Basics of Vi editor in Unix

The Vi editor is a fast and powerful text editor of Unix system. Vi does not contain any menu, instead it uses combinations of keystrokes to accomplish an action. Here I am sharing some useful information about Vi editor.

Modes in Vi editor
Vi has two modes.
1. Command mode- Here you can insert Vi commands. Press Ecs to enter command mode.
2. Insert mode- Here you can insert text. Press i to go to insert mode.

Starting VI editor
Open terminal and type vi followed by a file name. Hit return to enter into the editor. For example,
vi filename.txt

Save and exit VI editor

:w	save file without quitting
:q	quit without saving
:wq	save and quit

Moving the cursor

j or <Return> [or down-arrow]	move cursor down one line
k [or up-arrow]	move cursor up one line
h or <Backspace> [or left-arrow]	move cursor left one character
l or <Space> [or right-arrow]	move cursor right one character
0 (zero)	move cursor to start of current line (the one with the cursor)
$	move cursor to end of current line
w	move cursor to beginning of next word
b	move cursor back to beginning of preceding word
:0<Return> or 1G	move cursor to first line in file
:n<Return> or nG	move cursor to line n
:$<Return> or G	move cursor to last line in file

Adding or inserting text

i	insert text before cursor
I	insert text at beginning of current line
o	open and put text in a new line below current line
O	open and put text in a new line above current line
a	append text after current cursor position
A	append text to end of current line

Deleting text

x	delete single character in current cursor position
Nx	delete N characters, starting with current cursor position
dw	delete the single word beginning with current cursor position
dd	delete entire line at current cursor position
dNd or Ndd	delete N lines, beginning with the current line; e.g., 4dd deletes 4 lines
dNw	delete N words starting at current cursor position; e.g., d7w deletes 7 words
D	delete the remainder of the line, starting with current cursor position

Copying and Pasting

yy	copy (yank, cut) the current line
Nyy or yNy	copy (yank, cut) the next N lines, including the current line
p	paste the copied line/lines into the editor after the current line

Searching text

/string	search forward for occurrence of string
?string	search backward for occurrence of string
n	move to next occurrence of search string
N	move to next occurrence of search string (opposite direction)

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Basics of Vi editor in Unix

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