefer viw because you the cursor can be anywhere within the word, then y to yank.

How to move the viewport without moving the cursor

Move viewport up: C-e
Move viewport down: C-y
Move viewport so that cursor is in center: zz
Move viewport so that cursor is at top: zt
Move viewport so that cursor is at bottom: zb

How to scroll

Scroll half page up, moving cursor: C-u
Scroll half page down, moving cursor: C-d

How to profile vim

:profile start profile.log  
:profile func *  
:profile file *  
" At this point do slow actions  
:profile pause  
:noautocmd qall!  

source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12213597/how-to-see-which-plugins-are-making-vim-slow/12216578#12216578

How to pull up documentation

I believe S-k is supposed to do this, but I use S-k for a project wide
search of word under the cursor. Should find a new mapping for that.

How to view help of all commands

:help index  

Then navigate with ctags-like navigation (use ctrl-] to follow a highlighted tag)

How to determine if vim recognizes your keystroke

In insert mode, use ctrl-v then punch the key combination.
Try it with ctrl-v ctrl-rightArrow

How to move backwards and forwards by a word in normal mode

forward by first character of each word: w
backward by first character of each word: b
forward by last character of each word: e

How to move backwards and forwards by a word in insert mode

ctrl-leftArrow  
ctrl-rightArrow  

or

shift-leftArrow  
shift-rightArrow  

I don’t think I did anything special to set that up.

How to find key representation to map

In insert mode, hit ctrl-k and then type a key to see how to map it.
E.g., hit ctrl-k and then backspace, vim will output

Code completions

I map ctrl-space to ctlr-n so that autocomplete is the same between Xcode and vim

inoremap <c-@> <c-n>