What Are Vim Motions?

Vim motions are commands that allow you to move the cursor efficiently within a file. They are the foundation of Vim’s powerful editing capabilities, as they can be combined with operators (like d for delete, y for yank, or c for change) to perform complex text manipulations with minimal keystrokes. Motions can be used to navigate by characters, words, lines, paragraphs, sentences, or even search patterns.

You Don’t Need Vim to Use Vim Motions

You don’t need to use the Vim editor to start learning Vim motions. If you’re already comfortable with VS Code, you can use Vim motions by installing the popular Vim extension for VS Code. This extension brings Vim-like keybindings and motions to VS Code, allowing you to practice and get used to Vim’s navigation and editing style.

Once you’re comfortable with Vim motions in VS Code, you can easily transition to the Vim editor for an even more powerful and efficient workflow.

Types of Motions

Type	Description
Character Motions	Move the cursor by individual characters.
Word Motions	Jump between words or WORDS (ignoring punctuation).
Line Motions	Navigate to the start, end, or specific parts of a line.
Paragraph/Sentence	Move between logical blocks of text.
Search Motions	Quickly find specific text or patterns.
Screen Motions	Navigate relative to the visible portion of the screen.
Text Object Motions	Operate on logical text objects like words, sentences, or paragraphs.
Mark and Jump Motions	Jump to specific marks or previous positions in the file.

Why Use Motions?

Benefit	Description
Efficiency	Motions reduce the need for repetitive arrow key presses.
Precision	They allow you to target specific parts of your text with ease.
Combination	When combined with operators, motions enable powerful editing workflows.

For example, daw deletes a word, including surrounding spaces.

Learn More

Vim Extension for VS Code

Character Motions

Command	Description
`h`	Move left (←)
`l`	Move right (→)

Word Motions

Command	Description
`w`	Move to the start of the next word
`W`	Move to the start of the next word (ignores punctuation)
`e`	Move to the end of the current/next word
`E`	Move to the end of the current/next word (ignores punctuation)
`b`	Move to the start of the previous word
`B`	Move to the start of the previous word (ignores punctuation)

Line Motions

Command	Description
`0`	Move to the beginning of the line
`^`	Move to the first non-whitespace character of the line
`$`	Move to the end of the line

Paragraph Motions

Command	Description
`{`	Move to the beginning of the current/previous paragraph
`}`	Move to the end of the current/next paragraph

Search Motions

Command	Description
`/pattern`	Search forward for `pattern`
`?pattern`	Search backward for `pattern`
`n`	Repeat the last search forward
`N`	Repeat the last search backward

Sentence Motions

Command	Description
`(`	Move to the beginning of the current/previous sentence
`)`	Move to the beginning of the next sentence

Screen Motions

Command	Description
`H`	Move to the top of the screen
`M`	Move to the middle of the screen
`L`	Move to the bottom of the screen

Scrolling

Command	Description
`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
`zz`	Center the current line in the screen

Search for Matching

Command	Description
`%`	Jump to the matching parenthesis, bracket, or brace

Text Object Motions

Command	Description
`aw`	A word (including surrounding spaces)
`iw`	Inner word (excluding surrounding spaces)
`aW`	A WORD (ignores punctuation, includes spaces)
`iW`	Inner WORD (ignores punctuation, excludes spaces)
`ap`	A paragraph (including surrounding spaces)
`ip`	Inner paragraph (excluding surrounding spaces)
`as`	A sentence (including surrounding spaces)
`is`	Inner sentence (excluding surrounding spaces)

Mark and Jump

Command	Description
`''`	Jump to the position before the last jump
````	Jump to the position before the last edit
`g;`	Jump to the last change
`g,`	Jump to the next change

Line Number Motions

Command	Description
`gg`	Go to the beginning of the file
`G`	Go to the end of the file
`nG`	Go to line `n`

Search for Characters

Command	Description
`f<char>`	Move to the next occurrence of `<char>` on the current line
`F<char>`	Move to the previous occurrence of `<char>` on the current line
`t<char>`	Move to just before the next occurrence of `<char>` on the current line
`T<char>`	Move to just before the previous occurrence of `<char>` on the current line
`;`	Repeat the last `f`, `F`, `t`, or `T` motion forward
`,`	Repeat the last `f`, `F`, `t`, or `T` motion backward

Visual Mode Motions

Command	Description
`v`	Start visual mode
`V`	Start visual line mode
`Ctrl-v`	Start visual block mode

Vim Motions Cheat Sheet