Vim University

Despite its reputation for minimalism, Vim has a surprising depth that rewards study. Here we list many of its most loved features, some tips, and a list of ideas for things to study or practice to take your Vim usage to the next level.

Where to get help

• :h (:help!)
• :h tutor

Laying out your workspace

• Splits:
  • :sp
  • :vs
  • :on
  • CTRL-W {H,J,K,L} move window to edge.
  • CTRL-W r rotate windows.
  • CTRL-W _ maximize current window (vertically); count to size to specific height 10 CTRL-W _.
  • CTRL-W | maximize current window (horizontally).
  • CTRL-W = equalize window sizes (vertically and horizontally).
  • CTRL-W t jump to topmost window.
  • CTRL-W b jump to bottommost window.
  • Common re-mappings:
    • CTRL-h → CTRL-W h to focus window on left.
    • CTRL-j → CTRL-W j to focus window below.
    • CTRL-k → CTRL-W k to focus window above.
    • CTRL-l → CTRL-W l to focus window on right.
• Tabs
  • :tabe
  • CTRL-W T
  • gt/gT next/previous
  • {count}gt jump to {count} indexed tab
• tmux (Codespaces):
  • Splits (panes)
  • Windows
  • Sessions
• Foreground/backgrounding (CTRL-Z) vs :terminal
• Folds
  • zm: increase fold level (mnemonic: "more").
  • zM: increase fold level to maximum.
  • zr: reduce fold level (mnemonic: "reduce").
  • zR: reduce fold level to minimum.
  • zc: close fold, zC close folds recursively.
  • zo: open fold, zO open folds recursively.
  • za: toggle fold (Pro-tip™️: <Tab> is a good for mapping to this).
  • zA: toggle fold recursively.
  • zv: unfold folds to view cursor line (mnemonic: "view").
  • :set foldlevelstart=1 (start with everything folded, 99 = start with nothing folded).
  • :set foldmethod=indent vs marker (eg. ~/.config/nvim/init.lua).

Navigation

• Movements/motions:
  • H, L, M move cursor to high, middle, low positions.
  • CTRL-F forward full screen, CTRL-B backward full screen.
  • CTRL-D down half screen, CTRL-U up half screen.
  • {, } move to previous/next blank line.
  • gg jump to top of buffer, G jump to bottom of buffer.
  • % jump to matching brace.
  • Relative line numbers:
    • :set number
    • :set relativenumber
    • {count}j: move down {count} lines
    • {count}k: move up {count} lines
  • Absolute line numbers:
    • {count}G: go to line {count}
    • :[range]: go to line [range] (eg. :50)
• Scrolling:
  • CTRL-E scroll up by one line, CTRL-Y scroll down by one line (cursor stays).
  • zz center current cursor line in viewport.
  • zt scroll current cursor line to top of viewport.
  • zb scroll current cursor line to bottom of viewport.
• Fuzzy finders:
  • https://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim
  • https://github.com/wincent/command-t
• NvimTree: https://github.com/kyazdani42/nvim-tree.lua
  • <LocalLeader>f: To reveal in tree.
• vim-vinegar: https://github.com/tpope/vim-vinegar
• vim-dirvish: https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish
• vim-projectionist: https://github.com/tpope/vim-projectionist
  • :A go to alternate file
  • :AS open alternate in split
  • :AV open alternate in a horizontal split
  • Sample configurations: ~/.config/nvim/after/plugin/projectionist.lua
• LSP-powered navigation
  • Example project: ~/code/masochist/next
  • Go-to-definition, hover, autocomplete, inline diagnostics.
• Search-based navigation
  • Quickfix list
    • :cn
    • :cp
    • :cnf
    • :cpf
    • :colder
    • :cnewer
    • Pro-tip™️: <Up>, <Down>, <Left>, <Right> are good for mapping to these.
  • Location list:
    • :ln
    • :lp
    • :lnf
    • :lpf
    • :lolder
    • :lnewer
  • Plug-ins:
    • Ferret: https://github.com/wincent/ferret
    • vcs-jump: https://github.com/wincent/vcs-jump
• Within-file find-and-replace:
  • :%s/
  • Scalpel: https://github.com/wincent/scalpel
• Jump list:
  • :jumps
  • CTRL-o, CTRL-i/<Tab>
  • Filewise jumplist mappings: ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/leader.lua.
  • Mappings to store big jumps in jump list: ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/normal.lua
• CTRL-^: go to previous buffer (suggested mapping: <Leader><Leader>).
• gf: go to file under cursor.
• CTRL-W f: go to file under cursor, in split.

Editor fundamentals

• Motions
  • h, j, k, l for movement
  • gj, gk for virtual movement
  • w forward to beginning of word, or W (WORD)
  • b back to beginning of word, or B (WORD)
  • e forward to end of word, or E (WORD)
  • ge back to end of last word, or gE (WORD)
• f (mnemonic: "find"), F (in reverse)
• t (mnemonic: "up to", "until"), T (in reverse)
• ; repeat last f/F/t/T operation
• , repeat last f/F/t/T operation, but in opposite direction
• .
• *, # + n/N
• /{pattern} + ?{pattern}
• Composite commands:
  • xp: swap two characters (really, x, p).
  • ggn: go to first match in file (really, gg + n).
  • GN: go to last match in file (really, G + N).
• Common editor operations
  • o open line below for editing in INSERT mode.
  • O open line above for editing in INSERT mode.
  • A enter INSERT mode at end of line.
  • I enter INSERT mode at beginning of line.
• Useful "fundamental" plugins:
  • repeat.vim: https://github.com/tpope/vim-repeat (repeat entire mapping instead of last thing in it).
  • surround.vim: https://github.com/tpope/vim-surround
    • cs{from}{to}: change surrounds.
    • ds{delimiter}: delete surrounds.
    • ys{motion}{delimiter}: add surrounds (mnemonic: "yes, surround").

