nvi Quick Reference
Essential commands for the nvi
editor (vi clone).
Modes
ESC return to command mode
i, a, o enter insert mode
: enter ex mode
Movement
h / l move left / right
j / k move down / up
w / b next / previous word
0 beginning of line
^ first non-blank character
$ end of line
G go to last line
:n or nG go to line number n
Editing
x delete character
dd delete line
dw, d$ delete word / to end of line
u undo (only 1 level in nvi)
. repeat last command
Copy & Paste
yy yank (copy) line
p / P paste after / before
"ayy yank into register 'a'
"ap paste from register 'a'
Search & Replace
/pattern search forward
?pattern search backward
n / N next / previous match
:%s/old/new/g replace all in file
:s/old/new/g replace all on current line
Files & Buffers
:e file open another file
:w write (save) file
:q quit
:q! quit without saving
:wq write and quit
ZZ write and quit (same as :wq)
Configuration
:set nu show line numbers
:set autoindent enable auto-indent
:set ignorecase case-insensitive search
:set list show invisible chars
Help
:viusage show vi command reference
:exusage show ex command reference
:q exit help view
Important Notes
- Undo behavior:
u
undoes the last change. nvi supports multiple levels of undo, but only the first undo usesu
; subsequent undos must be repeated using.
(dot). - No visual mode: Use counts like
d3w
(delete 3 words) instead of text selection. - Set as default editor:
# Symlink (requires admin): sudo ln -s /usr/bin/nvi /usr/bin/vi # OR set per-user environment: export EDITOR=nvi export VISUAL=nvi