Vim Text Editor - Learn in 10 steps, for beginners.

** To move the cursor, press the h,j,k,l keys as indicated. **

• Hint: The h key is at the left and moves left.
• The l key is at the right and moves right.
• The j key looks like a down arrow.

1. Move the cursor around the screen until you are comfortable.

2. Hold down the down key (j) until it repeats.

Now you know how to move to the next lesson.

3. Using the down key, move to Lesson 1.2.

NOTE: If you are ever unsure about something you typed, press <ESC> to place you in Normal mode. Then retype the command you wanted.

NOTE: The cursor keys should also work. But using hjkl you will be able to move around much faster, once you get used to it. Really!

!! NOTE: Before executing any of the steps below, read this entire lesson!!

1. Press the <ESC> key (to make sure you are in Normal mode).

2. Type: :q! <ENTER>.

This exits the editor, DISCARDING any changes you have made.

3. When you see the shell prompt, type the command that got you into this tutor. That would be: vimtutor <ENTER>

4. If you have these steps memorized and are confident, execute steps 1 through 3 to exit and re-enter the editor.

NOTE: :q! <ENTER> discards any changes you made. In a few lessons you will learn how to save the changes to a file.

5. Move the cursor down to Lesson 1.3.

** Press x to delete the character under the cursor. **

1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

2. To fix the errors, move the cursor until it is on top of the character to be deleted.

3. Press the x key to delete the unwanted character.

4. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until the sentence is correct.

---> The ccow jumpedd ovverr thhe mooon.

5. Now that the line is correct, go on to Lesson 1.4.

NOTE: As you go through this tutor, do not try to memorize, learn by usage.

** Press i to insert text. **

1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

2. To make the first line the same as the second, move the cursor on top of the first character AFTER where the text is to be inserted.

3. Press i and type in the necessary additions.

4. As each error is fixed press <ESC> to return to Normal mode.

Repeat steps 2 through 4 to correct the sentence.

---> There is text misng this .

---> There is some text missing from this line.

5. When you are comfortable inserting text move to lesson 1.5.

** Press A to append text. **

1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

It does not matter on what character the cursor is in that line.

2. Press A and type in the necessary additions.

3. As the text has been appended press <ESC> to return to Normal mode.

4. Move the cursor to the second line marked ---> and repeat steps 2 and 3 to correct this sentence.

---> There is some text missing from th

There is some text missing from this line.

---> There is also some text miss

There is also some text missing here.

5. When you are comfortable appending text move to lesson 1.6.

** Use :wq to save a file and exit. **

!! NOTE: Before executing any of the steps below, read this entire lesson!!

1. Exit this tutor as you did in lesson 1.2: :q!

Or, if you have access to another terminal, do the following there.

2. At the shell prompt type this command: vim tutor <ENTER>

'vim' is the command to start the Vim editor, 'tutor' is the name of the file you wish to edit. Use a file that may be changed.

3. Insert and delete text as you learned in the previous lessons.

4. Save the file with changes and exit Vim with: :wq <ENTER>

5. If you have quit vimtutor in step 1 restart the vimtutor and move down to the following summary.

6. After reading the above steps and understanding them: do it.

Let's summarize everything we have learned in Lesson 1.

1. The cursor is moved using either the arrow keys or the hjkl keys.

h (left) j (down) k (up) l (right)

2. To start Vim from the shell prompt type: vim FILENAME <ENTER>

3. To exit Vim type: <ESC> :q! <ENTER> to trash all changes.

OR type: <ESC> :wq <ENTER> to save the changes.

4. To delete the character at the cursor type: x

5. To insert or append text type:

i type inserted text <ESC> insert before the cursor

A type appended text <ESC> append after the line

NOTE: Pressing <ESC> will place you in Normal mode or will cancel an unwanted and partially completed command.

Now continue with Lesson 2.

** Type dw to delete a word. **

1. Press <ESC> to make sure you are in Normal mode.

2. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

3. Move the cursor to the beginning of a word that needs to be deleted.

4. Type dw to make the word disappear.

NOTE: The letter d will appear on the last line of the screen as you type it. Vim is waiting for you to type w . If you see another character than d you typed something wrong; press <ESC> and start over.

