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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
Matching shortcuts
Action Keys Row actions
Add to the number under the cursor Normal mode Linux CtrlA 1 more variant Source
Subtract from the number under the cursor Normal mode Linux CtrlX 1 more variant Source
Redraw the screen Normal mode Linux CtrlL 1 more variant Source
Jump to the tag under the cursor Normal mode Linux Ctrl] 1 more variant Source
Go to the next tab page Normal mode Linux GT 1 more variant Source
Go to the previous tab page Normal mode Linux GShiftT 1 more variant Source
Go to where the word is defined Normal mode Linux GD 1 more variant Source
Edit the file named under the cursor Normal mode Linux GF 1 more variant Source
Close the current window Normal mode Linux CtrlWC 1 more variant Source
Make every window the same size Normal mode Linux CtrlW= 1 more variant Source
Make the window taller Normal mode Linux CtrlW 1 more variant Source
Make the window shorter Normal mode Linux CtrlW- 1 more variant Source
Move the window to a new tab page Normal mode Linux CtrlWShiftT 1 more variant Source
Go to the bottom window Normal mode Linux CtrlWB 1 more variant Source
Delete the word before the cursor Insert mode Linux CtrlW 1 more variant Source
Delete what you typed on the line Insert mode Linux CtrlU 1 more variant Source
Complete with the next matching word Insert mode Linux CtrlN 1 more variant Source
Complete with the previous matching word Insert mode Linux CtrlP 1 more variant Source
Add an indent while typing Insert mode Linux CtrlT 1 more variant Source
Remove an indent while typing Insert mode Linux CtrlD 1 more variant Source
Run one normal command, then keep typing Insert mode Linux CtrlO 1 more variant 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