vim

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vim cheat sheet

Load vim with no plugins enabled

vim -u NONE -N

source

Delete without overriding your last yank

All yank and delete operations write to the unnamed register by default. However, the most recent yank and most recent delete are always stored (separately) in the numbered registers. The register 0 holds the most recent yank. The registers 1-9 hold the 9 most recent deletes (with 1 being the most recent).

In other words, a delete overwrites the most recent yank in the unnamed register, but it's still there in the 0 register. The blackhole-register trick ("_dd) mentioned in the other answers works because it prevents overwriting the unnamed register.

You reference a register using double quotes, so pasting the most recently yanked text can be done like this:

"0p

This is an excellent reference:

http://blog.sanctum.geek.nz/advanced-vim-registers/

source

Commenting lines

Using the vim-commentary plugin:

gcc  comment out a line
gc   comment out the target of a motion
gcap comment out a paragraph

Surrounding

Surrounding words with quotes, brackets, XML tags and more can be done with the vim-surround plugin.

cs"'  change the surroundings from " to '
cs'   delete the ' surroundings
ysiw] change surroundings to ]

Substitute multiple variants of a word

With vim-abolish plugin installed:

:%Subvert/facilit{y,ies}/building{,s}/g

Faster actions

Use the vim-unimpaired plugin to quickly access pairs of mappings (new lines, next files, etc.)

Marks

Marks are a dope way to navigate between files or within a file. If Ctags aren't working as planned, having marks is pretty neat. It's also neat when there's a large file in which you have to jump between sections (and ( and ) won't do).

m<char>  set mark at current cursor position
ma       set mark at a, bound to file
mA       set mark to A, bound to project
'a       jump to location of mark a
`a       jump to position (line and column) of mark a
:marks   list all current marks

Stash vim session

In vim do C-z to stash the window in the background. To pop it run:

$ fg

Undo trees

With gundo installed:

GundoShow

Delete all lines that match a pattern

:g/<regex>/d

Stop using hjkl

Using hjkl is an antipattern as it's slow. Instead use the other motions.

article

Set line numbers

:set nu    "enable numbers
:set nonu  "disable number
:set nu!   "toggle

Sort lines

:sort u  "alphabetically

Split windows

Cw-s  "split window horizontally
Cw-v  "split window vertically

Buffers

Buffers are often a misunderstood / underused feature of vim, even though they are essential to creating a fast workflow. Many editors use tabs to manage open files, but with vim it's recommended to use buffers for this. Vim also has tabs, but they're used differently.

tabs     " open one per feature; workspaces
buffers  " open one per file, nested under a workspace

Tabs can be used as different views on buffers. Buffers are used to manage files. By themselves buffers are a bit tedious to work with, but by using ctrlp they become more usable through fuzzy finding.

A good mapping for ctrlp is:

map <Leader>b :CtrlPBuffer<CR>  " Where leader is ideally set to spacebar

buffer commands

enew        " open an empty buffer
bd          " close a buffer
<bufno> bd  " close a specific buffer
ls          " list open buffers
ls!         " list all open buffers (including unlisted)
b <bufno>   " open buffer number
b#          " open last buffer (or <C-^> / <C-6>)

Visual block mode

Visual block mode is useful for bulk changes to patterns that are hard to capture with a regex; usually columns.

C-v  " enter visual block mode
A    " enter insert mode
I    " enter insert mode
esc  " execute changes made in insert mode

Format text to fit lines

With :set tw=80 do:

gq

Jump to character

f<char>  " jump to character
F<char>  " jump back to char
t<char>  " jump to char before match
;        " repeat jump
,        " repeat jump back

Folds

zc " close a fold
zC " close all folds
zo " open a fold
zO " open all folds
za " toggle a fold
zA " toggle all folds

Macros

q<key>          record macro at <key>
q               stop recording
@<key>          play back macro
:<num> @<key>   play back macro <num> time

Open url under cursor in browser

gx

Disable conceal

In 2011 vim added a feature called conceal which allows syntax parts to be shadowed, allowing "nicer" views. For some people (like me) it feels as if reality is distorted, and want to disable this. Luckily that's possible through a setting:

set cole=0   " disable conceal
set cole=2   " enable conceal

Stop wrapping lines

Or doing linebreaks

:set nowrap

Autocommands

Sometimes you wanna script a thing when you create a new file or start editing one; you can trigger stuff using autocommands:

autocmd BufNewFile,BufReadPost *.md :Goyo

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