Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Edit Commands

Recall that c, d, and y are the basic editing operators.

Inserting New Text

Command	Action
a	Append after cursor.
A	Append to end of line.
i	Insert before cursor.
I	Insert at beginning of line.
o	Open a line below cursor.
O	Open a line above cursor.
Esc	Terminate insert mode.
Tab	Insert a tab.
Backspace	Delete previous character (in insert mode).
Ctrl-I	Insert a tab.
Ctrl-U	Delete current line.
Ctrl-V	Insert next character verbatim.
Ctrl-[	Terminate insert mode.

Some of the control characters listed in the previous table are set by stty. Your terminal settings may differ.

Changing and Deleting Text

The following table is not exhaustive but illustrates the most common operations.

Command	Action
cw	Change through end of current word.
cc	Change line.
c$	Change text from current position to end-of-line.
C	Same as c$.
dd	Delete current line.
d$	Delete remainder of line.
D	Same as d$.
n dd	Delete n lines.
dw	Delete a word.
d}	Delete up to next paragraph.
d^	Delete back to beginning of line.
d/ pattern	Delete up to first occurrence of pattern.
dn	Delete up to next occurrence of pattern.
df a	Delete up to and including a on current line.
dt a	Delete up to (not including) a on current line.
dL	Delete up to last line on screen.
dG	Delete to end-of-file.
p	Insert last deleted text after cursor.
P	Insert last deleted text before cursor.
r x	Replace character with x.
R text	Replace text beginning at cursor.
s	Substitute character.
n s	Substitute ...