---> There are a some words fun that don't belong paper in this sentence.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the sentence is correct and go to Lesson 2.2.

** Type d$ to delete to the end of the line. **

1. Press <ESC> to make sure you are in Normal mode.

2. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

3. Move the cursor to the end of the correct line (AFTER the first . ).

4. Type d$ to delete to the end of the line.

---> Somebody typed the end of this line twice. end of this line twice.

5. Move on to Lesson 2.3 to understand what is happening.

Many commands that change text are made from an operator and a motion.

The format for a delete command with the d delete operator is as follows:

d motion

Where:

d - is the delete operator.

motion - is what the operator will operate on (listed below).

A short list of motions:

w - until the start of the next word, EXCLUDING its first character.

e - to the end of the current word, INCLUDING the last character.

$ - to the end of the line, INCLUDING the last character.

Thus typing de will delete from the cursor to the end of the word.

NOTE: Pressing just the motion while in Normal mode without an operator will move the cursor as specified.

** Typing a number before a motion repeats it that many times. **

1. Move the cursor to the start of the line marked ---> below.

2. Type 2w to move the cursor two words forward.

3. Type 3e to move the cursor to the end of the third word forward.

4. Type 0 (zero) to move to the start of the line.

5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with different numbers.

---> This is just a line with words you can move around in.

6. Move on to Lesson 2.5.

** Typing a number with an operator repeats it that many times. **

In the combination of the delete operator and a motion mentioned above you insert a count before the motion to delete more:

• d number motion

1. Move the cursor to the first UPPER CASE word in the line marked --->.

2. Type d2w to delete the two UPPER CASE words

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with a different count to delete the consecutive UPPER CASE words with one command

---> this ABC DE line FGHI JK LMN OP of words is Q RS TUV cleaned up.

** Type dd to delete a whole line. **

Due to the frequency of whole line deletion, the designers of Vi decided it would be easier to simply type two d's to delete a line.

1. Move the cursor to the second line in the phrase below.

2. Type dd to delete the line.

3. Now move to the fourth line.

4. Type 2dd to delete two lines.

---> 1) Roses are red,

---> 2) Mud is fun,

---> 3) Violets are blue,

---> 4) I have a car,

---> 5) Clocks tell time,

---> 6) Sugar is sweet

---> 7) And so are you.

** Press u to undo the last commands, U to fix a whole line. **

1. Move the cursor to the line below marked ---> and place it on the first error.

2. Type x to delete the first unwanted character.

3. Now type u to undo the last command executed.

4. This time fix all the errors on the line using the x command.

5. Now type a capital U to return the line to its original state.

6. Now type u a few times to undo the U and preceding commands.

7. Now type CTRL-R (keeping CTRL key pressed while hitting R) a few times to redo the commands (undo the undo's).

---> Fiix the errors oon thhis line and reeplace them witth undo.

8. These are very useful commands. Now move on to the Lesson 2 Summary.

Let's summarize everything we covered in lesson 2.

1. To delete from the cursor up to the next word type: dw

2. To delete from the cursor to the end of a line type: d$

3. To delete a whole line type: dd

4. To repeat a motion prepend it with a number: 2w

5. The format for a change command is:

• operator [number] motion

where:

• operator - is what to do, such as d for delete
• [number] - is an optional count to repeat the motion
• motion - moves over the text to operate on, such as w (word), $ (to the end of line), etc.

6. To move to the start of the line use a zero: 0

7.

• To undo previous actions, type: u (lowercase u)
• To undo all the changes on a line, type: U (capital U)
• To undo the undo's, type: CTRL-R

** Type p to put previously deleted text after the cursor. **

1. Move the cursor to the first ---> line below.

2. Type dd to delete the line and store it in a Vim register.

3. Move the cursor to the c) line, ABOVE where the deleted line should go.

4. Type p to put the line below the cursor.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to put all the lines in correct order.

---> d) Can you learn too?

---> b) Violets are blue,

---> c) Intelligence is learned,

---> a) Roses are red,

** Type rx to replace the character at the cursor with x . **

1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

2. Move the cursor so that it is on top of the first error.

3. Type r and then the character which should be there.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the first line is equal to the second one.

