How do I reformat text to fit the line width without moving the cursor?
gwip
The gw operator reformats text just like gq, but leaves the cursor in its original position after reformatting.
Tag: text-objects
How do I make word motions like w, b, and e treat hyphens or other characters as part of a word?
:set iskeyword+=-
By default, Vim treats hyphens, dots, and many punctuation characters as word boundaries.
How do I change the case of a specific column of text using visual block mode?
<C-v>jjlU
Visual block mode lets you select rectangular regions of text, which means you can target a specific column and apply case changes only to that area.
How do I fix the indentation of a code block without affecting surrounding code?
=i{
When editing code with messy indentation — after a paste, a merge conflict, or a refactor — you often need to fix just one block rather than the entire file
How do I move all lines matching a pattern to the top or bottom of a file?
:g/pattern/m 0
The :global command combined with :move lets you restructure a file by relocating all lines that match a pattern.
How do I reformat a paragraph or visual selection to fit a specific line width?
gq
The gq operator reformats text to fit within your configured textwidth.
How do I create a custom operator that works with motions and text objects?
:set operatorfunc=MyFunc<CR>g@
Vim lets you define custom operators that behave like built-in ones (d, c, y) — they wait for a motion or text object, then act on the selected region.
How do I reformat a paragraph to fit a specific line width in Vim?
gqap
The gq operator reformats text by wrapping lines to fit within the textwidth setting.
How do I progressively expand or contract a visual selection by text objects?
v3aw
In visual mode, repeating text object motions progressively expands the selection.
How do I yank text inside delimiters into a specific named register?
"ayi(
Combining named registers with text object motions lets you precisely yank structured content — like function arguments, quoted strings, or bracketed expressi
How do I select functions, classes, and other code structures using Treesitter?
:TSTextobjectSelect @function.outer
The nvim-treesitter-textobjects plugin provides syntax-aware text objects powered by Treesitter's AST parsing.
How do I select, change, or delete function arguments as text objects?
cia (with targets.vim) or daa
While Vim doesn't have a built-in argument text object, the targets.
How do I visually select a code block enclosed in curly braces including the braces themselves?
vaB
The aB text object (around Block) selects everything from the matching { to the closing } — including the braces themselves.
How do I visually select the text of a sentence without selecting surrounding whitespace?
vis
The is (inner sentence) text object selects the sentence the cursor is in — excluding any leading or trailing whitespace that separates sentences.
How do I visually select a double-quoted string including the quotes themselves?
va"
Vim's text objects let you select structured regions of text with two-keystroke shortcuts.
How do I visually select an entire sentence in Vim?
vas
The vas command visually selects the current sentence, including surrounding whitespace.
How do I change surrounding quotes or brackets from one type to another with vim-surround?
cs'"
The vim-surround plugin (by Tim Pope) adds three powerful operators for working with surrounding delimiters — quotes, brackets, parentheses, and HTML tags.
How do I select text inside angle brackets?
vi<
The vi).
How do I delete a word and save it to a specific register?
"adiw
The "adiw command deletes the inner word under the cursor and stores it in register a.
How do I change the content inside backticks?
ci`
The ` ci ` command changes the text inside backtick delimiters.