Neovim Guide — Cheatsheet

■ Modes at a Glance

enter with

NORMAL

Esc from anywhere

enter with

INSERT

i a o I A O

enter with

VISUAL

v V Ctrl+v

enter with

COMMAND

: or / or ?

■ Normal Mode Reference

▲ Character & Line Motion

hjkl← ↓ ↑ → (also arrow keys)

0Start of line

^First non-blank char

$End of line

g_Last non-blank char

fcJump TO char c on line

FcJump TO char c backwards

tcJump BEFORE char c

TcJump BEFORE char c bwd

; / ,Repeat f/t forward / backward

%Jump to matching bracket

▶ Word Motion

wNext word start

WNext WORD start (whitespace)

bPrev word start

BPrev WORD start

eWord end forward

EWORD end forward

geWord end backward

gEWORD end backward

⸻ Screen & File Motion

ggTop of file

GBottom of file

{n}GGo to line n

:{n}Go to line n (command)

HTop of visible screen

MMiddle of visible screen

LBottom of visible screen

Ctrl+dScroll down ½ page

Ctrl+uScroll up ½ page

Ctrl+fScroll full page down

Ctrl+bScroll full page up

zzCenter cursor on screen

ztCursor to top of screen

zbCursor to bottom of screen

Ctrl+oJump to older position

Ctrl+iJump to newer position

🖉 Entering Insert Mode

iInsert before cursor

IInsert at first non-blank

aAppend after cursor

AAppend at end of line

oOpen new line below, insert

OOpen new line above, insert

sDelete char, insert

SDelete line, insert

CChange to end of line

REnter Replace mode (overtype)

EscReturn to Normal mode

Ctrl+r regPaste register in Insert mode

Ctrl+wDelete prev word (Insert)

Ctrl+uDelete to line start (Insert)

✎ Operators + Motions

Combine operator + motion: d+w = delete word. Double = whole line.

Op	Name	Example
`d`	Delete (cut)	`dw` `d$` `dd`
`y`	Yank (copy)	`yw` `y3j` `yy`
`c`	Change	`cw` `c$` `cc`
`>`	Indent →	`>>` `>j`
`<`	Indent ←	`<<` `<j`
`=`	Auto-indent	`==` `=G`
`gu`	Lowercase	`guiw` `guu`
`gU`	Uppercase	`gUiw` `gUU`
`g~`	Toggle case	`g~iw`

⊗ Single-Key Edits

xDelete char under cursor (fwd)

XDelete char before cursor (bwd)

rcReplace char with c

~Toggle case of char

JJoin line below to current

DDelete to end of line

pPaste after cursor / line

PPaste before cursor / line

"0pPaste last yank (not delete)

uUndo

Ctrl+rRedo

.Repeat last change

▩ Text Objects

i = inner | a = around (includes delimiter)

iw / awword

is / assentence

ip / apparagraph

i" / a"double-quoted string

i' / a'single-quoted string

i` / a`backtick string

i( / a(parentheses

i[ / a[brackets

i{ / a{braces (also iB/aB)

i< / a<angle brackets

it / atHTML/XML tag

Combine: ciw · da{ · yip · vat

▮ Visual Mode

vChar-wise visual

VLine-wise visual

Ctrl+vBlock visual (column)

gvReselect last selection

oMove to other end of selection

d / xDelete selection

yYank selection

cChange selection

> / <Indent / unindent

u / ULowercase / uppercase

~Toggle case

JJoin selected lines

:Enter command for range

🔍 Search & Replace

/patSearch forward

?patSearch backward

n / NNext / prev match

*Search word under cursor (fwd)

#Search word under cursor (bwd)

:nohClear search highlights

:s/o/n/Replace first on line

:s/o/n/gReplace all on line

:%s/o/n/gReplace all in file

:%s/o/n/gcReplace with confirm

:'<,'>s/o/n/gReplace in selection

: Ex Commands

:wSave file

:w!Force save

:qQuit

:q!Quit without saving

:wq / :xSave and quit

:e fileOpen file

:e!Reload (discard changes)

:lsList buffers

:bn / :bpNext / prev buffer

:bdDelete buffer

:sp / :vspSplit horizontal / vertical

:tabnewNew tab

:help topicOpen help for topic

:!cmdRun shell command

:r !cmdInsert shell output

🆕 Marks & Registers

maSet local mark a

mASet global mark A

'aJump to mark a (line)

`aJump to mark a (exact)

''Jump to last jump location

:marksList all marks

"ayyYank into register a

"apPaste from register a

"0pPaste last yank

"+yCopy to system clipboard

"+pPaste from system clipboard

:regShow all registers

▶ Macros & Repeat

qaStart recording into register a

qStop recording

@aPlay macro from register a

@@Replay last macro

5@aPlay macro 5 times

:norm @aRun macro on selected lines

.Repeat last change

@:Repeat last Ex command

n.Repeat change n times

▩ Windows & Tabs

Ctrl+w sHorizontal split

Ctrl+w vVertical split

Ctrl+w hjklNavigate between splits

Ctrl+w HJKLMove split direction

Ctrl+w =Equalize split sizes

Ctrl+w _Maximize height

Ctrl+w |Maximize width

Ctrl+w qClose window

Ctrl+w oClose all other windows

gt / gTNext / prev tab

:tabnewNew tab

:tabcloseClose tab

⚡ LSP (Neovim built-in)

gdGo to definition

gDGo to declaration

grShow references

giGo to implementation

KHover documentation

<leader>rnRename symbol

<leader>caCode actions

[d / ]dPrev / next diagnostic

<leader>eShow diagnostic float

:LspInfoShow active LSP clients

:MasonInstall language servers

🤖 GitHub Copilot

Requires github/copilot.vim or zbirenbaum/copilot.lua

:Copilot setupAuthenticate with GitHub

:Copilot enableEnable Copilot

:Copilot disableDisable Copilot

:Copilot statusShow current status

:Copilot panelOpen suggestions panel

TabAccept suggestion

Ctrl+]Dismiss suggestion

Alt+]Next suggestion

Alt+[Previous suggestion

Ctrl+Alt+]Accept next word only

🤖 GitHub Copilot Setup

Option A — copilot.vim (official)

-- lazy.nvim
{ "github/copilot.vim" }

Then run :Copilot setup

Option B — copilot.lua (Lua, nvim-cmp)

-- lazy.nvim
{ "zbirenbaum/copilot.lua",
  opts = {
    suggestion = { auto_trigger = true },
  }
}

cmp integration (copilot.lua)

-- adds Copilot as a cmp source
{ "zbirenbaum/copilot-cmp",
  config = true
}

Then add "copilot" to cmp sources

Remap Tab (avoid conflicts)

vim.keymap.set("i", "<Tab>", function()
  if require("copilot.suggestion")
      .is_visible() then
    require("copilot.suggestion")
      .accept()
  else
    return "<Tab>"
  end
end, { expr = true })

# Counts & Repetition

Any command can be prefixed with a count: 3j = down 3 lines | 5dw = delete 5 words | 10@a = macro 10 times | 2yy = yank 2 lines | 4>> = indent 4 lines

▪ Operator + Motion Quick Reference

Delete

dd line dw word d$ to EOL
dgg to top dG to bottom
d2j 3 lines dip paragraph

Change

ciw inner word ci" in quotes
ct, change to comma C to EOL
cip paragraph

Yank

yy line yiw word y$ to EOL
yip paragraph y3j 4 lines
yi{ inside braces

Indent

>> line << unindent
>3j 4 lines =G to bottom
Visual: V select then >

⚡ Neovim Cheatsheet