---
title: "Vim keyboard shortcuts — the full list"
description: "89 Vim keyboard shortcuts, grouped by what they do. Windows, macOS and Linux, with the Mac equivalents where they differ."
url: https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/vim/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Vim keyboard shortcuts

**Vim keyboard shortcuts: 89 shortcuts**

Windows, macOS and Linux

A modal text editor: the same key does different things in Normal, Insert, Visual and Command-line mode, and everything below assumes Normal mode unless the group says otherwise — press Esc to get back there. Operators combine with motions and text objects, so d with 2w deletes two words and ci" changes what is inside the quotes; the tables list the pieces rather than every combination.

## Modes

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Esc | Return to Normal mode — Ctrl + [ does the same and is easier to reach |
| i | Insert before the cursor |
| I | Insert at the first non-blank character |
| a | Append after the cursor |
| A | Append at the end of the line |
| o | Open a new line below and insert |
| O | Open a new line above and insert |
| v | Start characterwise Visual mode |
| V | Start linewise Visual mode |
| Ctrl + V | Start blockwise Visual mode |

## Cursor motion

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| h  j  k  l | Move left, down, up and right |
| w | Jump to the start of the next word |
| b | Jump back to the start of the previous word |
| e | Jump to the end of the current word |
| 0 | Move to the first column |
| ^ | Move to the first non-blank character |
| $ | Move to the end of the line |
| gg | Go to the first line |
| G | Go to the last line |
| {count}G | Go to a line by number |
| f{char}  F{char} | Jump onto the next or previous occurrence of a character |
| {  } | Move back or forward a paragraph |
| % | Jump to the matching bracket |
| H  M  L | Jump to the top, middle or bottom of the screen |
| Ctrl + D  Ctrl + U | Scroll down or up half a screen |
| Ctrl + F  Ctrl + B | Page forward or back |
| Ctrl + O  Ctrl + I | Jump back or forward in the jump list |

## Editing

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| x | Delete the character under the cursor |
| dd | Delete the current line |
| D | Delete to the end of the line |
| cc | Change the whole line |
| C | Change to the end of the line |
| r{char} | Replace one character in place |
| J | Join the next line onto this one |
| u | Undo the last change |
| Ctrl + R | Redo |
| . | Repeat the last change |
| >>  << | Indent or unindent the line one shiftwidth |
| gU{motion}  gu{motion} | Uppercase or lowercase over a motion |
| Ctrl + A  Ctrl + X | Increment or decrement the number under the cursor |

## Yank, registers and macros

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| yy | Yank the current line |
| y{motion} | Yank over a motion |
| Y | Yank the current line — Neovim remaps Y to yank to the end of the line |
| p | Put after the cursor |
| P | Put before the cursor |
| "+y | Yank to the system clipboard — Needs a Vim built with +clipboard |
| "+p | Put from the system clipboard |
| "0p | Put the most recent yank — Register 0 survives deletes, so use it after a d clobbered the unnamed register |
| "{a-z}y | Yank into a named register |
| q{a-z} | Start recording a macro into a register |
| q | Stop recording |
| @{a-z} | Play back a macro |
| @@ | Replay the last macro |
| m{a-z} | Set a mark at the cursor |
| `{a-z} | Jump to a mark |
| `` | Jump back to where you were before the last jump |

## Search and replace

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| /pattern | Search forward |
| ?pattern | Search backward |
| n | Go to the next match |
| N | Go to the previous match |
| * | Search forward for the word under the cursor |
| # | Search backward for the word under the cursor |
| :noh | Clear the search highlighting |
| :%s/old/new/gc | Replace every match in the file, confirming each |

## Text objects

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| iw | Select the word under the cursor |
| aw | Select the word plus its trailing whitespace |
| i" | Select inside the double quotes |
| a" | Select the quoted string including the quotes |
| i( | Select inside the parentheses — ib is a synonym |
| a{ | Select the braced block including the braces — aB is a synonym |
| it | Select inside the surrounding tag |
| at | Select the tag block including the tags |

## Insert mode

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Ctrl + N | Complete with the next matching word |
| Ctrl + P | Complete with the previous matching word |
| Ctrl + X then Ctrl + F | Complete a filename |
| Ctrl + W | Delete the word before the cursor |
| Ctrl + R then {reg} | Insert the contents of a register |
| Ctrl + O | Run one Normal mode command and come straight back |

## Files, windows and tabs

| Shortcut | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| :w | Write the file |
| :q | Close the window |
| :wq | Write and close — :x is the same but only writes if the file changed |
| :q! | Close and discard changes |
| ZZ | Write and quit |
| ZQ | Quit without writing |
| Ctrl + W then S | Split the window horizontally |
| Ctrl + W then V | Split the window vertically |
| Ctrl + W then W | Cycle to the next window |
| Ctrl + W then H/J/K/L | Move to the window in that direction |
| gt  gT | Go to the next or previous tab page |

## Common questions

### How many keyboard shortcuts does Vim have?

This page lists 89 shortcuts across 8 groups, covering the ones people actually use day to day rather than every binding the application defines.

### Are Vim shortcuts the same on Mac and Windows?

Mostly. The usual difference is that Ctrl on Windows becomes ⌘ on macOS, which is why the shortcuts here are written as "Ctrl/⌘". Where a binding genuinely differs beyond that swap, it is spelled out separately.

## Related pages

- [Microsoft Excel shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/excel/)
- [Windows 11 shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/windows/)
- [macOS shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/macos/)
- [Microsoft Word shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/word/)
- [Visual Studio Code shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/vscode/)
- [Google Chrome shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/chrome/)
- [Adobe Photoshop shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/photoshop/)
- [Microsoft PowerPoint shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/powerpoint/)
- [Google Sheets shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/google-sheets/)
- [Gmail shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/gmail/)
- [Microsoft Outlook shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/outlook/)
- [Figma shortcuts](https://atoneplace.net/shortcuts/figma/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)