Neovim Cheatsheet: The Complete Guide to Mastering Neovim Commands
Learn the essential Neovim commands and shortcuts with this categorized cheatsheet designed for maximum productivity in coding and text editing.
General Commands
File Management
:e filename " Open a file
:w " Save the current file
:q " Quit Neovim
:wq " Save and quit
:x " Shortcut for :wq
:qa " Quit all files
:wa " Save all open files
Buffers
:bnext " Go to the next buffer
:bprev " Go to the previous buffer
:bd " Close the current buffer
:ls " List all buffers
:buffer N " Switch to buffer N
Windows (Splits)
:split " Horizontal split
:vsplit " Vertical split
Ctrl-w w " Switch between windows
Ctrl-w h/j/k/l " Navigate windows
Ctrl-w q " Close the current window
Ctrl-w = " Equalize window sizes
Editing
Modes
i " Insert mode
a " Append after cursor
I " Insert at the beginning of the line
A " Append at the end of the line
Esc " Return to normal mode
Text Manipulation
dd " Delete a line
yy " Copy a line
p " Paste below the current line
P " Paste above the current line
x " Delete a character
u " Undo the last change
Ctrl-r " Redo the last undo
Indentation
>> " Indent the current line
<< " Un-indent the current line
= " Auto-indent a line or selection
Navigation
By Character/Word
h " Move left
l " Move right
w " Jump to the start of the next word
e " Jump to the end of the current/next word
b " Jump to the beginning of the previous word
By Line
0 " Jump to the beginning of the line
^ " Jump to the first non-whitespace character
$ " Jump to the end of the line
By Paragraph
{ " Jump to the beginning of the previous paragraph
} " Jump to the beginning of the next paragraph
By Screen
Ctrl-d " Scroll down half a screen
Ctrl-u " Scroll up half a screen
Ctrl-f " Scroll down a full screen
Ctrl-b " Scroll up a full screen
By Search
/pattern " Search for 'pattern'
?pattern " Search backward for 'pattern'
n " Repeat the last search forward
N " Repeat the last search backward
Visual Mode
Mode
v " Enter visual mode
V " Enter line visual mode
Ctrl-v " Enter block visual mode
o " Switch to the other end of the selection
Command Mode
Searching and Replacing
:s/old/new/ " Replace the first occurrence of 'old' with 'new' in the current line
:s/old/new/g " Replace all occurrences in the current line
:%s/old/new/g " Replace all occurrences in the entire file
:%s/old/new/gc " Replace with confirmation
Exiting
:w " Save the file
:q " Quit
:wq " Save and quit
:q! " Quit without saving
Plugins
Plugin Manager (Packer Example)
:PackerInstall " Install plugins
:PackerUpdate " Update plugins
:PackerClean " Remove unused plugins
:PackerSync " Install, update, and clean plugins
Nvim-tree (File Explorer)
<leader>e " Toggle the file explorer
Key Bindings
Customization Examples
nnoremap key command " Map a key in normal mode
inoremap key command " Map a key in insert mode
vnoremap key command " Map a key in visual mode
Configuration
init.vim (Vimscript)
set number " Show line numbers
syntax on " Enable syntax highlighting
set expandtab " Use spaces instead of tabs
set tabstop=4 " Set tab width to 4 spaces
set shiftwidth=4 " Set indentation width to 4 spaces
init.lua (Lua)
vim.o.number = true -- Show line numbers
vim.cmd('syntax on') -- Enable syntax highlighting
vim.o.expandtab = true -- Use spaces instead of tabs
vim.o.tabstop = 4 -- Set tab width to 4 spaces
vim.o.shiftwidth = 4 -- Set indentation width to 4 spaces