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In vi, how do I go to a particular line or word in a file?

You can go to a particular line or word in a file using vi in several ways:

  • To make vi start at a particular line in a file, add +line_num to the command you use to start vi. Replace line_num with the line number, for example: vi +36 foo.c
  • If you're already in vi, you can use the goto command. To do this, press Esc, type the line number, and then press Shift-g . If you press Esc and then Shift-g without specifying a line number, it will take you to the last line in the file.

  • You can also use the ex command line to go to a line. (For information about the ex mode, see How do I use the vi text editor?) For instance, if you wanted to go to line 14, you could press Esc and then enter: :14
  • To search forward for some text, use the  /  (forward slash) command. Press Esc and then enter /pattern , replacing pattern with the text for which you want to search forward. For example, to find every instance of the word "blimp", enter: /blimp To look for the next occurrence after the first, either press  n  or press  /  again and then press Enter. To go back to a previous occurrence, press Shift-n . To search backwards in a file, use the  ?  command.

  • To see what line you're on at any time, press Ctrl-Shift-g . To number all lines, press Esc and enter: :set number

At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

This is document adxw in domain all.
Last modified on August 22, 2008.

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