DEV Community

SAHIL
SAHIL

Posted on

Mastering Advanced Vim Commands – Navigate, Search, Replace Like a Pro πŸ’»

#vim #linux #devops #cloud

We discussed the Basic Vim commands in

sahillearninglinux

VI/VIM in Linux: The Ultimate Terminal Text Editor

SAHIL ・ Jun 25

#linux #vim #cloud #devops

Now it’s time to level up your Vim skills with advanced β€” yet beginner-friendly β€” commands that can save time, improve workflow, and make terminal editing a breeze.

Let’s get started! πŸš€

🧱 Normal Mode Editing Commands

Once you're in Normal Mode (press Esc), you can perform actions like deleting, copying, and pasting β€” no mouse required.

βœ‚οΈ Line Editing Commands 

dd β†’ Delete (cut) the current line cc β†’ Cut the line and enter Insert Mode yy β†’ Copy (yank) the current line p β†’ Paste below the current line P β†’ Paste above the current line
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ“ Make sure your cursor is on the line you want to act upon.

πŸ”’ Repeating Commands with Numbers

You can prepend a number to most commands to apply them multiple times:

3dd β†’ Delete 3 lines (current + 2 below) 2yy β†’ Copy 2 lines 5cc β†’ Cut 5 lines and enter Insert Mode
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This is a huge productivity booster when editing in bulk.

🧭 Navigation in Vim

Vim offers fast, precise navigation with simple keystrokes:

Key Action
h Move left
j Move down
k Move up
l Move right
w Jump to next word
b Jump to previous word
0 Jump to beginning of line
$ Jump to end of line
gg Jump to start of file
G Jump to end of file (Shift + g)

🎯 Combine these with commands like d, y, c for powerful results.

Example: dw = delete word, yw = yank word.

πŸ” Searching in Vim

Use these commands to search for patterns in your file.

πŸ”Ž Basic Search 

/pattern β†’ Search forward ?pattern β†’ Search backward n β†’ Go to next match N β†’ Go to previous match
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ”§ Useful Pattern Examples 

/root β†’ Find next occurrence of β€œroot” /^user β†’ Match lines starting with β€œuser” /bash$ β†’ Match lines ending with β€œbash” /foo.*bar/ β†’ Match anything from β€œfoo” to β€œbar”
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
Symbol Meaning
^ Start of line
$ End of line
. Any character
* Zero or more
\< / \> Word boundary

Use :nohl to clear search highlights from the screen if they remain after searching.

πŸ”„ Substitution (Find & Replace)

Vim’s :s command helps you quickly replace text.

πŸ“˜ Syntax 

:[range]s/pattern/replacement/[flags]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ” Component Breakdown

Part Description
range Line range (% = entire file)
pattern Text to search for
replacement Text to replace it with
flags Optional: g = global, c = confirm, i = ignore case

πŸ”§ Practical Examples 

:%s/foo/bar/g β†’ Replace all "foo" with "bar" in entire file :1,10s/cat/dog/g β†’ Replace from lines 1 to 10 :%s/hello/world/gc β†’ Replace with confirmation prompt :%s/\<admin\>/user/g β†’ Replace whole word "admin" with "user" :%s/test//g β†’ Remove all occurrences of "test"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ”‚ Shell Integration

Use ! in command mode to temporarily drop to the terminal, then return to Vim after running a command.

:!date β†’ Show the system date without exiting Vim
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

To paste the output of a shell command directly into the file at the cursor position:

:.!date β†’ Insert the date output into the file
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

To switch to another file temporarily inside Vim:

:edit /path/to/targetfile
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🧩 Extra Handy Settings 

:set number β†’ Show line numbers :set nonumber β†’ Hide line numbers :set ic β†’ Ignore case in search :set noic β†’ Make search case-sensitive
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In normal mode:

  • Use Shift+D to delete everything after the cursor on the same line.

πŸ“š Bonus Tip – Use vimtutor

Practice all these commands interactively in your terminal:

vimtutor
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

It’s built-in and walks you through essential Vim usage in under 30 minutes β€” perfect for beginners.

🧠 Summary Table

Task Vim Command
Delete current line dd
Copy current line yy
Paste below p
Move to next word w
Move to end of line $
Go to file start gg
Search for β€œroot” /root
Replace "a" with "b" :%s/a/b/g
Replace with confirmation :%s/foo/bar/gc

βœ… Final Thoughts

Vim may feel intimidating at first β€” but once you get the hang of these commands, it becomes one of the fastest, most powerful editors available.

Start slow, practice often, and soon you’ll be editing like a pro.

πŸ’¬ Have a favorite Vim trick? Share it below!

πŸ’‘ Need help with something Vim-related? I’m here to help.

vim #linux #terminal #productivity #devops #cloud #100DaysOfLinux

Top comments (0)