Tools

• Marks
  • a-z are in-file marks, A-Z are global marks.
  • Special marks include:
    • [: last yanked text.
    • <: last visual selection (> is end of last visual selection).
    • ^: last place we left INSERT mode.
    • .: place where last change was made.
  • Set a mark: :mark {mark} (or shorter, :k{mark}).
  • Go to mark `{mark} (exact position within line).
  • Go to mark '{mark} (beginning of line contents).
  • For convenience: https://github.com/kshenoy/vim-signature
    • m{mark}: to toggle mark; m, to place next available mark.
    • dm{mark}: delete a mark.
  • Jumping between marks without naming them:
    • ]' next (or ]`).
    • [' previous (or [`).
• Registers
  • :di/:registers
  • "{register}y{motion} and "{register}p or "{register}P
• Macros
  • Recording a macro: q{register} (uppercase appends).
  • Replaying a macro: @{register} (@@ repeats last replay command).
  • Editing macros: "{register}p → edit → "{register}yy
    • <CTRL-v> can be handy here for typing literal control characters.
  • Replay plug-in: https://github.com/wincent/replay (default mapping: <CR>)
• Command-mode tricks:
  • Global operations
    • :g/foo/ d delete lines matching "foo" (d is an "Ex" command; can use others, like :s etc).
    • :v/foo/ d delete lines not matching "foo".
    • :%sort sort everything (:%sort n sort numerically; for other modifiers, see :h :sort).
  • Regex patterns:
    • Magic and "very magic":
      • Loupe: https://github.com/wincent/loupe
    • Perlisms in Vim syntax (these in "very magic" syntax):
      • Non-greedy mappings:
        • a{-} (ie. like a*?)
        • a{-1,} (ie. like a+?)
      • Positive look-ahead (zero-width match): ab@= (ie. like a(?=b)).
      • Negative look-behind (zero-width match): ab@! (ie. like a(?!b)).
      • Positive look-behind (zero-width match): a@<=b (ie. like a($<=b)).
      • Negative look-behind (zero-width match): a@<! (ie. like a(?<!b)).
      • Easy to remember:
        • \zs do a zero-width match anywhere, setting start of match to that position; eg:
          • Positive look-behind: a\zsb
        • \ze do a zero-width match anywhere, setting end of match to that position; eg:
          • Positive look-ahead: a\zeb
    • Replacement modifiers:
      • \u makes next character uppercase
      • \U makes everything uppercase until \E/\e
      • \l makes next character lowercase
      • \L makes everything lowercase until \E/\e

Miscellaneous tips

• Indenting and dedenting:
  • VISUAL mode: >>, <<
  • INSERT mode: CTRL-d (mnemonic: "dedent"), CTRL-t (mnemonic: "tab")
• In INSERT mode, CTRL-O to execute one command and return to insert mode.
• gv reselect last VISUAL selection
• ga show ASCII value at current position
• g8 show UTF-8 value at current position
• g CTRL-g show current cursor position and total counts (columns, lines, words, bytes)
• gu{motion} make lowercase
• gU{motion} make uppercase
• g~{motion} toggle case
• gq{motion} format lines
• CTRL-a increment number
• CTRL-x decrement number
• In INSERT mode, CTRL-r ={expr} to insert the value of an expression.

Customizing Vim

• Leader mappings:
  • :let mapleader = " " (Vimscript), or vim.g.mapleader = ' ' (Lua)
  • ~/.config/nvim/plugin/mappings/leader.lua
• Local leader:
  • :let maplocalleader = "\\" (Vimscript), or vim.g.maplocalleader = '\\' (Lua)
• ftplugins
  • 'gitcommit': ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/gitcommit.lua
  • 'markdown': ~/.config/nvim/ftplugin/markdown.lua
• Lua
  • https://wincent.dev/wiki/Lua_development_in_Neovim
• Useful plug-ins:
  • undotree: https://github.com/mbbill/undotree
  • vim-easydir: https://github.com/duggiefresh/vim-easydir
  • vim-fugitive: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
  • vim-lion: https://github.com/tommcdo/vim-lion
  • And many others: https://github.com/wincent/wincent/blob/main/.gitmodules
• Pro-tip™️: Map <leader>q to :q, to avoid accidentally typing q:.
• Useful settings
  • 'colorcolumn'
  • 'cursorline'
  • 'shortmess'
  • 'switchbuf' (see usetab, uselast)
  • 'virtualedit' (block)

Debugging and troubleshooting

• :verbose set ...?
• :verbose map <prefix>
• 'verbose' and 'verboselog'
• Startup profiling: vim --startuptime log.txt

Resources

• Screencasts and streams:
  • @greghurrell (YouTube)
  • @teej_dv (Twitch)
  • @ThePrimeagen (Twitch)
  • vimcasts.org
• Forums:
  • /r/neovim
  • /r/vim
  • neovim/neovim (Gitter)
• Books:
  • "Practical Vim" by Drew Neil
  • "Vim Reference Guide" by Sundeep Agarwal
• Games and challenges:
  • www.vimgolf.com