---> Whan this lime was tuoed in, someone presswd some wrojg keys!

---> When this line was typed in, someone pressed some wrong keys!

5. Now move on to Lesson 3.3.

NOTE: Remember that you should be learning by doing, not memorization.

** To change until the end of a word, type ce . **

1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

2. Place the cursor on the u in lubw.

3. Type ce and the correct word (in this case, type ine ).

4. Press <ESC> and move to the next character that needs to be changed.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the first sentence is the same as the second.

---> This lubw has a few wptfd that mrrf changing usf the change operator.

---> This line has a few words that need changing using the change operator.

Notice that ce deletes the word and places you in Insert mode.

** The change operator is used with the same motions as delete. **

1. The change operator works in the same way as delete. The format is:

c [number] motion

2. The motions are the same, such as w (word) and $ (end of line).

3. Move to the first line below marked --->.

4. Move the cursor to the first error.

5. Type c$ and type the rest of the line like the second and press <ESC>.

---> The end of this line needs some help to make it like the second.

---> The end of this line needs to be corrected using the c$ command.

NOTE: You can use the Backspace key to correct mistakes while typing.

Let's look at what we learned in lesson 3.

1. To put back text that has just been deleted, type p . This puts the deleted text AFTER the cursor (if a line was deleted it will go on the line below the cursor).

2. To replace the character under the cursor, type r and then the character you want to have there.

3. The change operator allows you to change from the cursor to where the motion takes you. eg. Type ce to change from the cursor to the end of the word, c$ to change to the end of a line.

4. The format for change is:

c [number] motion

Now go on to the next lesson.

** Type CTRL-G to show your location in the file and the file status. Type G to move to a line in the file. **

NOTE: Read this entire lesson before executing any of the steps!!

1. Hold down the Ctrl key and press g . We call this CTRL-G.

A message will appear at the bottom of the page with the filename and the

position in the file. Remember the line number for Step 3.

NOTE: You may see the cursor position in the lower right corner of the screen

This happens when the 'ruler' option is set (see :help 'ruler' )

2. Press G to move you to the bottom of the file. Type gg to move you to the start of the file.

3. Type the number of the line you were on and then G . This will return you to the line you were on when you first pressed CTRL-G.

4. If you feel confident to do this, execute steps 1 through 3.

** Type / followed by a phrase to search for the phrase. **

1. In Normal mode type the / character. Notice that it and the cursor appear at the bottom of the screen as with the : command.

2. Now type 'errroor' <ENTER>. This is the word you want to search for.

3. To search for the same phrase again, simply type n .

To search for the same phrase in the opposite direction, type N .

4. To search for a phrase in the backward direction, use ? instead of / .

5. To go back to where you came from press CTRL-O (Keep Ctrl down while

pressing the letter o). Repeat to go back further. CTRL-I goes forward.

---> "errroor" is not the way to spell error; errroor is an error.

NOTE: When the search reaches the end of the file it will continue at the start, unless the 'wrapscan' option has been reset.

** Type % to find a matching ),], or } . **

1. Place the cursor on any (, [, or { in the line below marked --->.

2. Now type the % character.

3. The cursor will move to the matching parenthesis or bracket.

4. Type % to move the cursor to the other matching bracket.

5. Move the cursor to another (,),[,],{ or } and see what % does.

---> This ( is a test line with ('s, ['s ] and {'s } in it. ))

NOTE: This is very useful in debugging a program with unmatched parentheses!

** Type :s/old/new/g to substitute 'new' for 'old'. **

1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

2. Type :s/thee/the <ENTER> . Note that this command only changes the first occurrence of "thee" in the line.

3. Now type :s/thee/the/g . Adding the g flag means to substitute globally in the line, change all occurrences of "thee" in the line.

---> thee best time to see thee flowers is in thee spring.

4. To change every occurrence of a character string between two lines,

• type :#,#s/old/new/g where #,# are the line numbers of the range of lines where the substitution is to be done.
• Type :%s/old/new/g to change every occurrence in the whole file.
• Type :%s/old/new/gc to find every occurrence in the whole file, with a prompt whether to substitute or not.

Let's summarize what we learned in lesson 4.

