^O and ^I
Go to older/newer position.
When you are moving through the file (by searching, moving commands etc.) vim rember these "jumps", so you can repeat these jumps backward (^O - O for old) and forward (^I - just next to I on keyboard). I find it very useful when writing code and performing a lot of searches.
gi
Go to position where Insert mode was stopped last.
I find myself often editing and then searching for something. To return to editing place press gi.
gf
put cursor on file name (e.g. include header file), press gf and the file is opened
gF
similar to gf but recognizes format "[file name]:[line number]". Pressing gF will open [file name] and set cursor to [line number].
^P and ^N
Auto complete text while editing (^P - previous match and ^N next match)
^X^L
While editing completes to the same line (useful for programming).
You write code and then you recall that you have the same code somewhere in file. Just press ^X^L and the full line completed
^X^F
Complete file names.
You write "/etc/pass" Hmm. You forgot the file name. Just press ^X^F and the filename is completed
^Z or :sh
Move temporary to the shell. If you need a quick bashing:
- press ^Z (to put vi in background) to return to original shell and press fg to return to vim back
- press :sh to go to sub shell and press ^D/exit to return to vi back