Vim - The Editor ( Must Know Commands)

Basics
:e filename : Open filename for edition
:w : Save file
:q : Exit Vim
:w! : Exit Vim without saving

Search
/word : Search word from top to bottom
?word : Search word from bottom to top
/jo[ha]n : Search john or joan
/\<> : Search the, theatre or then
/the\> : Search the or breathe
/\<> : Search the
/\< ¦.\> : Search all words of 4 letters
/\/ : Search fred but not alfred or frederick
/fred\|joe : Search fred or joe
/\<\d\d\d\d\> : Search exactly 4 digits
/^\n\{3} : Find 3 empty lines
:bufdo /searchstr/ : Search in all open files

Replace
:%s/old/new/g : Replace all occurences of old by new in file
:%s/old/new/gw : Replace all occurences with confirmation
:2,35s/old/new/g : Replace all occurences between lines 2 and 35
:5,$s/old/new/g : Replace all occurences from line 5 to EOF
:%s/^/hello/g : Replace the begining of each line by hello
:%s/$/Harry/g : Replace the end of each line by Harry
:%s/onward/forward/gi : Replace onward by forward, case unsensitive
:%s/ *$//g : Delete all white spaces
:g/string/d : Delete all lines containing string
:v/string/d : Delete all lines containing which didn’t contain string
:s/Bill/Steve/ : Replace the first occurence of Bill by Steve in current line
:s/Bill/Steve/g : Replace Bill by Steve in current line
:%s/Bill/Steve/g : Replace Bill by Steve in all the file
:%s/\r//g : Delete DOS carriage returns (^M)
:%s/\r/\r/g : Transform DOS carriage returns in returns
:%s#<[^>]\+>##g : Delete HTML tags but keeps text
:%s/^\(.*\)\n\1$/\1/ : Delete lines which appears twice
Ctrl+a : Increment number under the cursor
Ctrl+x : Decrement number under cursor
ggVGg? : Change text to Rot13

Case
Vu : Lowercase line
VU : Uppercase line
g~~ : Invert case
vEU : Switch word to uppercase
vE~ : Modify word case
ggguG : Set all text to lowercase
:set ignorecase : Ignore case in searches
:set smartcase : Ignore case in searches excepted if an uppercase letter is used
:%s/\<./\u&/g : Sets first letter of each word to uppercase
:%s/\<./\l&/g : Sets first letter of each word to lowercase
:%s/.*/\u& : Sets first letter of each line to uppercase
:%s/.*/\l& : Sets first letter of each line to lowercase

Read/Write files
:1,10 w outfile : Saves lines 1 to 10 in outfile
:1,10 w >> outfile : Appends lines 1 to 10 to outfile
:r infile : Insert the content of infile
:23r infile : Insert the content of infile under line 23

File explorer
:e . : Open integrated file explorer
:Sex : Split window and open integrated file explorer
:browse e : Graphical file explorer
:ls : List buffers
:cd .. : Move to parent directory
:args : List files
:args *.php : Open file list
:grep expression *.php : Returns a list of .php files contening expression
gf : Open file name under cursor

Interact with Unix
:!pwd : Execute the pwd unix command, then returns to Vi
!!pwd : Execute the pwd unix command and insert output in file
:sh : Temporary returns to Unix
$exit : Returns to Vi

Alignment
:%!fmt : Align all lines
!}fmt : Align all lines at the current position
5!!fmt : Align the next 5 lines

Tabs
:tabnew : Creates a new tab
gt : Show next tab
:tabfirst : Show first tab
:tablast : Show last tab
:tabm n(position) : Rearrange tabs
:tabdo %s/foo/bar/g : Execute a command in all tabs
:tab ball : Puts all open files in tabs

Window spliting
:e filename : Edit filename in current window
:split filename : Split the window and open filename
ctrl-w up arrow : Puts cursor in top window
ctrl-w ctrl-w : Puts cursor in next window
ctrl-w_ : Maximise current window
ctrl-w= : Gives the same size to all windows
10 ctrl-w+ : Add 10 lines to current window
:vsplit file : Split window vertically
:sview file : Same as :split in readonly mode
:hide : Close current window
:­nly : Close all windows, excepted current
:b 2 : Open #2 in this window

Auto-completion
Ctrl+n Ctrl+p (in insert mode) : Complete word
Ctrl+x Ctrl+l : Complete line
:set dictionary=dict : Define dict as a dictionnary
Ctrl+x Ctrl+k : Complete with dictionnary

Marks
mk : Marks current position as k
~k : Moves cursor to mark k
d'k : Delete all until mark k

Abbreviations
:ab mail mail@provider.org : Define mail as abbreviation of mail@provider.org

Text indent
:set autoindent : Turn on auto-indent
:set smartindent : Turn on intelligent auto-indent
:set shiftwidth=4 : Defines 4 spaces as indent size
ctrl-t, ctrl-d : Indent/un-indent in insert mode
>> : Indent
<< : Un-indent

Syntax highlighting
:syntax on : Turn on syntax highlighting
:syntax off : Turn off syntax highlighting
:set syntax=perl : Force syntax highlighting