1.

• CTRL-G displays your location in the file and the file status.
• G moves to the end of the file.
• number G moves to that line number.
• gg moves to the first line.

2.

• Typing / followed by a phrase searches FORWARD for the phrase.
• Typing ? followed by a phrase searches BACKWARD for the phrase.

After a search type n to find the next occurrence in the same direction or N to search in the opposite direction. CTRL-O takes you back to older positions, CTRL-I to newer positions.

3. Typing % while the cursor is on a (,),[,],{, or } goes to its match.

4.

• To substitute new for the first old in a line type :s/old/new
• To substitute new for all 'old's on a line type :s/old/new/g
• To substitute phrases between two line #'s type :#,#s/old/new/g
• To substitute all occurrences in the file type :%s/old/new/g
• To ask for confirmation each time add 'c' :%s/old/new/gc

** Type :! followed by an external command to execute that command. **

1. Type the familiar command : to set the cursor at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to enter a command-line command.

2. Now type the ! (exclamation point) character. This allows you to execute any external shell command.

3. As an example type ls following the ! and then hit <ENTER>. This will show you a listing of your directory, just as if you were at the shell prompt. Or use :!dir if ls doesn't work.

NOTE: It is possible to execute any external command this way, also with arguments.

NOTE: All : commands must be finished by hitting <ENTER>

From here on we will not always mention it.

** To save the changes made to the text, type :w FILENAME. **

1. Type :!dir or :!ls to get a listing of your directory.

You already know you must hit <ENTER> after this.

2. Choose a filename that does not exist yet, such as TEST.

3. Now type: :w TEST (where TEST is the filename you chose.)

4. This saves the whole file (the Vim Tutor) under the name TEST.

To verify this, type :!dir or :!ls again to see your directory.

NOTE: If you were to exit Vim and start it again with vim TEST , the file would be an exact copy of the tutor when you saved it.

5. Now remove the file by typing

(MS-DOS):

:!del TEST

or (Unix):

:!rm TEST

** To save part of the file, type v motion :w FILENAME **

1. Move the cursor to this line.

2. Press v and move the cursor to the fifth item below. Notice that the text is highlighted.

3. Press the : character. At the bottom of the screen :'<,'> will appear.

4. Type w TEST , where TEST is a filename that does not exist yet. Verify that you see :'<,'>w TEST before you press <ENTER>.

5. Vim will write the selected lines to the file TEST. Use :!dir or !ls to see it. Do not remove it yet! We will use it in the next lesson.

NOTE: Pressing v starts Visual selection. You can move the cursor around to make the selection bigger or smaller. Then you can use an operator to do something with the text. For example, d deletes the text.

** To insert the contents of a file, type :r FILENAME **

1. Place the cursor just above this line.

NOTE: After executing Step 2 you will see text from Lesson 5.3. Then move DOWN to see this lesson again.

2. Now retrieve your TEST file using the command :r TEST where TEST is the name of the file you used.

The file you retrieve is placed below the cursor line.

3. To verify that a file was retrieved, cursor back and notice that there are now two copies of Lesson 5.3, the original and the file version.

NOTE: You can also read the output of an external command. For example, :r !ls reads the output of the ls command and puts it below the cursor.

Let's recap what we have learned in Lesson 5

1. :!command executes an external command. Some useful examples are: (MS-DOS) / (Unix)

• :!dir / :!ls - shows a directory listing.
• :!del FILENAME / :!rm FILENAME - removes file FILENAME.

2. :w FILENAME writes the current Vim file to disk with name FILENAME.

3. v motion :w FILENAME saves the Visually selected lines in file FILENAME.

4. :r FILENAME retrieves disk file FILENAME and puts it below the cursor position.

5. :r !dir reads the output of the dir command and puts it below the cursor position.

** Type o to open a line below the cursor and place you in Insert mode. **

1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

2. Type the lowercase letter o to open up a line BELOW the cursor and place you in Insert mode.

3. Now type some text and press <ESC> to exit Insert mode.

---> After typing o the cursor is placed on the open line in Insert mode.

4. To open up a line ABOVE the cursor, simply type a capital O , rather than a lowercase o. Try this on the line below.

---> Open up a line above this by typing O while the cursor is on this line.

