Basic vi Commands

Edit Commands

Text Object	Change	Delete	Copy
1 word	cw	dw	yw
2 words, not counting punctuation	2cW or c2W	2dW or d2W	2yW or y2W
3 words back	3cb or c3b	3db or d3b	3yb or y3b
1 line	cc	dd	yy or Y
To end of line	c$ or C	d$ or D	y$
To beginning of line	c0	d0	y0
Single character	r	x or X	yl or yh
Five characters	5s	5x	5yl

Movement

Movement	Commands
,,, " src="../chars/rarr.gif">	h, j, k, l
To first character of next line	+
To first character of previous line	-
To end of word	e or E
Forward by word	w or W
Backward by word	b or B
To end of line	$
To beginning of line	0

Other Operations

Operations	Commands
Place text from buffer	P or p
Start vi, open file if specified	vi file
Save edits, quit file	ZZ
No saving of edits, quit file	:q!

Text Creation and Manipulation Commands

Editing Action	Command
Insert text at current position	i
Insert text at beginning of line	I
Append text at current position	a
Append text at beginning of line	A
Open new line below cursor for new text	o
Open new line above cursor for new text	O
Delete line and substitute text	S
Overstrike existing characters with new text	R
Join current and next line	J
Toggle case	~
Repeat last action	.
Undo last change	u
Restore line to original state	U