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How to survive the first 5 minutes

Summary

• Use Ctrl [ instead of Esc. It is easier to reach.
• If you get lost in unwanted modifications undo them using u (or redo them using Ctrl r).
• If you get lost in unwanted motion undo them using Ctrl o (or redo them using Ctrl i).
• If you get lost in modes type Ctrl cCtrl c to go back to Normal mode.
• Hide the Ex mode by adding map Q gq to your vimrc file.

First minute

Vim is modal editor. That means that Vim is behaving differently depending on the mode it is in. Vim starts in Normal mode. In Normal mode you can issue Vim keyboard command (typically to navigate through your file e.g.: h, j, k, l). To type text you have to switch to Insert mode. There are many ways to switch to insert mode. One way is to use the Vim keyboard command i. In Insert mode you can type text and edit your file. To go back from Insert mode to Normal mode hit Esc. To save your file you have to issue the Vim command :w. To to quit Vim you have to issue the Vim commnand: :q!. To switch to Command mode you have to hit : After the command has been executed you’ll be back in Normal mode.

Summary

Normal to Insert: i

Insert to Normal: Esc

Save: :wEnter

Quit: :q!Enter

Next minutes

By now you can edit a new text in Insert mode, switch back to Normal mode and issue some key command to move through the text and to perform some text modifications; more on that on First Day with Vim. But you already encountered some hindrances.

The Esc key is difficult to reach

On normal keyboard the Esc key is difficult to reach. But fortunately there are a number of alternatives to the Esc key:

• Ctrl-[ (my favorite)
• Ctrl-c not equivalent to Esc but used by some
• Remap the Capslock to Esc require OS specific modification
• Add inoremap jk <Esc> to your vimrc and use jk in insert mode (see How to Customize Vim)

Get lost in modifications or motions

Sometimes, probably because you miss type a command, you modify your files in a way that puzzle you or bring you is some odd places. There are numerous key commands that are very powerful and transform your text substantially or move you somewhere completely unexpected.

Undo / Redo modifications

You can undo a modification using the u key command.

You can redo a modification using the Ctrl r key command.

Undo / Redo motions

Hello Todo this is a change

You can undo a motion using the Ctrl o key command.

You can redo a motion using the Ctrl i key command.

Get Lost in Modes

Sometimes, probably because you miss type a command, Vim starts to behave oddly. This is most probably because you have switched to another mode.

Go Back to Normal Mode

If you hit Ctrl cEsc (or Ctrl c Ctrl c) Vim will be back in Normal mode 99.99% of the time.

Hide the Ex mode

There is Ex mode and if you hit Q in Normal mode Vim will switch to that odd mode. Remap the Q to the formatting command gq to avoid to go accidentally to the Ex mode.

If you have no vimrc the Vim default is to hide the Ex mode key command Q.

If you have a vimrc you can:

• Add map Q gq to your vimrc file (see Basic Configuration (My Favorite)) or
• Add $VIMRUNTIME/defauts.vim at the start of your vimrc file to get the Vim default.

Some key commands are working

The key commands of Vim sometime includes more than one key and sometime some special keys that are difficult to reach. By default if you don’t type the sequence fast enough Vim interpret it as two key commands instead of one.

If you add set showcmd to your vimrc file Vim will display in the right corner the current interpretation buffer (see Basic Configuration). This make it easier to understand where is Vim in its interpretation of the key command.

If you want to get more time to enter the key command you can add set timeoutlen=2000 to your vimrc file (see Basic Configuration).