Vim tips

Shell Filter: ! and !!

Pipe text through external commands. Use any Unix tool as a text processor. Command What it does

:.!date Replace line with date output
!ip sort Sort paragraph
!ap jq . Format JSON in paragraph
:%!column -t Align entire file

Global Command: :g/pattern/cmd

Run Ex command on all matching lines. Surgical bulk operations. Command Effect

:g/TODO/d Delete all TODOs
:g/^$/d 	Delete empty lines
:g/error/t$ Copy error lines to end
:g/func/norm A; Append ; to all functions

Command-line Registers: Ctrl-r

Insert register contents in : or / prompt. Shortcut Inserts

Ctrl-r Ctrl-w Word under cursor
Ctrl-r " Last yank
Ctrl-r / Last search pattern
Ctrl-r = Expression result

Normal on Selection: :'<,'>norm

Run normal mode commands on each selected line. Multi-cursor without plugins.

:'<,'>norm A, → Append comma to each line
:'<,'>norm I# → Comment each line
:'<,'>norm @q → Run macro on each line

The g Commands

Command Effect

gi Go to last insert position + insert mode
g; Jump to previous change
g, Jump to next change
gv Reselect last visual selection

Auto-Marks

Positions Vim tracks automatically. Mark Jumps to

``	Previous position (toggle back)`. Last change position
`" Position when file was last closed
[ /] Start/end of last yank or change

Command History Window: q:

Editable command history in a buffer.

q: opens command history
q/ opens search history. Edit any line, hit Enter to execute.

Copy/Move Lines: :t and :m

Duplicate or relocate lines without touching registers. Command Effect

:t. Duplicate current line below
:t0 Copy line to top of file
:m+2 Move line 2 lines down
:'<,'>t. Duplicate selection below