Basic Motions

In Vim, you rarely use the arrow keys. Instead, you use keys that are right under your fingertips on the home row.

1. Character Navigation: h j k l

This is the first hurdle for every Vim beginner. It feels weird at first, but it makes sense because you don’t have to move your hand to the arrow cluster.

  • h: Left
  • j: Down (Think “J” looks like a hook pointing down)
  • k: Up (Think “K” is a king standing tall / upwards)
  • l: Right

[!TIP] Pro Tip: Disable your arrow keys. It’s the only way to learn. Force yourself to use hjkl.

2. Word Navigation

Moving character by character is slow. Vim lets you move by words.

  • w: Move to the start of the next word.
  • b: Move to the start of the back (previous) word.
  • e: Move to the end of the current word.

These are much faster than holding down an arrow key.

3. Line Navigation

Jump to the extremes of a line.

  • 0 (Zero): Jump to the start of the line (column 0).
  • ^ (Caret): Jump to the first non-blank character of the line (useful for indented code).
  • $ (Dollar): Jump to the end of the line.

4. Interactive: Vim Navigator

Practice your motions. Move the blue cursor to the Red Target using h, j, k, l, w, b, e.

Target: Reach the red character.

5. Motion Heatmap

h Left j Down k Up l Right

6. Summary

  • hjkl: The core navigation keys. Use them until they become second nature.
  • w / b: Move faster by jumping words.
  • 0 / $: Jump to start/end of line.