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Vim keyboard shortcuts

Moving, editing, searching, and window commands in the Vim text editor.

81 shortcuts Linux and Mac checked September 14, 2026

Print all 81 shortcuts One sheet with every shortcut in this app, ready for the printer or a PDF.

Every system Linux Mac
Everything Editing Navigation Paragraphs and lists Search Selection Tabs and windows

81 actions and 81 key variants match.

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Matching shortcuts
Action Keys Row actions
Move the cursor left Normal mode Mac H Source
Move the cursor down Normal mode Mac J Source
Move the cursor up Normal mode Mac K Source
Move the cursor right Normal mode Mac L Source
Jump forward a word Normal mode Mac W Source
Jump back a word Normal mode Mac B Source
Jump to the end of the word Normal mode Mac E Source
Go to the first character of the line Normal mode Mac 0 Source
Go to the first non-blank character Normal mode Mac ^ Source
Go to the end of the line Normal mode Mac $ Source
Go to the first line Normal mode Mac GG Source
Go to the last line Normal mode Mac ShiftG Source
Jump to the matching bracket Normal mode Mac % Source
Move forward a paragraph Normal mode Mac } Source
Move back a paragraph Normal mode Mac { Source
Scroll down half a screen Normal mode Mac CtrlD Source
Scroll up half a screen Normal mode Mac CtrlU Source
Scroll forward a full screen Normal mode Mac CtrlF Source
Scroll back a full screen Normal mode Mac CtrlB Source
Show the file name and position Normal mode Mac CtrlG Source
Insert text before the cursor Normal mode Mac I Source
Append text after the cursor Normal mode Mac A Source
Append text at the end of the line Normal mode Mac ShiftA Source
Insert text at the start of the line Normal mode Mac ShiftI Source
Open a new line below Normal mode Mac O Source
Open a new line above Normal mode Mac ShiftO Source
Leave insert mode Insert mode Mac Esc Source
Delete the character under the cursor Normal mode Mac X Source
Delete the whole line Normal mode Mac DD Source
Delete to the end of the line Normal mode Mac ShiftD Source

About Vim and its shortcuts

Vim is the odd one out on this site, and deliberately so. It is modal: most of what other editors do with held combinations, Vim does with single letters typed in normal mode, which is why its commands are case sensitive and why a stray keypress can change what the next one means. Learning the modes matters more than learning any individual key.

Vim is endlessly configurable, so a configured installation may share little with the defaults published here. Commands also differ between terminal Vim, graphical versions and the Vim emulation built into other editors.

Where the Vim keys came from

Read from 1 documentation page published by the makers of Vim. Report a key that is wrong

To see how one action is done in other apps as well as Vim, browse the shortcuts by task. Shortcuts by task