Editing Text

Now that you know how to move around in Vim, it's time to learn how to actually edit text. This is where Vim's design really starts to shine — instead of reaching for your mouse to select and delete text, you combine simple building blocks into powerful editing commands.

The Operator + Motion Formula

This is the single most important concept in Vim editing. Almost every edit in Vim follows this pattern:

operator + motion = action

• An operator is what you want to do (delete, change, copy, etc.)
• A motion is where you want to do it (a word, a line, to the end of the line, etc.)

You already know motions from the previous tutorial (w, b, $, gg, etc.). Now you'll combine them with operators.

Here are the three most important operators:

Combining Operators with Motions

Let's see the formula in action. Remember, w moves to the next word and $ moves to the end of the line:

dw       " Delete from cursor to the start of the next word
d$       " Delete from cursor to the end of the line
d0       " Delete from cursor to the beginning of the line
dgg      " Delete from cursor to the top of the file
dG       " Delete from cursor to the bottom of the file
 
cw       " Change (delete + enter Insert mode) to the next word
c$       " Change from cursor to the end of the line
c0       " Change from cursor to the beginning of the line
 
yw       " Yank (copy) from cursor to the next word
y$       " Yank from cursor to the end of the line
ygg      " Yank from cursor to the top of the file

Using Counts

You can also add numbers. Remember 3w moves forward 3 words? The same works with operators:

d3w      " Delete the next 3 words
c2w      " Change the next 2 words
y5j      " Yank (copy) 5 lines downward
d2}      " Delete through the next 2 paragraphs

The full formula is: [count] + operator + [count] + motion

Operating on a Whole Line

If you press an operator key twice, it acts on the entire current line:

dd       " Delete the entire current line
cc       " Change the entire current line (deletes it, enters Insert mode)
yy       " Yank (copy) the entire current line

You can add counts here too:

3dd      " Delete 3 lines (current line and 2 below)
5yy      " Yank (copy) 5 lines
2cc      " Change 2 lines

Deleting Text

Here are the most common ways to delete text:

Changing Text

The c (change) operator is like d (delete) but it also puts you into Insert mode so you can type replacement text right away. It's essentially "delete this, then let me type something new."

Here's a practical example. Say you have this line and your cursor is on quick:

The quick brown fox

If you press cw, the word quick disappears and you're now in Insert mode. You can type slow and then press Escape to get:

The slow brown fox

Compare that to pressing dw (which deletes quick but stays in Normal mode) — you'd then need to press i to enter Insert mode and type slow. The c operator saves a step.

Yanking (Copying) Text

Yank is Vim's word for "copy." It copies text without removing it.

Yanked text goes into the clipboard (Vim calls it a "register"). You can then paste it with p or P.

Putting (Pasting) Text

After you've deleted (d) or yanked (y) text, use p or P to paste it:

Here's a quick workflow to move a line:

dd       " Delete (cut) the current line
         " Now move your cursor to where you want the line to go
p        " Paste the line below your current position

And here's how to duplicate a line:

yy       " Copy the current line
p        " Paste it below (you now have two copies of the line)

Text Objects (Selecting Smart Regions)

Text objects are one of Vim's most powerful features. They let you operate on a whole "thing" — like a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or everything inside quotes — regardless of where your cursor is within that thing.

Text objects use two prefixes:

• i = inner (the content only, not the surrounding characters)
• a = a/around (the content plus the surrounding characters)

You combine these with operators:

diw      " Delete the word the cursor is on (no matter where in the word you are)
ciw      " Change the word — delete it and enter Insert mode
daw      " Delete the word plus the space after it (cleaner deletion)
ci"      " Change everything inside double quotes
di)      " Delete everything inside parentheses
da]      " Delete everything inside brackets, including the brackets
dit      " Delete the content inside an HTML tag
yiw      " Yank (copy) the current word

Practical Example

Imagine your cursor is somewhere on the word blue in this line:

colors = ["red", "blue", "green"]

Here are some text-object commands and what they'd do:

The Dot Command (Repeat Last Edit)

The dot command (.) is one of Vim's most beloved features. It repeats your last change. Whatever edit you just made — deleting a word, changing some text, inserting something — pressing . does it again.

