How to Use Neovim: Lazy Configuration & Plugin Guide

This guide focuses on Neovim-specific features, plugin usage, and configuration best practices. For basic Vim commands and navigation, please refer to the Vim Cheatsheet.

We have converted most of the key-bindings that are compatible with Neovim in the Vim Cheatsheet.

General Keybindings

Modes:

• Normal (n)
• Insert (i)
• Visual (v)
• Command (c)
• Terminal (t)

 A - Alt
 C - Control
 S - Shift
 <leader> - Space (default)

In most modern editors like VS Code, a “tab” represents an open file. In Vim/Neovim, this concept is called a “buffer” - which is an in-memory representation of a file. When we refer to Buffer(Tab) in the keybindings below, we mean switching between open files, similar to switching tabs in other editors.

Quick Definitions:

• Buffer: A buffer is the in-memory text of a file being edited. Multiple buffers can exist for different files.
• Tab: In Vim, a tab is actually a collection of windows arranged in a specific layout. This is different from the “tabs” concept in modern editors.

Key	Description	Mode
j	Down	n, v
<Down>	Down	n, v
k	Up	n, v
<Up>	Up	n, v
<C-h>	Go to Left Window	n
<C-j>	Go to Lower Window	n
<C-k>	Go to Upper Window	n
<C-l>	Go to Right Window	n
<C-Up>	Increase Window Height	n
<C-Down>	Decrease Window Height	n
<C-Left> (Mac: <C-A-Left>)	Decrease Window Width	n
<C-Right> (Mac: <C-A-Right>)	Increase Window Width	n
<A-k>	Move Line Up	n, i, v
<A-j>	Move Line Down	n, i, v
<S-h>	Go to Prev Buffer (Tab)	n
<S-l>	Go to Next Buffer (Tab)	n
[b	Go to Prev Buffer	n
]b	Go to Next Buffer	n
<leader>bb	Switch to Other Buffer (Tab)	n
<leader>bd	Delete Buffer (Close tab)	n
<leader>bo	Delete Other Buffers (Close other tabs)	n
<leader>bD	Delete Buffer and Window (Close tab and window)	n
<esc>	Escape and Clear hlsearch	i, n, s
<leader>ur	Redraw / Clear hlsearch / Diff Update	n
n	Next Search Result	n, v, o
N	Prev Search Result	n, v, o
<C-s>	Save File	i, v, n, s
<leader>K	Keywordprg	n
gco	Add Comment Below	n
gcO	Add Comment Above	n
<leader>l	Lazy	n
<leader>fn	New File	n
<leader>xl	Location List	n
<leader>xq	Quickfix List	n
[q	Previous Quickfix	n
]q	Next Quickfix	n
<leader>cf	Format	n, v
<leader>cd	Line Diagnostics	n
]d	Next Diagnostic	n
[d	Prev Diagnostic	n
]e	Next Error	n
[e	Prev Error	n
]w	Next Warning	n
[w	Prev Warning	n
<leader>uf	Toggle Auto Format (Global)	n
<leader>uF	Toggle Auto Format (Buffer)	n
<leader>us	Toggle Spelling	n
<leader>uw	Toggle Wrap	n
<leader>uL	Toggle Relative Number	n
<leader>ud	Toggle Diagnostics	n
<leader>ul	Toggle Line Numbers	n
<leader>uc	Toggle Conceal Level	n
<leader>uA	Toggle Tabline	n
<leader>uT	Toggle Treesitter Highlight	n
<leader>ub	Toggle Dark Background	n
<leader>uD	Toggle Dimming	n
<leader>ua	Toggle Animations	n
<leader>ug	Toggle Indent Guides	n
<leader>uS	Toggle Smooth Scroll	n
<leader>dpp	Toggle Profiler	n
<leader>dph	Toggle Profiler Highlights	n
<leader>uh	Toggle Inlay Hints	n
<leader>gb	Git Blame Line	n
<leader>gB	Git Browse (open)	n, v
<leader>gY	Git Browse (copy)	n, v
<leader>qq	Quit All	n
<leader>ui	Inspect Pos	n
<leader>uI	Inspect Tree	n
<leader>L	LazyVim Changelog	n
<leader>fT	Terminal (cwd)	n
<leader>ft	Terminal (Root Dir)	n
<c-/>	Terminal (Root Dir)	n
<c-_>	which_key_ignore	n, t
<C-/>	Hide Terminal	t
<leader>-	Split Window Below	n
<leader>|	Split Window Right	n
<leader>wd	Delete Window	n
<leader>wm	Toggle Zoom Mode	n
<leader>uZ	Toggle Zoom Mode	n
<leader>uz	Toggle Zen Mode	n
<leader><tab>l	Last Tab	n
<leader><tab>o	Close Other Tabs	n
<leader><tab>f	First Tab	n
<leader><tab><tab>	New Tab	n
<leader><tab>]	Next Tab	n
<leader><tab>d	Close Tab	n
<leader><tab>[	Previous Tab	n