Vim Commands Cheat Sheet

Vim text editor

What this cheat sheet is for

This vim commands reference helps you complete common developer tasks quickly and avoid repeated trial-and-error when working under deadlines.

When you need a reliable command or pattern during debugging and incident response.
When you are implementing a feature and want a known-good syntax example immediately.
When onboarding teammates and documenting repeatable workflows for daily use.
When reviewing pull requests and verifying that command usage follows best practices.

i - Insert mode
Esc - Normal mode
: - Command mode

h j k l - Left, down, up, right
gg - Go to top
G - Go to bottom
0 - Start of line
$ - End of line

x - Delete character
dd - Delete line
yy - Copy line
p - Paste
u - Undo
Ctrl+r - Redo

:w - Save
:q - Quit
:wq - Save and quit
:q! - Quit without saving

People often copy a command or pattern without adapting placeholders, which can break production workflows unexpectedly.
It is easy to forget environment-specific differences, so always verify behavior in your shell, runtime, or API gateway before shipping.
Many errors come from skipping small validation steps, so test with realistic sample input before relying on the result.

Last updated: February 2026