Windows Vim Mode enables systemwide vim-like shortcuts on Windows. This is a fork of vim-everywhere, originally written by lubokkanev. It is written to be modular and as minimalistic as possible, and only emulate vim keypresses by sending Ctrl and Shift combinations. Some movement commands (such as ct<char>) are emulated by temporarily copying text from the current line, sending the appropriate movement keys and then restoring the clipboard to its original state.
Here is a partial list of available commands:
Insert mode does nothing other than allowing you to enter Normal mode by pressing Ctrl+[ or Shift+Esc.
- Switch to Insert mode:
Esc,i,a - Switch to Visual mode:
v,V(select line) - Positioning:
0,$,h,j,k,l,4j,4k,gg,G - Word navigation:
w,b,e - Copy:
Y,y0,y$ - Paste:
p,P - Text addition/deletion:
A,I,C,c0,c$,dd,D,d0,d$,x,X,cb,cw,ce,dw,diw,ciw,daw,caw,r,s,S,<C-w> - Repeat commands:
8w,5e,2b,3p,3P - Scrolling:
<C-u>,<C-d> - Undo/redo:
u,<C-r> - Indent:
<<,>> - Line commands:
o,O,5o,5O,J - Previous/next:
<C-n>(↓),<C-p>(↑) - Movement commands:
t<char>,f<char>,T<char>,F<char> - Action/movement commands:
ct<char>,dt<char>,yt<char>,cf<char>,df<char>,yf<char>,cT<char>,dT<char>,yT<char>,cF<char>,dF<char>,yF<char> - Case swapping commands:
~
Additional Windows Explorer commands are enabled by default and can be disabled in options.ini (ENABLE_WINDOWS_EXPLORER_COMMANDS):
- Go back in folder history:
p - Go forward in folder history:
n - Go one folder up:
Shift+p - Cut:
x(when not editing text)
Safety note: when the Explorer module is enabled (which is the default), delete/copy/paste commands are disabled within Explorer (when not editing text) as a safety precaution.
These commands are not considered vanilla vim and can be disabled in options.ini (ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_COMMANDS), but are included by default since you might find them useful.
- Simulate mouse scrolling:
m(scroll down),,(scroll up).
Most of the normal mode commands will work in visual mode. You will most likely end up using one of these:
- Switch to Normal mode:
Esc - Switch to Insert mode:
i,a - Positioning (with selection):
0,$,h,j,k,l,4j,4k,gg,G - Word navigation:
w,b,e - Copy:
y - Selection/movement commands:
vt<char>,vf<char>,vT<char>,vF<char> - Case swapping commands:
~,gu,gU - Text addition/deletion:
s,x,d
- Reload windows-vim-mode:
Ctrl+Shift+Win+R, customizable inoptions.ini. - Exit windows-vim-mode:
Ctrl+Shift+Win+X, customizable inoptions.ini. - Open
options.iniwith your default text editor:Ctrl+Shift+Win+S, customizable inoptions.ini.
You can either download and execute the script directly with AutoHotkey v1, or download and execute the pre-compiled binaries. This code was only tested with AutoHotkey v1.1.37.01, and will not run with AutoHotkey v2. Using earlier versions of AutoHotkey v1 might break some functionality. Only Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 were tested and confirmed to work, although it might work with earlier Windows versions.
- Download the source code.
- Open windows-vim-mode.ahk with AutoHotkey v1.
- Download and unzip the binaries.
- Open windows-vim-mode.exe.
- Press
Ctrl+[orShift+Escto switch toNormalmode. UsingShift+Escwith Capslock remapped as Esc is recommended. - Use vim-like shortcuts systemwide.
- Press
Esc,iorato return toInsertmode, orvto enterVisualmode.
- You can customize
options.iniafter the first boot. By default, you can restart and apply your options by pressingCtrl+Shift+Win+R. - I strongly suggest using
Shift+Capslockto enterNormalmode. This will allow your hands to be properly positioning for high-likelihood proceeding commands (such as h/j/k/l/w/v/b/f/t/c). - I strongly suggest using AutoHotkey or Microsoft PowerToys to remap
EsctoCapslockandCapslocktoEsc, since this is the way vim was originally meant to be used. With AutoHotkey, this can be accomplished by running the following 2-line script (as a separate script/process):
Esc::Capslock
Capslock::Esc
Some applications running with elevated privileges (such Task Manager, Windows Settings and other system tools) will completely ignore external input from an application being run with normal privileges. Run this application as administrator if you wish to send input to such applications.
If you wish this application to run automatically at startup (with or without elevated privileges), or if you are concerned about security (false positives), see the shared project documentation.
- Timer-based On-screen Display (OSD) for the current mode, including for numbered/repeat commands (such as
5por5w). - Safer and more reliable code for sending keypresses, most notably fixed an issue where holding
wto navigate between words could trigger a tab or window being closed by sendingCtrl+Wby accident. - Cleaned up and better organized codebase. Some unused and application-specific functions were removed and all hotkeys that remain were made to resemble vanilla vim.
- Fixed tray icons (visual mode now has its own icon).
Esccan now be used to exit modes.- Better mode transitions when exiting modes (
Visual→Normal→Insert). Transitioning fromVisualtoNormalinstead ofInsertseems to work better for real-world text selection scenarios. - Customizable options (see
options.ini). - Many fixes for textboxes that are delay-sensitive.
- Code for numbered/repeated commands (e.g.
5p) and multiple key commands (e.g.ciw) was completely rewritten and made more readable. - Numbered/repeated commands are now limited to 25 by default to prevent catastrophic scenarios.
- Improved cursor positioning when leaving
Visualmode. - Movement commands were added, such as
f<char>,T<char>,ct<char>,vf<char>, etc. - Case swapping commands were added.
- Many other fixed/new commands.
If you use neo-mousekeys, you can quickly switch between windows-vim-mode's Normal mode and the Enabled mode from neo-mousekeys by setting INTEROPERABILITY=1 in options.ini. You might need to change ACTIVATION=^e to your neo-mousekeys activation sequence in case you are not using the default.
- vim-everywhere (the original)
- neo-mousekeys (fast cursor movement with your keyboard, with windows-vim-mode interoperability included)
- mouseable (inspiration for neo-mousekeys)
- TextEditorAnywhere
- warpd
- vim-anywhere (good-enough TextEditorAnywhere alternative, not to be confused with vim-everywhere)