Basic Vim Motions and Commands for VS Code Users

Navigation

Movement

• h: Move left
• l: Move right
• j: Move down
• k: Move up

Horizontal Movement

• w: Move to the beginning of the next word
• b: Move to the beginning of the previous word
• e: Move to the end of the current/next word
• 0: Move to the beginning of the line
• $: Move to the end of the line
• f{char}: Move to the next occurrence of {char} on the current line
• F{char}: Move to the previous occurrence of {char} on the current line

Vertical Movement

• gg: Move to the first line of the document
• G: Move to the last line of the document
• {number}G: Move to line {number}
• Ctrl+u: Move up half a screen
• Ctrl+d: Move down half a screen

Undo and Redo

• u: Undo
• Ctrl+r: Redo

Editing

Deleting

• x: Delete character under cursor
• dw: Delete word
• dd: Delete entire line
• d$ or D: Delete from cursor to end of line
• di(: Delete everything inside parentheses
• di": Delete everything inside double quotes
• di': Delete everything inside single quotes
• dib: Delete everything inside parentheses (alternative)
• diB: Delete everything inside curly braces

Changing (Delete and enter Insert mode)

• cw: Change word
• cc: Change entire line
• ci(: Change everything inside parentheses
• ci": Change everything inside double quotes

Yanking (Copying)

• yw: Yank word
• yy: Yank entire line
• yi(: Yank everything inside parentheses
• yi": Yank everything inside double quotes

Pasting

• p: Paste after cursor
• P: Paste before cursor

Useful Combinations

• ciw: Change inside word
• diw: Delete inside word
• yiw: Yank inside word
• ct{char}: Change until {char}
• dt{char}: Delete until {char}

Searching and Highlighting

Search for Word Under Cursor

• *: Search forward for the word under the cursor
• #: Search backward for the word under the cursor

Search in Current File

• /: Start forward search (type your search term and press Enter)
• ?: Start backward search

Navigate through search results

• n: Go to next occurrence
• N: Go to previous occurrence

Code Actions and Navigation

Code Actions

• <leader>ca: Open code action menu

Indentation

• >>: Indent current line
• <<: Unindent current line
• ==: Auto-indent current line

Go To Definition and Implementation

• gd: Go to definition
• gi: Go to implementation
• gr: Go to references