** Type a to insert text AFTER the cursor. **

1. Move the cursor to the start of the line below marked --->.

2. Press e until the cursor is on the end of li .

3. Type an a (lowercase) to append text AFTER the cursor.

4. Complete the word like the line below it. Press <ESC> to exit Insert mode.

5. Use e to move to the next incomplete word and repeat steps 3 and 4.

---> This li will allow you to pract appendi text to a line.

---> This line will allow you to practice appending text to a line.

NOTE: a, i and A all go to the same Insert mode, the only difference is where the characters are inserted.

** Type a capital R to replace more than one character. **

1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->. Move the cursor to the beginning of the first xxx .

2. Now press R and type the number below it in the second line, so that it replaces the xxx .

3. Press <ESC> to leave Replace mode. Notice that the rest of the line remains unmodified.

4. Repeat the steps to replace the remaining xxx.

---> Adding 123 to xxx gives you xxx.

---> Adding 123 to 456 gives you 579.

NOTE: Replace mode is like Insert mode, but every typed character deletes an existing character.

** Use the y operator to copy text and p to paste it **

1. Go to the line marked with ---> below and place the cursor after "a)".

2. Start Visual mode with v and move the cursor to just before "first".

3. Type y to yank (copy) the highlighted text.

4. Move the cursor to the end of the next line: j$

5. Type p to put (paste) the text. Then type: a second <ESC> .

6. Use Visual mode to select " item.", yank it with y , move to the end of the next line with j$ and put the text there with p .

---> a) this is the first item.

---> b)

NOTE: you can also use y as an operator; yw yanks one word.

** Set an option so a search or substitute ignores case **

1. Search for 'ignore' by entering: /ignore <ENTER>

Repeat several times by pressing n .

2. Set the 'ic' (Ignore case) option by entering: :set ic

3. Now search for 'ignore' again by pressing n

Notice that Ignore and IGNORE are now also found.

4. Set the 'hlsearch' and 'incsearch' options: :set hls is

5. Now type the search command again and see what happens: /ignore <ENTER>

6. To disable ignoring case enter: :set noic

NOTE: To remove the highlighting of matches enter: :nohlsearch

NOTE: If you want to ignore case for just one search command, use \c in the phrase: /ignore\c <ENTER>

Let's see what we learned in lesson 6.

1.

• Type o to open a line BELOW the cursor and start Insert mode.
• Type O to open a line ABOVE the cursor.

2.

• Type a to insert text AFTER the cursor.
• Type A to insert text after the end of the line.

3. The e command moves to the end of a word.

4. The y operator yanks (copies) text, p puts (pastes) it.

5. Typing a capital R enters Replace mode until <ESC> is pressed.

6. Typing ":set xxx" sets the option "xxx". Some options are:

• 'ic' 'ignorecase' ignore upper/lower case when searching
• 'is' 'incsearch' show partial matches for a search phrase
• 'hls' 'hlsearch' highlight all matching phrases

You can either use the long or the short option name.

7. Prepend "no" to switch an option off: :set noic

** Use the on-line help system **

Vim has a comprehensive on-line help system. To get started, try one of these three:

• press the <HELP> key (if you have one)
• press the <F1> key (if you have one)
• type :help <ENTER>

Read the text in the help window to find out how the help works.

Type CTRL-W CTRL-W to jump from one window to another.

Type :q <ENTER> to close the help window.

You can find help on just about any subject, by giving an argument to the ":help" command. Try these (don't forget pressing <ENTER>):

• :help w
• :help c_CTRL-D
• :help insert-index
• :help user-manual

** Enable Vim features **

Vim has many more features than Vi, but most of them are disabled by

default. To start using more features you have to create a "vimrc" file.

1. Start editing the "vimrc" file. This depends on your system:

• :e ~/.vimrc for Unix
• :e $VIM/_vimrc for MS-Windows

2. Now read the example "vimrc" file contents:

• :r $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim

3. Write the file with:

• :w

The next time you start Vim it will use syntax highlighting.

You can add all your preferred settings to this "vimrc" file.

