Helix Shortcuts

Migrating from Vim

See Migrating from Vim - helix-editor/helix

Description	Shortcut
Delete character at point	d
Delete word	wd
Delete line	xd
Go to first line (same as vim)	gg
Go to last line	ge
Go to beginning of line	gh
Go to end of line	gl or t + Enter
Go to file/URL in selection	gf
Copy line	xy
Copy to end of line	t + Enter + y
Select entire buffer / file	%
Buffer search, replace	%sword<ret>creplacement<esc>
Delete entire line	xd
Delete to end of line	vgl d or v <end> d
Go to matching bracket	mm
Autocomplete	C-x
Comment lines	C-c
Search word at point	be* n
Multiple cursors, add	Shift + c
Multiple cursors, turn off cursors	,
Multiple cursors, use for “block selection”	Shift + c
Run shell command	:sh command
Run shell command, insert output to buffer	:! command
Log, View	:log-open
Sort, pipe selection to sort to sort buffer	:pipe sort

• For t + Enter, Helix has newlines like a character which is Enter

Search and replace sequence

• % - to select whole buffer
• s - split the selection, and type the word you want to substitute, press enter
  • All the occurrences of the word are selected
• c - change the selections, and type the new word, to replace all occurrences
• , or Esc - Go back to selections, normal mode

To modify all lines in a certain way, you would first select the whole file, and then split the selection at .

Same commands

Description	Shortcut
Jumplist previous, before	C-o, C-i

Main

Description	Shortcut
Code, Symbol picker	SPC s
Code, Symbol picker workspace	SPC S
Code, diagnostics, errors	SPC d
Code, rename	SPC r
Code, show documentation for item at point	SPC k
Command palette	SPC ?
Command palette, search bindings	SPC ? (%bindings <keys>)
Edit, Undo	u
Edit, Redo	Shift + u
File picker, open file in vertical split	C-v
File picker, up, down	C-n, C-p
Go to menu like cursor, symbols, buffers, line	g
Go to menu like diagnostics, code	[ or ]
Go to, next, previous buffer	gn, gp
Go to, version control changes	[ or ], g or G
Go to, word, like Vim Flash, seek / Emacs Avy	gw, <letter code>
Jump list, open	SPC j
Jump list, save place (current selection for use later)	C-s
Match, (selection / mark) menu	m
Match, Tree sitter syntax tree contract	A-i
Match, Tree sitter syntax tree expand	A-o
Match, around function	maf
Match, select inside of given object	mi <object>
Match, surround given object	ms <object>
Match, replace and then selection	mr <selection>
Multiple cursor in next line, above line	C / Alt-C
Multiple cursor turn off	,
Register, menu	”
Register, document path	”%
Register, system clipboard	”+
Paste	p
Paste, from system clipboard	SPC + p
Picker, open last picker (like file, palette)	SPC ‘
Select, line and press again to select next line	x
Select, within selection, input regex	s
Select, within selection, split selection up	Shift + s
Select, move to next selected element as primary	)
Select, move to previous selected element as primary	)
Select, Keep only primary selection	,
Select, Remove primary selection	Alt ,
Select, Collapse selection onto a single cursor	;
Version control, file picker of changes	SPC g

Selection, Multiple Cursors

• Select matches in a selection with s, then type selection and Enter. Can type c to change the selection
  • Can create multiple cursors depending on the selection regex
  • Esc to exit insert mode and , to remove extra cursors

Description	Shortcut
Find char and select to it	f <char>
Find char and select to before it	t <char>
Jump mode (hinting selection), works in visual mode	gw
Select, walk up syntax tree / section of buffer	Alt up or Alt + down

Commands

Description	Shortcut
Buffer, close others	:bco
Toggle options	:toggle <option>
Hard wrap text, permanently reformat	:reflow
Version control, change, reset a diff	:reset-diff-change
Language, Set for syntax highlight	:lang <language>

Toggles can be visual elements, options. Tab completion is available for options.

See Also

• Vim Shortcuts - Vim Shortcuts