Vim Beginner's Guide

Vim is a powerful text editor available on almost every Linux system. This guide covers the basics to get you started.

Opening and Exiting Vim

Action	Command
Open a file	`vim filename.txt`
Open Vim (no file)	`vim`
Quit	`:q`
Quit without saving	`:q!`
Save and quit	`:wq` or `ZZ`
Save (write)	`:w`

Vim Modes

Vim has several modes. The two most important are:

Normal mode: For navigation and commands (default when you open Vim)
Insert mode: For typing text (press i to enter)

To enter...	Press...
Insert mode	`i`
Normal mode	`Esc`

Key	What it does
`h`	Left
`j`	Down
`k`	Up
`l`	Right
`0`	Start of line
`$`	End of line
`gg`	Top of file
`G`	Bottom of file
`w`	Next word
`b`	Previous word

Editing Text

Action	Command
Enter insert mode	`i` (before cursor)
	`a` (after cursor)
Delete character	`x`
Delete line	`dd`
Undo	`u`
Redo	`Ctrl+r`
Copy (yank) line	`yy`
Paste	`p`
Cut (delete) word	`dw`
Replace char	`r` then new char

Searching

Action	Command
Search for text	`/text`
Next match	`n`
Previous match	`N`

Visual Mode (Selecting Text)

Press v to start selecting (character-wise)
Press V for line-wise selection
Use movement keys to expand selection
Press y to copy, d to cut, or p to paste after selection

Useful Tips

Press Esc to return to normal mode at any time
Use :help in Vim for built-in documentation
To edit multiple files: vim file1.txt file2.txt
To split window: :vsp filename (vertical), :sp filename (horizontal)
To open file explorer: :Ex or :Explore
To repeat last command: . (dot)

Getting Better

Try the Vim tutorial: run vimtutor in your terminal
Practice! Vim is tricky at first but very fast once you learn the basics
Explore plugins and customizations as you get comfortable

For more, see Vim Adventures (game), Open Vim, or the official Vim documentation.