Vim motions primer

Stop reaching for arrows. Internalize these 12 motions and you will navigate code at the speed of thought.

Core movement

h / lleft / right by char

j / kdown / up by line

w / bforward / back by word

0 / $start / end of line

^first non-blank char

gg / Gtop / bottom of file

Ctrl+d / Ctrl+uhalf-page down / up

Ctrl+f / Ctrl+bfull-page down / up

zzcenter cursor on screen

zt / zbcursor to top / bottom

f{char}jump to next {char} on line

t{char}jump before next {char}

%jump to matching bracket

{num}Ggo to line {num}

Pro tip: Combine any motion with a count. 5j drops 5 lines. 3w skips 3 words. Counts become muscle memory faster than you think.