% with matchit plugin
The % command jumps between matching brackets by default, but with the built-in matchit plugin, it extends to match language-specific keywords like if/else/endi
zt
The zt command repositions the viewport so that the line where your cursor sits moves to the top of the screen, without changing your cursor position within the
navigation #navigation #scrolling #normal-mode #viewport #productivity
; / ,
After using f, t, F, or T to jump to a character on the current line, pressing ; repeats the same search in the same direction, and , repeats it in the opposite
navigation #navigation #motions #normal-mode #editing #productivity
gi
The gi command moves the cursor to the position where you last exited insert mode and immediately enters insert mode again.
navigation #navigation #insert-mode #marks #normal-mode #productivity
g; / g,
The g; and g, commands let you navigate Vim's changelist — a per-buffer history of every position where you made a change.
navigation #navigation #changelist #editing #normal-mode #marks
]] / [[
The ]] and [[ commands let you jump forward and backward between section boundaries, which in most programming languages correspond to function or method defini
navigation #navigation #motions #normal-mode #code #functions
gf
The gf command ("go to file") opens the file whose path is under the cursor.
navigation #navigation #normal-mode #buffers #productivity #file-management
:copen / :cnext / :cprev
The quickfix list is Vim's built-in mechanism for navigating a list of file locations — compiler errors, grep results, search matches, or any structured outpu
navigation #navigation #quickfix #ex-commands #productivity #workflow
mA / 'A
Uppercase marks (A-Z) are global marks — they remember not only the line and column position, but also the file where they were set.
navigation #navigation #marks #normal-mode #buffers #productivity
{N}%
The {N}% command jumps the cursor to the line that is N percent of the way through the file.
` vs '
Vim offers two ways to jump to a mark, and the difference is crucial: the backtick (` `) jumps to the exact line and column where the mark was set, while the si
ma and 'a
The ma command sets a mark named a at the current cursor position.
<C-d>
The (Ctrl+d) command scrolls the window down by half a screen, moving both the viewport and the cursor.
<C-u>
The (Ctrl+u) command scrolls the window up by half a screen, moving the cursor along with it.
$
The $ command moves the cursor to the last character of the current line.
^
The ^ command moves the cursor to the first non-blank character of the current line.
gd
The gd command jumps to the local definition of the word under the cursor.
e
The e command moves the cursor to the last character of the current word.
`.
The ` .
w
The w command moves the cursor forward to the beginning of the next word.
