Command-Line Mode

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published 2026-06-03 05:12:18 updated 2026-06-09 15:54:54

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@reading #vim

This post extracts some knowledge from Chapter 5 – Command-Line Mode.

Command	Effect
`:[range]delete [x]`	Delete specified lines [into register x]
`:[range]yank [x]`	Yank specified lines [into register x]
`:[line]put [x]`	Put the text from register x after the specified line
`:[range]copy {address}`	Copy the specified lines to below the line specified by `{address}`
`:[range]move {address}`	Move the specified lines to below the line specified by `{address}`
`:[range]join`	Join the specified lines
`:[range]normal {commands}`	Execute Normal mode `{commands}` on each specified line
`:[range]substitute/{pattern}/{string}/[flags]`	Replace occurrences of `{pattern}` with `{string}` on each specified line
`:[range]global/{pattern}/[cmd]`	Execute the Ex command `[cmd]` on all specified lines where the `{pattern}` matches

Symbol	Address
`1`	First line of the file
`$`	Last line of the file
`0`	Virtual line above first line of the file
`.`	Line where the cursor is placed
`'m`	Line containing mark `m`
`'<`	Start of visual selection
`'>`	End of visual selection
`%`	The entire file (shorthand for `:1,$`)

we could use an offset relative to the current line:

vim:2
:.,,+3p

The . symbol stands for the current line, so :.,.+3 is equivalent to :2,5 in this case.

:copy = :co = :t

As a mnemonic, you can think of it as copy TO.

vim:[range]normal [normal-action]

Use @: to repeat the last Ex command. After running @: for the first time, we can subsequently repeat it with the @@ command.

Just like in the shell, we can use the <Tab> key to autocomplete commands at the prompt. The <C-d> command asks Vim to reveal a list of possible completions.

At Vim’s command line, the <C-r><C-w> mapping copies the word under the cursor and inserts it at the command-line prompt.