Vi Quick Reference
Common Commands	Positioning within file	Character positioning	Operators
Counts before vi commands	Adjusting the screen	Words, sentences, paragraphs	Miscellaneous Operations
Interrupting, canceling	Marking and returning	Corrections during insert	Yank and Put
File manipulation	Line positioning	Insert and replace	Undo, Redo, Retrieve

vi options (switches used when starting vi) OPTIONS Invocation Options - | -s Suppress all interactive user feedback. This is useful when processing editor scripts. -l Set up for editing LISP programs. -L List the name of all files saved as the result of an editor or system crash. -R Readonly mode; the readonly flag is set, preventing accidental overwriting of the file. -r filename Edit filename after an editor or system crash. (Recovers the version of filename that was in the buffer when the crash occurred.) -t tag Edit the file containing the tag and position the editor at its definition. -v Start up in display editing state using vi. You can achieve the same effect by simply typ- ing the -vi command itself. -V Verbose. Any non-tty input will be echoed on standard error. This may be useful when pro- cessing editor commands within shell scripts. -x Encryption option; when used, vi simulates the X command of ex and prompts the user for a key. This key is used to encrypt and decrypt text using the algorithm of the crypt command. The X command makes an educated guess to determine whether text read in is encrypted or not. The temporary buffer file is encrypted also, using a transformed version of the key typed in for the -x option. -wn Set the default window size to n. This is useful when using the editor over a slow speed line. -C Encryption option; same as the - x option, except that vi simulates the C command of ex. The C command is like the X command of ex, except that all text read in is assumed to have been encrypted. +command | -c command Begin editing by executing the specified edi- tor command (usually a search or positioning command). /usr/xpg4/bin/vi If both the -t tag and the -c command options are given, the -t tag will be processed first. That is, the file containing the tag is selected by -t and then the command is executed. Back to Top Common Commands x delete a character dw delete a word dd delete a line 3dd delete 3 lines u undo previous change ZZ exit vi, saving changes :q!CR quit, discarding changes /textCR search for text ^U ^D scroll up or down :cmdCR any ex or ed command Back to Top Counts before vi commands Numbers may be typed as a prefix to some commands. They are interpreted in one of these ways. line/column number z G | scroll amount ^D ^U repeat effect most of the rest Back to Top Interrupting, canceling ESC end insert or incomplete cmd DEL (delete or rubout) interrupts Back to Top File manipulation ZZ if file modified, write and exit; otherwise, exit :wCR write back changes :w!CR forced write, if permission originally not valid :qCR quit :q!CR quit, discard changes :e nameCR edit file name :e!CR reedit, discard changes :e + nameCR edit, starting at end :e +nCR edit starting at line n :e #CR edit alternate file :e! #CR edit alternate file, discard changes :w nameCR write file name :w! nameCR overwrite file name :shCR run shell, then return :!cmdCR run cmd, then return :nCR edit next file in arglist :n argsCR specify new arglist ^G show current file and line :ta tagCR position cursor to tag In general, any ex or ed command (such as substitute or glo- bal) may be typed, preceded by a colon and followed by a carriage return. Back to Top Positioning within file ^F forward screen ^B backward screen ^D scroll down half screen ^U scroll up half screen nG go to the beginning of the specified line (end default), where n is a line number /pat next line matching pat ?pat previous line matching pat n repeat last / or ? command N reverse last / or ? command /pat/+n nth line after pat ?pat?-n nth line before pat ]] next section/function [[ previous section/function ( beginning of sentence ) end of sentence { beginning of paragraph } end of paragraph % find matching ( ) { or } Back to Top Adjusting the screen ^L clear and redraw window ^R clear and redraw window if ^L is -> key zCR redraw screen with current line at top of window z-CR redraw screen with current line at bottom of window z.CR redraw screen with current line at center of window /pat/z-CR move pat line to bottom of window zn.CR use n-line window ^E scroll window down 1 line ^Y scroll window up 1 line Back to Top Marking and returning `` move cursor to previous context '' move cursor to first non-white space in line mx mark current position with the ASCII lower-case letter x `x move cursor to mark x 'x move cursor to first non-white space in line marked by x Back to Top Line positioning H top line on screen L last line on screen M middle line on screen + next line, at first non-white - previous line, at first non-white CR return, same as + v or j next line, same column ^ or k previous line, same column Back to Top Character positioning ^ first non white-space character 0 beginning of line $ end of line l or -> forward h or <- backward ^H same as <- (backspace) space same as -> (space bar) fx find next x Fx find previous x tx move to character prior to next x Tx move to character following previous x ; repeat last f, F, t, or T , repeat inverse of last f, F, t, or T n| move to column n % find matching ( { ) or } Back to Top Words, sentences, paragraphs w forward a word b back a word e end of word ) to next sentence } to next paragraph ( back a sentence { back a paragraph W forward a blank-delimited word B back a blank-delimited word E end of a blank-delimited word Back to Top Corrections during insert ^H erase last character (backspace) ^W erase last word erase your erase character, same as ^H (backspace) kill your kill character, erase this line of input \ quotes your erase and kill characters ESC ends insertion, back to command mode CTRL-C interrupt, suspends insert mode ^D backtab one character; reset left margin of autoindent ^^D caret (^) followed by control-d (^D); backtab to beginning of line; do not reset left margin of autoindent 0^D backtab to beginning of line; reset left margin of autoindent ^V quote non-printable character Back to Top Insert and replace a append after cursor A append at end of line i insert before cursor I insert before first non-blank o open line below O open above rx replace single char with x RtextESC replace characters Back to Top Operators Operators are followed by a cursor motion, and affect all text that would have been moved over. For example, since w moves over a word, dw deletes the word that would be moved over. Double the operator, for example, dd to affect whole lines. d delete c change y yank lines to buffer < left shift > right shift ! filter through command Back to Top Miscellaneous Operations C change rest of line (c$) D delete rest of line (d$) s substitute chars (cl) S substitute lines (cc) J join lines x delete characters (dl) X delete characters before cursor (dh) Y yank lines (yy) Back to Top Yank and Put Put inserts the text most recently deleted or yanked; how- ever, if a buffer is named (using the ASCII lower-case letters a - z), the text in that buffer is put instead. 3yy yank 3 lines 3yl yank 3 characters p put back text after cursor P put back text before cursor "xp put from buffer x "xy yank to buffer x "xd delete into buffer x Back to Top Undo, Redo, Retrieve u undo last change U restore current line . repeat last change "dp retrieve d'th last delete Back to Top