VIM Quick Tips: Essential Shortcuts for Fast Editing

Introduction

VIM is one of the most powerful text editors available, but its modal nature can be intimidating for beginners. Once you master the basic movements and commands, you’ll find yourself editing text at lightning speed without ever reaching for the mouse.

This guide covers the essential VIM shortcuts that will dramatically improve your editing speed.

VIM Modes Overview

Before diving into shortcuts, understand VIM’s modes:

Golden Rule: Always return to Normal mode after editing. Hit Esc frequently!

Basic Movement (Normal Mode)

Character-Level Movement

Fast Movement Within Lines

Example:

    const message = "Hello World";

• 0 → moves to column 0 (before spaces)
• ^ → moves to ‘c’ in ‘const’
• $ → moves after ’;’ and spaces
• g_ → moves to ’;‘

Word-Level Movement

Difference between w and W:

const user.name = "John-Doe";

• w: treats user, ., name, =, ", John, -, Doe as separate words
• W: treats user.name, =, "John-Doe" as WORDS (space-delimited)

Line-Level Movement

Search-Based Movement

Example:

const userName = 'JohnDoe'

Cursor on ‘c’, type fe → jumps to ‘e’ in ‘userName’ Type ; → jumps to ‘e’ in ‘“JohnDoe“‘

Search with / and ?

Example Workflow:

1. Place cursor on variable name userName
2. Press * → highlights all occurrences
3. Press n → jump to next occurrence
4. Press N → jump back

Fast Editing (Normal Mode)

Insert Mode Shortcuts

Efficiency Tip: Use A instead of $a and I instead of ^i.

Deletion Commands

Change Commands (Delete + Insert)

Example:

const message = 'Hello World'

• Cursor on any char in “Hello World”
• Type ci" → deletes “Hello World”, enters insert mode
• Type new text → "New Message"

Copy (Yank) and Paste

System Clipboard:

• "+y → Copy to system clipboard
• "+p → Paste from system clipboard

Undo and Redo

Repeat Last Command

Example:

1. Type dw → delete word
2. Move to another word
3. Type . → deletes that word too

This works with any change: dd, ciw, x, etc.

Visual Mode Shortcuts

Entering Visual Mode

Operating on Visual Selections

After selecting text in visual mode:

Example - Comment Multiple Lines:

1. Ctrl+v → enter visual block mode
2. jjj → select 4 lines (down 3 times)
3. I → insert at start of block
4. # → type comment character
5. Esc → apply to all lines

Text Objects (Game Changer!)

Text objects let you operate on logical units of text.

Syntax

Common Text Objects

Powerful Combinations

Real-World Example:

const user = {
  name: 'John Doe',
  email: '[email protected]',
}

• Cursor anywhere inside {...}
• Type ci{ → deletes content, stays in {...}
• Type new object content

Search and Replace

Basic Find/Replace

Visual Selection Replace

1. Select text with v or V
2. Type : (shows :'<,'>)
3. Type s/old/new/g
4. Press Enter

Case-Insensitive Search

Numbers as Multipliers

You can prefix almost any command with a number to repeat it.

Practical Example:

# Need to insert 50 equals signs
50i=[Esc]

Result: ==================================================

Marks and Jumps

Marks (Bookmarks)

Jump List

Change List

Window and Buffer Management

Split Windows

Buffer Navigation

Advanced Efficiency Tips

Macros (Record and Replay)

Example - Add semicolons to multiple lines:

1. qa → start recording to register ‘a’
2. A;[Esc] → append semicolon to end of line
3. j → move down
4. q → stop recording
5. 10@a → repeat 10 times

Global Commands

Example:

:g/console.log/d     # Delete all lines with console.log
:v/^import/d         # Delete all lines except imports
:g/TODO:/norm A !!!  # Append !!! to all TODO lines

Sorting and Filtering

Auto-Completion (Insert Mode)

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Movement Quick Reference

Character:    h ← | j ↓ | k ↑ | l →
Line:         0 start | ^ first-char | $ end | g_ last-char
Word:         w next | b previous | e end
Search:       f{char} | F{char} | t{char} | T{char} | ; | ,
Jump:         gg top | G bottom | {n}G line | H/M/L screen
Find:         /{pattern} | n next | N previous | * word | # word

