1.4 — Command-Line Mode — Ex Commands#

Command-line mode gives you access to Vim’s powerful Ex commands. These commands handle file operations, search and replace, settings, and much more.

What is Command-Line Mode?#

Command-line mode (also called Ex mode or Cmdline mode) is activated by pressing :, /, or ? from Normal mode. A command line appears at the bottom of the screen where you type commands.

Entry Key	Purpose	Prompt
:	Ex commands	:
/	Search forward	/
?	Search backward	?

Essential Ex Commands#

File Operations#

Command	Action
:w	Write (save) file
:w filename	Write to filename
:q	Quit
:q!	Quit without saving
:wq or :x	Write and quit
:e filename	Edit (open) file
:e!	Reload file, discard changes
:r filename	Read file into buffer
:r !command	Read command output into buffer

Navigation#

Command	Action
:10	Go to line 10
:$	Go to last line
:.	Current line
:%	All lines (alias for 1,$)

Buffer and Window Commands#

Command	Action
:ls or :buffers	List buffers
:b N	Switch to buffer N
:bn	Next buffer
:bp	Previous buffer
:bd	Delete (close) buffer
:sp	Horizontal split
:vs	Vertical split
:close	Close current window
:only	Close all other windows

Settings#

Command	Action
:set option	Enable option
:set nooption	Disable option
:set option?	Show option value
:set option=value	Set option value

Common settings:

:set number          " Show line numbers
:set relativenumber  " Show relative line numbers
:set ignorecase      " Case-insensitive search
:set smartcase       " Case-sensitive if uppercase present
:set hlsearch        " Highlight search matches
:set nohlsearch      " Disable highlight
:set expandtab       " Use spaces instead of tabs
:set tabstop=4       " Tab width
:set shiftwidth=4    " Indent width

Search Commands#

Basic Search#

Command	Action
/pattern	Search forward for pattern
?pattern	Search backward for pattern
n	Repeat search (same direction)
N	Repeat search (opposite direction)
*	Search forward for word under cursor
#	Search backward for word under cursor

Search Options#

/pattern\c    " Case-insensitive search
/pattern\C    " Case-sensitive search
/\vpattern    " "Very magic" (regex without escaping)

Clear Search Highlighting#

:noh          " Clear highlight (short for :nohlsearch)

Substitution (Search and Replace)#

The substitute command is one of Vim’s most powerful features.

Basic Syntax#

:[range]s/pattern/replacement/[flags]

Ranges#

Range	Meaning
None	Current line
%	All lines
1,10	Lines 1-10
.,$	Current line to end
'<,'>	Visual selection (auto-inserted)

Flags#

Flag	Meaning
g	Global (all occurrences on line)
c	Confirm each substitution
i	Case-insensitive
I	Case-sensitive
n	Count matches, don’t substitute

Examples#

:s/old/new/           " First occurrence on current line
:s/old/new/g          " All occurrences on current line
:%s/old/new/g         " All occurrences in file
:%s/old/new/gc        " All occurrences, confirm each
:5,10s/old/new/g      " All occurrences on lines 5-10
:'<,'>s/old/new/g     " All occurrences in selection

Special Replacement Patterns#

Pattern	Meaning
&	Entire matched pattern
\1, \2	Captured groups
\u	Uppercase next character
\l	Lowercase next character
\U	Uppercase until \E
\L	Lowercase until \E

Example: Swap first and last name:

:%s/\(\w\+\) \(\w\+\)/\2, \1/g
" "John Doe" becomes "Doe, John"

The Global Command#

The :g command executes an Ex command on all lines matching a pattern.

Syntax#

:g/pattern/command

Examples#

:g/TODO/d             " Delete all lines containing "TODO"
:g/^$/d               " Delete all blank lines
:g/pattern/p          " Print all matching lines
:g!/pattern/d         " Delete lines NOT matching (or :v/pattern/d)
:g/error/t$           " Copy error lines to end of file
:g/function/normal A; " Append semicolon to lines containing "function"

Command-Line Editing#

While typing in command-line mode:

Key	Action
Esc or Ctrl-c	Cancel and return to Normal mode
Enter	Execute command
Ctrl-b	Move to beginning of line
Ctrl-e	Move to end of line
Ctrl-w	Delete word before cursor
Ctrl-u	Delete to beginning of line
Up / Ctrl-p	Previous command in history
Down / Ctrl-n	Next command in history
Ctrl-r Ctrl-w	Insert word under cursor

Command History#

Vim remembers your commands. Access history with:

• q: — Open command history window
• q/ — Open search history window
• : then Up/Down — Cycle through command history

Filter history by typing first characters:

:e <Up>    " Cycle through commands starting with :e

External Commands#

Run shell commands from Vim:

Command	Action
:!command	Run command, show output
:r !command	Insert command output
:.!command	Filter line through command
:%!command	Filter buffer through command

Examples:

:!ls                  " List files
:r !date              " Insert current date
:.!sort               " Sort current line (not useful)
:%!sort               " Sort entire file
:'<,'>!sort           " Sort selected lines

Practice Exercises#

Exercise 1: File Operations#

1. Open Vim: vim
2. Type some text
3. :w test.txt to save
4. :e test.txt to reopen
5. Make changes, :w to save
6. :q to quit

Exercise 2: Search#

1. Open a file with text
2. /word to search for “word”
3. Press n to find next occurrence
4. Press N to find previous
5. :noh to clear highlighting

Exercise 3: Substitution#

1. Create text: “Hello World Hello World Hello”
2. :s/Hello/Hi/ — replaces first Hello
3. u to undo
4. :s/Hello/Hi/g — replaces all on line
5. u to undo
6. :%s/Hello/Hi/gc — all in file, with confirmation

Exercise 4: Global Command#

1. Create a file with various lines
2. Add “TODO” to some lines
3. :g/TODO/p — print TODO lines
4. :g/TODO/d — delete TODO lines
5. u to undo

Exercise 5: External Commands#

1. :r !date — insert current date
2. :r !ls — insert file listing
3. Select lines with V
4. :'<,'>!sort — sort selected lines

Summary#

Category	Commands
File Ops	:w, :q, :e, :wq
Search	/pattern, ?pattern, n, N
Substitute	:%s/old/new/g
Global	:g/pattern/command
Settings	:set option
External	:!command

Command-line mode transforms Vim from a text editor into a text processing powerhouse. Master these commands to handle complex editing tasks efficiently.