My commonly used vi shortcut keys: Command Action Notes Basic operations :q Quit VI This will exit VI editor :q! Force quit This will exit VI editor even if buffers are dirty :w Save current buffer Save currently active buffer :e <ENTER> Reload current buffer from file :e /path/to/file Load /path/to/file to a buffer General :set nowrap Don't wrap text :set number Show line number :set nu Show line number (short hand) :set nonumber Hide line number :set nu! Hide line number (short hand) Text Operations v Start Visual Mode(for copying) y Yank/copy selected text yy Copy line 2y Copy 2 lines from the cursor p Paste _after_ the current line P Paste _before_ the current line x Delete char under the cursor dw Delete the word under the cursor This will also delete the space after it 3dw Delete 3 words This will also delete the space after it dd Delete line Deletes the entire line Navigation 0 Jump to beginning of line $ Jump to end of line w (count)M