Working with Vim

Operators

Here are some basic operators, these are combined with motions to edit text:

y : Yank (copy)

d : Delete

p : Put (paste)

c : Change, deletes and enters INSERT mode

💡 Use p paste with something highlighted to replace the highlighted section. This is extremely helpful, since deleting an item can change what is in your register you are trying to paste. See Registers for more.

Copy-Paste example

Undo / Redo

Use u for undo, and ctrl-r for redo. No motion required, just press the keys in NORMAL or VISUAL mode.

Uppercase & Lowercase

gu{motion} : Lowercase test

gU{motion} : Uppercase text

g~{motion} : Toggle text case

For example, gu_ will switch the current line to lowercase, or g~_ will toggle the case of each character on the current line.

Indent

See :help shift-left-right The brackets < and > will shift the line one shiftwidth length to the left, or right. These can also be paired with VISUAL mode, ranges, and motions.

For example, use shift-v to select a line, use arrows or other motions to expand the range, and then type < or > to shift the lines.

Use << and >> to shift using a count. For example, 5>> will shift 5 lines once to the right. If you want to shift more use . to repeat the command.

Formatting

See :help = The = command will indent text based on internal formatting rules, or as defined by a plugin for the language. The typical way I use is to highlight the section I want to format using VISUAL mode, and then press = to format.

Repeat That

Press . to repeat the last command.

If you start with a number, and then type a command, Vim executes the command that many times. For example, if you want to delete three lines, type 3dd

Single Character Operators

rX : Replace character under cursor with X

x : Delete character under cursor

~ : Toggle case for character under cursor