Editing Quick Reference

Insert:       i | I | a | A | o | O | s | S
Delete:       x | X | dd | dw | db | D | d$ | d0
Change:       cw | cc | C | c$ | ciw | ci" | ci{
Yank/Paste:   yy | yw | y$ | p | P | "+y | "+p
Undo/Redo:    u | Ctrl+r | U
Repeat:       . (dot command)

Visual Mode Quick Reference

Enter:        v char | V line | Ctrl+v block
Actions:      d delete | c change | y yank | > indent | < outdent
Case:         u lower | U upper | ~ toggle

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Navigation Basics

Open any code file and practice:

1. Jump to first line: gg
2. Jump to last line: G
3. Go to line 50: 50G
4. Find word “function”: /function
5. Next match: n
6. Jump back: N

Exercise 2: Editing Workflow

Given this line:

const userName = 'JohnDoe'

Practice:

1. Change “JohnDoe” to “JaneSmith”: ci"JaneSmith[Esc]
2. Change variable name: ciwuserEmail[Esc]
3. Delete entire line: dd
4. Undo: u

Exercise 3: Text Objects

Given:

function greet(name) {
  return 'Hello, ' + name + '!'
}

Practice:

1. Cursor on any char in “Hello, ”
2. Change string: ci"Goodbye[Esc]
3. Delete function content: ci{[Esc]
4. Delete entire function: da{

Exercise 4: Macro Recording

Task: Add // TODO: to start of 5 lines

1. qa → start recording
2. I// TODO: [Esc] → insert at line start
3. j → move down
4. q → stop recording
5. 4@a → repeat 4 more times

VIM Configuration Tips

Add these to your ~/.vimrc for better experience:

" Line numbers
set number
set relativenumber

" Search improvements
set ignorecase        " Case-insensitive search
set smartcase         " Case-sensitive if uppercase used
set incsearch         " Incremental search
set hlsearch          " Highlight search results

" Indentation
set expandtab         " Use spaces instead of tabs
set tabstop=2         " Tab width = 2 spaces
set shiftwidth=2      " Indent width = 2 spaces
set autoindent        " Auto-indent new lines

" Performance
set lazyredraw        " Don't redraw during macros

" Quality of life
set clipboard=unnamedplus  " Use system clipboard
set mouse=a                " Enable mouse support
set scrolloff=8            " Keep 8 lines visible when scrolling

" Map leader key
let mapleader = " "

" Quick save and quit
nnoremap <leader>w :w<CR>
nnoremap <leader>q :q<CR>

" Clear search highlighting
nnoremap <leader>h :noh<CR>

Common Patterns and Workflows

Refactoring Variable Name

Scenario: Rename userName to userEmail in entire file

:%s/userName/userEmail/gc

• % → entire file
• g → all occurrences per line
• c → confirm each change

Delete All Comments

Single-line comments (//):

:g/^[ \t]*\/\//d

Format JSON

:%!python -m json.tool

Remove Trailing Whitespace

:%s/\s\+$//

Swap Two Words

Cursor on first word:

dawwP

• daw → delete a word
• w → move to next word
• P → paste before

Conclusion

VIM’s power comes from composability: movements + actions + text objects create an infinite combination of efficient edits.

Key Takeaways:

1. Master Movement First: Learn h/j/k/l, w/b, 0/$, gg/G
2. Use Text Objects: ciw, di", ci{ are game-changers
3. Embrace the Dot: The . command repeats your last change
4. Visual Mode for Complex Edits: Select, then operate
5. Practice Daily: Muscle memory beats memorization

Next Steps:

• Install vimtutor: Run vimtutor in terminal
• Practice 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks
• Learn one new motion/command per day
• Use VIM keybindings in your IDE (VS Code, IntelliJ have VIM extensions)

Happy VIM-ing! 🚀

References

• VIM Official Documentation
• VIM Adventures Game
• Practical VIM Book
• VIM Cheat Sheet

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