Help:Vi keys sorted alphabetically

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The following list describes the meaning of each character that's used by the editor. Some characters have meaning in both command and insert mode; these are all described.

Vi keys can be split into the following functional groups (as marked here): movement operator other. Some keys result in entering insert mode.

Other lists like this on the net also exist:

• http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~bhoward/vi/vi60.html

Unassigned keys

The following keys have no assignment by default in vi. In insert mode, your termal's stty setting might assign a function to some of these control characters. All of these unassigned keys should be available for alias (macro) assignment.

Unassigned keys: ^A ^C ^I ^K ^O ^Q ^R ^S ^W ^X # * = K V g q v

Control keys

^B	Move backward one screen.
^D	Scroll the window down one half screen.
^E	Scroll the screen up one line.
^F	Scroll forward one screen.
^G	Same as ":f" command. Displays file information.
^H (BS)	Moves cursor left one space in command mode. In insert mode, erases the last character typed.
^J	Move the cursor down one line.
^L	Clear and redraw the screen.
^M (CR)	Move to the first non-white character in the next line. In insert mode, a carriage return opens a new line for input.
^N	Move the cursor down a line.
^P	Move the cursor up a line.
^T	Tag stack
^U	Scroll the window up one half screen.
^V	In insert mode, next character is taken literally
^Y	Scroll the screen down one line.
^Z	Stop vi (see shell job control)
^[	Escape cancels a pending command in command mode, and terminates insert mode.
^]	Moves to the tag whose name is given by the word in which the cursor resides.
SPACE	Move the cursor right on column.

Punctuation and number keys

@x	execute commands in register x
!	Operate on text by running a command over it; text becomes input to the command; output from the command replaces the text.
"x	next yank or delete is saved in register x
$	Move to the end of the current line.
%	Move to the parenthesis, brace or bracket ( ) { } [ ] matching the one at or after the current position.
^	Move to the first non-white on the current line.
&	repeat the last search and replace on the current line (:s)
(	Move back to the start of a sentence.
)	Move forward to the start of the next sentence.
-	Move to the first non-white character in the previous line.
+	Move to the first non-white character in the next line.
~	toggle case of letter under cursor and move to next character
_ (underscore)	Move to the start of the line, or the nth line if given a count
` (backtick)	Move to the character position of the given mark (or last context if doubled)
' (tick)	Move to the line containing the given mark (or last context if doubled)
, (comma)	Move reverse of the last t, T, f, or F command.
.	Repeat the last edit command.
/	Start of a forward string search command. String searches may be optionally terminated with a closing slash. To search for a slash use '\/' in the search string.
0	Move to the start of the current line. Also used within counts.
1-9	Used to add 'count' prefixes to commands.
:	Prefix character for "ex" commands.
;	Move: repeat last t, T, f, or F command.
<	left shift operator
>	right shift operator
?	(move) String search backwards (reverse of / )
[[	Move backward one C function.
]]	Move forward one C function.
|	Move to the column given by the preceding count.
{	Move backwards one blank line delimited paragraph
}	Move forwards one blank line delimited paragraph

Uppercase letters

A	Append at the end of the current line.
B	Move backward one blank-delimited word.
C	(insert) Change the rest of the current line.
D	Delete the rest of the current line.
E	Move to the end of a blank-delimited word.
F	(Move) Find a character backward on the current line.
G	Move (Go) to the given line number (end of file, by default).
H	Move to the first non-white char. on the top screen line.
I	Insert before the first non-white char. on the current line.
J	Join two lines.
L	Move to the first non-white char. on the bottom screen line.
M	Move to the first non-white char. on the middle screen line.
N	Reverse the last string search.
O	Open a new line above the current line, and start inserting.
P	Put the yank/delete buffer before the current cursor position.
Q	quit vi and go to ex mode (type vi to come back)
R	Replace characters until esc is typed
S	Change entire current line (insert)
T	(Move) Reverse search 'upto' the given character.
U	Undo all (recent) changes on current line
W	Move forward one blank-delimited word.
X	Delete one character before the cursor.
Y	Yank the current line. Same as 'yy'.
ZZ	Exit from the editor, saving changes if necessary.

Lowercase letters

a	Append text after the cursor.
b	Move back one word.
c	change operator (insert)
d	delete operator
e	Move to the end of a word.
f	(move) Find a character on the current line.
h	Move left one column.
i	Insert text before the cursor.
j	Move down one line.
k	Move up one line.
l	Move right one column.
m	Set a mark at the current position (e.g. ma or mb).
n	(move) Repeat the last string search.
o	Open a new line and start inserting text.
p	Put the yank/delete buffer after the cursor.
r	Replace a character (count replaces several with one character repeated)
s	Replace characters (use count to replace several, enters insert mode)
t	Move forward 'upto' the given character on the current line.
u	Undo the last edit.
w	Move forward one word.
x	Delete the character under the cursor.
y	yank operator
z	Redraw the screen with the current line at the top (zRETURN), the middle (z.), or the bottom (z-).