Useful Vim Commands

Common file opening and navigation commands

• :e <file_path>: Open a file in the current window.
• :tabnew <file_path>: Open a file in a new tab.
• :vnew <file_path>: Open a file in a new vertical split.
• :new <file_path>: Open a file in a new horizontal split.
• vim <file_path>: Open a file directly from the command line.
• :Ex or :Explore: Open the file explorer to navigate and open files.
• gf: Open the file under the cursor (useful for opening files linked in code, e.g., header files in C/C++).
• :find <file_name>: Search for a file in the current path and open it if found.
• :tabfind <file_name>: Search for a file in the current path and open it in a new tab if found.
• :vsplit <file_name>: Search for a file in the current path and open it in a vertical split if found.
• :split <file_name>: Search for a file in the current path and open it in a horizontal split if found.
• <C-]>: Jump to the definition of the tag under the cursor (requires ctags to be set up).
• :b <buffer_number>: Switch to a specific buffer by its number.
• :ls or :buffers: List all open buffers and their numbers for easy navigation.
• :tabnext or :tabn: Move to the next tab.
• :tabprev or :tabp: Move to the previous tab.
• :tabfirst: Move to the first tab.
• :tablast: Move to the last tab.
• :w <file_path>: Save the current file with a new name or path.
• :wa: Save all open files.
• :q: Quit the current window.
• :qa: Quit all windows and exit Vim.
• :wq: Save the current file and quit.
• :x: Save the current file and quit (same as :wq).
• :wqa: Save all open files and quit.
• :tabclose: Close the current tab.
• :tabonly: Close all tabs except the current one.
• :bd: Close the current buffer (useful for closing files without closing the window).
• :bwipeout: Close the current buffer and remove it from the buffer list.

reading and loading external configuration file from .vimrc

• source <full_file_path>: Load and execute Vim commands from an external file. This requires the file to be in Vim script format.
• so <file_path>: This is a shorthand for source.
• runtime <file_name>: Load a file from Vim’s runtime path, which is useful for loading plugins or configuration files that are placed in standard locations (e.g., ~/.vim/ or /usr/share/vim/).
• automatic loading at startup if the file is placed in the ~/.vim/plugin/ directory. Do not need a source command in your vimrc.