Helix Shortcuts
Migrating from Vim
Section titled “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 | % |
| Search, buffer replace | %sword<ret>creplacement<esc> |
| Search, replace | s c , See instructions below |
| 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
Section titled “Search and replace sequence”-
% - to select whole buffer or v for visual select
-
s - split the selection, and type the pattern/word you want to substitute, press enter
- All the occurrences of the word are selected
-
c - change the selections, and type the replacement 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
Section titled “Same commands”| Description | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Jumplist previous, before | C-o, C-i |
| 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, Redo | Shift + u |
| Edit, Undo | u |
| File explorer | SPC e |
| 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, replace and then selection | mr <selection> |
| Match, select inside of given object | mi <object> |
| Match, surround given object | ms <object> |
| Multiple cursor in next line, above line | C / Alt-C |
| Multiple cursor turn off | , |
| Paste | p |
| Paste, from system clipboard | SPC + p |
| Picker, open last picker (like file, palette) | SPC ’ |
| Register, menu | “ |
| Register, document path | “% |
| Register, system clipboard | “+ |
| Search, global | SPC / |
| Select, Collapse selection onto a single cursor | ; |
| Select, Keep only primary selection | , |
| Select, Remove primary selection | Alt , |
| Select, line and press again to select next line | x |
| Select, move to next selected element as primary | ) |
| Select, move to previous selected element as primary | ) |
| Select, within selection, input regex | s |
| Select, within selection, split selection up | Shift + s |
| Version control, file picker of changes | SPC g |
Global search, restrict path of files
Section titled “Global search, restrict path of files”[search regex] %p [path regex]
Example of search for multiclass word in all files that fuzzy match to AI
multiclass &p AI
Selection, Multiple Cursors
Section titled “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
Escto 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
Section titled “Commands”| Description | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Buffers, close others | :bco |
| Buffers, reload all from disk | :reload-all or :ra<tab> |
| Echo current buffer name | :echo %{buffername} |
| Go to, line 11 in file | :11 |
| Hard wrap text, permanently reformat | :reflow |
| Language, Set for syntax highlight | :lang <language> |
| Sort selection | :sort |
| Toggle options | :toggle <option> |
| Version control, change, reset a diff | :reset-diff-change |
Toggles can be visual elements, options. Tab completion is available for options.