Here's a practical example. Say you want to delete several words scattered through a file:

daw      " Delete the first word (let's say "unnecessary")
         " Move your cursor to the next word you want to delete
.        " Pressing dot repeats "daw" — deletes this word too
         " Move to another word
.        " Delete that one too

Another example — adding a semicolon to the end of several lines:

A;       " Go to end of line and type a semicolon (A enters Insert mode at end)
<Esc>    " Back to Normal mode
j        " Move down one line
.        " Repeat: go to end of line and add semicolon
j.       " Move down and repeat again (you can chain j and . together)

Undo and Redo

Made a mistake? No problem:

You can undo as many times as you need — Vim keeps a long history of changes. It even remembers your undo history in a tree structure, which means you never truly lose anything.

Replace a Single Character

Sometimes you just need to fix one character — maybe a typo. Instead of entering Insert mode for that:

" If cursor is on the 't' in "teh":
ra       " Changes 't' to 'a' making it "aeh" — that's not right!
 
" Let's try again. If cursor is on the 'e' in "teh":
rh       " Changes 'e' to 'h', making "thh" — still not right!
 
" Actually, for the typo "teh" → "the", you'd use:
" Put cursor on 'e', then: xp  (delete 'e', paste it after 'h')
" Or use: ciw then type "the"

The r command is most useful for simple one-character fixes. It stays in Normal mode (no need to press Escape afterward).

Joining Lines

Sometimes you want to combine two lines into one:

This is handy when you've broken a line in two and want to recombine it, or when reformatting text.

Summary

Here's what you've learned:

• Vim's editing formula: operator + motion = action
• Three key operators: d (delete/cut), c (change), y (yank/copy)
• Double the key for whole lines: dd, cc, yy
• Paste with p (after) or P (before)
• Text objects like iw (inner word), i" (inner quotes), i) (inner parentheses)
• The dot command (.) repeats your last change — design edits to be repeatable
• u to undo, Ctrl-r to redo
• r to replace a single character, J to join lines
• Counts work with operators: d3w deletes 3 words

In the next tutorial, you'll learn how to search for text patterns and replace them across your file.

vim practice.txt

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
colors = ["red", "blue", "green"]
function calculateTotal(items, tax) {
    return items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price, 0) * (1 + tax);
}
This line has a tyypo in it.
This sentence is fine. This one should be deleted. This one is also fine.

" 1. Change "brown" to "red"
" Move cursor to "brown" (use /brown or w to get there)
cw        " Deletes "brown", enters Insert mode
red       " Type the replacement
<Esc>     " Back to Normal mode
" Result: "The quick red fox jumps over the lazy dog."
 
" 2. Delete the word "lazy"
" Move cursor to "lazy"
daw       " Deletes "lazy" and the space around it
" Result: "The quick red fox jumps over the dog."
 
" 3. Copy first line and paste at end
gg        " Go to first line
yy        " Yank (copy) the line
G         " Go to last line
p         " Paste below
" Result: First line is now duplicated at the bottom
 
" 4. Change "blue" to "purple"
" Navigate to the colors line, put cursor on any letter in "blue"
ci"       " Deletes "blue" (inside the quotes), enters Insert mode
purple    " Type replacement
<Esc>     " Back to Normal mode
" Result: colors = ["red", "purple", "green"]
 
" 5. Delete inside parentheses
" Navigate to the calculateTotal line, cursor on anything inside ()
di(       " Deletes "items, tax" (the content inside parentheses)
" Result: function calculateTotal() {
 
" 6. Fix the typo
" Navigate to "tyypo", put cursor on the extra 'y'
x         " Deletes the single character under the cursor
" Result: "This line has a typo in it."
 
" 7. Delete a sentence
" Navigate to "This one should be deleted."
das       " Deletes the sentence and trailing space
" Result: "This sentence is fine. This one is also fine."
 
" 8. Undo and redo
u         " Undo: the sentence comes back
Ctrl-r    " Redo: the sentence is deleted again
 
" 9. Dot command
daw       " Delete any word
          " Move cursor to another word
.         " Dot repeats daw — that word is deleted too!
 
:q!       " Quit without saving when done practicing