vi Cheatsheet: Essential Commands for Fast Editing

Esc                 # Back to Normal mode
i                   # Insert before cursor
a                   # Insert after cursor
I                   # Insert at beginning of line
A                   # Insert at end of line
o                   # Open new line below
O                   # Open new line above
v                   # Start visual character selection
V                   # Start visual line selection
Ctrl+v              # Start visual block selection
:                   # Command-line mode

vi file.txt         # Open file
vi +42 file.txt     # Open file at line 42
vi +/pattern file   # Open file at first match
vi .                # Open file browser (if vim with netrw)
:e#                 # Toggle to previous file (great for quick back-and-forth edits)

h j k l             # Left, down, up, right
w                   # Next word
b                   # Previous word
e                   # End of word
0                   # Start of line
^                   # First non-blank character
$                   # End of line
gg                  # First line
G                   # Last line
42G                 # Go to line 42
Ctrl+d              # Half-page down
Ctrl+u              # Half-page up
%                   # Jump between matching (), {}, []

x                   # Delete character under cursor
rX                  # Replace one character with X
R                   # Enter overwrite mode (overwrites characters)
s                   # Substitute character and enter Insert mode
cw                  # Change word
cc                  # Change entire line (deletes line content and enters Insert mode)
C                   # Change to end of line
dw                  # Delete word
dd                  # Delete line
D                   # Delete to end of line
J                   # Join line with next line
gg=G                # Auto-indent whole file
u                   # Undo
Ctrl+r              # Redo
.                   # Repeat last change

yw                  # Yank word
yy                  # Yank line
y$                  # Yank to end of line
dw                  # Cut word
dd                  # Cut line
p                   # Paste after cursor
P                   # Paste before cursor
"+y                 # Yank to system clipboard (vim +clipboard)
"+p                 # Paste from system clipboard

/pattern            # Search forward
/pattern\c          # Search forward (force case-insensitive for this search)
/pattern\C          # Search forward (force case-sensitive for this search)
?pattern            # Search backward
n                   # Next match
N                   # Previous match
*                   # Search word under cursor forward
#                   # Search word under cursor backward
:set hlsearch       # Highlight search matches
:set nohlsearch     # Disable highlighting
:noh                # Clear current highlight

:s/old/new/         # Replace first match in current line
:s/old/new/g        # Replace all matches in current line
:%s/old/new/g       # Replace all matches in file
:%s/old/new/gc      # Replace all with confirmation
:0,$s/old/new/g     # Same as :%s, explicit full-file line range
:0,$s/old/new/gc    # Full-file replace with confirmation
:10,20s/old/new/g   # Replace in line range
:%d                 # Delete entire buffer content

:w                  # Save
:w newname.txt      # Save as
:wq                 # Save and quit
:x                  # Save and quit (only if modified)
:q                  # Quit (fails if modified)
:q!                 # Quit without saving
ZZ                  # Save and quit (Normal mode)
ZQ                  # Quit without saving (Normal mode)

:e other.txt        # Edit another file
:ls                 # List buffers
:bnext              # Next buffer
:bprev              # Previous buffer
:b 3                # Jump to buffer 3
:bd                 # Delete current buffer

:set number         # Show line numbers
:set relativenumber # Show relative line numbers
:set paste          # Paste without auto-indent side effects
:set nopaste        # Disable paste mode
:set expandtab      # Use spaces instead of tabs
:set tabstop=4      # Visual tab width
:set shiftwidth=4   # Indent width for >> and <<
:set list           # Show invisible characters (tabs/trailing spaces)
:set nolist         # Hide invisible characters
:set ignorecase     # Case-insensitive search
:set smartcase      # Smart case-sensitive search

vi file.txt         # Open file
/pattern            # Find where to edit
ciwnew_text         # Change current word
.                   # Repeat last change (huge speed boost)
A;                  # Append at end of line
:w                  # Save
:q                  # Quit

Esc                 # Return to Normal mode
:q!                 # Quit without saving
vi file.txt         # Re-open cleanly and try again