For more information type :help vimrc-intro

** Command line completion with CTRL-D and <TAB> **

1. Make sure Vim is not in compatible mode: :set nocp

2. Look what files exist in the directory: :!ls or :!dir

3. Type the start of a command: :e

4. Press CTRL-D and Vim will show a list of commands that start with "e".

5. Press <TAB> and Vim will complete the command name to ":edit".

6. Now add a space and the start of an existing file name: :edit FIL

7. Press <TAB>. Vim will complete the name (if it is unique).

NOTE: Completion works for many commands. Just try pressing CTRL-D and <TAB>. It is especially useful for :help .

Let's see what we learned in Lesson 7.

1. Type :help or press <F1> or <Help> to open a help window.

2. Type :help cmd to find help on cmd .

3. Type CTRL-W w to jump to another window

4. Type :q to close the help window

5. Create a .vimrc startup script to keep your preferred settings.

6. When typing a : command, press CTRL-D to see possible completions. Press <TAB> to use one completion.

We are done with the Vimtutor so we need some new text content to work with in Lesson 8. This video will instroduce the new text file we will work with.

1. Slow movement - Character-wise movements with the home keys: h, j, k and l.
2. Line terminus - Beginning of line and end of line movements: 0 and $.
3. The different types of "words"
   
   • Forward word movement - We learn to move foward to the next WORD and wordboth to the beginning of words and the end of words. Commands are w, W, e andE.
   • Backward word movement - And we learn to move backward to the previous WORDand word both to the beginning of words and the end of words. Commands are b,B, ge and gE.
4. Top and Bottom of the buffer - Jumping to the top line of the entire buffer with ggand the bottom of the entire buffer with G.
5. Jumping to a particular line - Get to a specific line number with <number>G.
   
6. Manual regular expression searching - Using '/' and '?' to manually search.
   

"To the Character" movement - The great, super great commands f, F, t, Tand ; that let you move to specific characters within a line.

Moving the page up and down by full pages with:

CTRL-f and CTRL-b

and by half pages with:

CTRL-u and CTRL-d.

Cursor jumping to screen parts

Moving to the head, middle and last line of a screen

with H, M and L respectively.

Easy regular expression searching

The famous '*' and '#' keys for jumping by bounded regular expression.

Let's recap what we talked about in Lesson 8. Spend some time practicing these new commands.

• The super great commands f, F, t, Tand ; that let you move to specific characters within a line.
• Moving the page up and down by full pages with: CTRL-f and CTRL-b
• and by half pages with: CTRL-u and CTRL-d.
• Moving to the head, middle and last line of a screen with H, M and L respectively.
• The famous '*' and '#' keys for jumping by bounded regular expression.

Listing Buffers

• :ls

Switching Buffers

• :b [number]
• :b [filename]

Buffer deletion

We don't talk about this in the video but if you ever want to delete a buffer (I don't usually do this at all) you can use the cammands:

• :bd [number]
• :bd [filename]

Writing and Quiting:

• :wa -> write all
• :qa -> quit all
• :xa -> write and quite all

Splitting Windows

There's vertical splits and horizontal splits. Split horizontally with

• :split or CTRL-w s

and vertically with

• :vsplit or CTRL-w v

Closing Windows

You can close with

• :close or CTRL-w c

Switching Windows

Change windows with

• CTRL-w h
• CTRL-w j
• CTRL-w k
• CTRL-w l

You can also switch to the "previous" window with

• CTRL-w p

Moving Windows

If you want to reposition a window to another spot, you can use the commands:

• CTRL-w H
• CTRL-w J
• CTRL-w K
• CTRL-w L

Focusing a Window

If you want to de-clutter your workspace and make the current window the only visible window then you can hit:

• CTRL-w o

Exploring the filesystem

The video demonstrates some of the functionality of the netrw plugin, which is usually distributed with Vim. Note that if the NERD_tree is installed, then the functionality described in this episode won’t work for you.

:e. at current working directory

:sp. in split at current working directory

:vs. in vertical split at current working directory

:E at directory of current file

:Se in split at directory of current file

:Vex in vertical split at directory of current file

• % -> Create a new file
• d -> Create a new directory
  
• R -> Rename the file/directory under the cursor
  
• D -> Delete the file/directory under the cursor