Vim Cheatsheet

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Select the beginning of a function

Shift-V -

Get version of vim

:version

Get to the end of a function

$%

Autoindent the current file

gg=G

Breaking it down:

gg to get to the start of the file, = to indent and G to get to the end of the file.

Use JQ to make JSON human readable

:%!jq '.'

Alternatively, you can also use python:

:%!python -m json.tool

Resources:

• JQ approach
• Python approach

Paste over line

Vp

Resource: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4533530/vim-replacing-a-line-with-another-one-yanked-before

Delete all text in a file

If you want to delete all of the text in file you’re in, use the following keyboard shortcut:

1G
dG

Resources:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/506075/how-do-i-fix-the-indentation-of-an-entire-file-in-vi
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8124315/how-i-can-delete-in-vim-all-text-from-current-line-to-end-of-file

Alternative to esc

ctrl-c

Alternative to wq

ZZ

Alternative to q

ZQ

Indenting

Indent once in normal mode: >> Repeat the indent: . Indent five times: 5>> Unindent: << Ctrl-T to indent in insert mode Ctrl-D to unindent in insert mode

Resource: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Shifting_blocks_visually

Encrypt file

:setlocal cm=blowfish2

Resource: https://www.tecmint.com/password-protect-vim-file-in-linux/

Decrypt file

Open the file and do the following:

1. :X
2. Press the enter key twice

Find all lines containing pattern and delete them

:g/pattern/d

Resource: https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Delete_all_lines_containing_a_pattern

Go to end of line

$

Resource: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/105721/how-do-i-move-to-end-of-line-in-vim

Remove blank lines

:g/^$/d

Resource: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/706076/vim-delete-blank-lines

Open file

:n <file>

Resource: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23680778/how-do-you-open-a-file-from-within-vim

List files in a directory

:e <directory>

Change directory

:cd <directory>

Resource:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2288756/how-to-set-working-current-directory-in-vim

Page down

ctrl-f

Down half a page

ctrl-d

Page up

ctrl-b

Up half a page

ctrl-u

Resource:

• https://superuser.com/questions/335944/vim-in-osx-how-to-do-page-up-page-down-go-to-eol-through-a-vim-file-opened-in-t#:~:text=Page%20up%2Fdown%20%3A%20Using%20the,to%20start%2Fend%20of%20line

Programmatically add line to end of file

vim -b -c "Go" -c "s/.*/line of stuff to introduce/" -c "wq!" file/to/change

Resources:

• https://vi.stackexchange.com/questions/5630/how-to-quickly-add-content-in-a-new-line-at-end-of-file
• https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/322663/how-to-write-bash-script-to-open-vi-and-edit-document

Comment out a block of lines

This will comment out lines 66 through 70:

:66,70s/^/#

Uncomment those lines:

:66,70s/^#/

Resource:

• https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/120615/how-to-comment-multiple-lines-at-once

Find and replace from current line to send of file

:.,$s/foo/bar/g

Resource:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18020381/vim-search-and-replace-using-current-line-as-reference-point

Paste from system clipboard

"*p

Resource:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18258561/pasting-a-huge-amount-of-text-into-vim-is-slow

Password protect a file

vim -x file.txt

Install vim with brew

brew install --with-override-system-vi vim

Auto set paste

Add this to the end of ~./vimrc (~/.SpaceVim/vimrc if you use SpaceVim):

function! WrapForTmux(s)
  if !exists('$TMUX')
    return a:s
  endif

  let tmux_start = "\<Esc>Ptmux;"
  let tmux_end = "\<Esc>\\"

  return tmux_start . substitute(a:s, "\<Esc>", "\<Esc>\<Esc>", 'g') . tmux_end
endfunction

let &t_SI .= WrapForTmux("\<Esc>[?2004h")
let &t_EI .= WrapForTmux("\<Esc>[?2004l")

function! XTermPasteBegin()
  set pastetoggle=<Esc>[201~
  set paste
  return ""
endfunction

inoremap <special> <expr> <Esc>[200~ XTermPasteBegin()

This should work for tmux as well.

Resource:

• https://coderwall.com/p/if9mda/automatically-set-paste-mode-in-vim-when-pasting-in-insert-mode

Replace line in file

1. Highlight the line you want to copy with SHIFT v and the arrow keys
2. To copy what you’ve highlighted, input Y
3. Highlight the line you want to replace with SHIFT v
4. Hit the p key to replace it

Resource:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6140719/vim-how-to-replace-a-line-with-contents-of-yank-register

Copy code into system clipboard

1. Highlight what you want to copy with SHIFT v and the arrow keys
2. To copy what you’ve highlighted, hit “*yy

Resource:

• https://vi.stackexchange.com/questions/84/how-can-i-copy-text-to-the-system-clipboard-from-vim

SpaceVim

Install a custom plugin

1. vi ~/.SpaceVim.d/init.toml

2. Add the following format to the bottom of the file for each plugin:

   [[custom_plugins]]
   name = 'nameof/plugin'
   merged = 0
   

3. Continue to add new plugins as needed. For example:

   [[custom_plugins]]
   name = 'hashivim/vim-terraform'
   merged = 0
   
   [[custom_plugins]]
   name = 'vim-syntastic/syntastic'
   merged = 0
   
   [[custom_plugins]]
   name = 'juliosueiras/vim-terraform-completion'
   merged = 0
   

4. To install them, simply open vi

Resource:

• https://github.com/SpaceVim/SpaceVim/issues/73

Show debug info

:SPDebugInfo

Uninstall SpaceVim

curl -sLf https://spacevim.org/install.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall
rm -rf ~/.SpaceVim*

Resource:

• https://github.com/SpaceVim/SpaceVim/issues/1845

Vim Plugins

Setup Vim on Ubuntu for python dev

I recommend following this guide to get started. What I find useful for development may not be what you find useful.

YouCompleteMe dependencies

Needed for YouCompleteMe:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake vim-nox python3-dev ycmd
cd ~/.vim/plugged/YouCompleteMe/
python3 install.py

Resources:

• Plugin manager I enjoy

Indent block n spaces

1. Use Ctrl-V to select the blocks you want to indent
2. Press I for insert mode and input the number of spaces you want to indent the block with your space bar

Resource:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9287813/vim-indent-with-one-space-not-shiftwidth-spaces