How to :quit VIM

If you thought quitting vim was hard, I challenge you to exit its predecessor, the built-in ed editor.

SPOILER ALERT: you don't. VIM is your home now.
Even if you uninstall it, it will still somehow be running.

If you really don't know how to exit VIM, I am honored to give you the rite of passage :: simply smash |ESC| 42 times, followed by the following sequence of characters: :q! and hit |ENTER| (that should do it).

Just hope to God that you didn't hit the letter q beforehand, cause if you did... I will be frank, not even Jesus can save you. You're stuck in hell.

NAH, RELAX! just kidding with ya, if anything just hit CAPITAL letters |ZQ| in sequence and you will be out and free (we hold nobody hostage).

There are multiple CMDS you can use in NORMAL MODE (AKA. :COMMAND MODE).
When in -- INSERT -- MODE you can get back to NORMAL MODE by mashing either:

|ESC| ; |CTRL-[| ; |CTRL-C| OR |CTRL-O|

If these didn't work, hit |q| to possibly exit macro REC mode, and try again.

NORMAL MODE CMDS and KEYMAPS to :quit VIM

whatever is inside [...] is optional.

• :q[uit][!] :: Quits the current window (fails with unsaved changes).


• |CTRL-W_q| :: Just like :q, attempts to :quit current buffer/window.


• :conf[irm] q[uit] :: Attempts :quit but gives prompt when changes have been made, or when the last file in the arg list has not been edited.


• :q[uit]! :: Force :quit, discarding changes and |hidden| buffers.


• :wq :: Writes current file and attempts to :quit (fails when READ-ONLY).
• :w !sudo tee % :: Writes changes to RO file with !sudo tee %.
• :!sudo vim % :: Re-opens current file with superuser privileges.


• :x :: AKA. :exit and same as :wq


• |ZZ| :: Writes current file if modified, and closes current window (:x).


• |ZQ| :: Quits without checking for changes (same as :q!).


• :bd[!] [N] :: Unloads buffer [N] or current buffer. To delete all buffers instead, use :%bd. You can also list all buffers and their respective [N] IDs with use :ls[!]. QUICK TIP: Use |[N] CTRL-^| to SWITCH/GOTO buffer [N].


• :qall[!] :: Quits ALL buffers unless any of them have unsaved changes.


• :wq [++opt] [file] :: Writes the current file and closes the window. If this is the last |edit-window| vim quits. Writing fails when the file is READ-ONLY or the buffer does not have a name. Quitting fails when the last file in the arg list has not been edited. You can also provide ++opts. Let's say you want to force Unix like endings (\n) and update the current file to a specific encoding, you can do that with: :w ++ff=unix ++enc=UTF-8


• :[range]wq[!] [++opt] {file} :: Writes [range] to {file} (forces with !)
  NOTE: range overrides the {file} :: For example -> :22,42wq snippet.txt overwrites snippet.txt with the buffer's content contained in lines 22 to 42, then quits VIM. In the same vein, :1,10w! is VERY DANGEROUS, it overrides the current file with the specified range.


• |CTRL-Z| :: Suspends VIM with a SGTSTP signal and hands control back to the $SHELL where you can proceed to execute any command(s). To resume the stopped VIM job and bring it back to the foreground, simply run fg [N]:

bash

KEYMAP: |CTRL-Z|
[1]+  Stopped                    vim .

$ wget https://1.1.1.1 -O index.html
--2025-12-21 07:58:40--  https://1.1.1.1/
Connecting to 1.1.1.1:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://one.one.one.one/ [following]
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 56614 (55K) [text/html]
Saving to: ‘index.html’

index.html     100%[============>]  55.29K  --.-KB/s    in 0.008s
index.html     saved [56614/56614]

$ ls
a.txt     b.txt      c.txt     index.html

$ vim index.html # literally anything you want, even emacs!!

KEYMAP: |CTRL-Z|
[2]+  Stopped                    vim index.html

$ fg 1 # will open and resume 1st SUSPENDED VIM job

• OR :: Don't exit VIM it at all:
  • :sh[ell] :: Starts a shell. When the shell exits you return to VIM.
  • :!{cmd} :: Executes {cmd} with the shell.
  • :!gcc % -o app :: Recompiles % (current .c file).
  • :!! :: Repeats the last CMD.
  • :.!sh runs the current line in sh and replaces it with STDOUT.
  • :ter[minal] [options] [command] :: Opens a new new terminal window right inside VIM (|CTRL-\CTRL-B| to enter VISUAL mode).

There is SO much that I haven't covered. Consult the LORDS :help BOok for more.

FUN FACT: Who needs an EDITOR when you have MEOW!?

$ cat > newfile.txt
Cat listens for stdin, then redirects it to stdout.
Likewise, you can append to newfile.txt with >>
And, on the last line use |C-D|C-D| to signal END.

$ cat newfile.txt
Cat listens for stdin, then redirects it to stdout.
Likewise, you can append to newfile.txt with >>
And, on the last line use |C-D|C-D| to signal END.