Vim commands for moving around

Source

Basics commands in Vim

Sometimes, it's good to go back to the basics.

In command mode, typing :help usr_02.txt (or simplier something like :h usr_<TAB>02<TAB><ENTER>), you learn the letters for navigating a file:

  • these letters are HJKL - glad it works on an international keyboard.

  • letters on the borders (HL) are for horizontal movements- obviously H for left, L for right

  • letters on the inside are for vertical movements - J for down, K for up; a nice feature is that these keys are now quite widely used in the community, take for example in the gmail interface when switching to the next message.

I was still using the arrows keys, but taking this habit makes thinks easier, especially when switching often keyboards.

Simalarly, to scroll the text - you can use:

  • <CTRL-U> to scroll a half-page up

  • <CTRL-D> to scroll a half-page down

Here, the :h ctrl-u page will give you more info (or :help usr_03.txt).

Note that to follow a link (think "searching a tag"), you can press * (or # to go backwards).