About

Helix Editor is a terinal-based text editor writen in Rust.

https://helix-editor.com/

The main article

https://docs.helix-editor.com/keymap.html

General notes

Commands need to be typed in Normal Mode. To enterthe Normal Mode, press ESC

Key bindings

Buffers

Buffers store contents of files. When you open a new file, the buffer with previous file goes to background. But you can open the previous buffer again.

Select buffer

1. Press space
2. Press b

Here you can pick a previously opened file.

Files

Open a file

1. Press space
2. Press f

This will open file picker where you can select a file to open

Navigation

General

Go to line with provided number

1. Press g
2. Type the line number
3. Press g

Selection

Select current line: x

Select the whold document: %

Copy, paste

Copy (yank) to system clipboard

1. Press v
2. Select your text using arrows or mouse pointer (if supported)
3. Press SPACE
4. Press y
5. Paste your text wherever your wish

Search and replace

Unlike in some other editors, the Search and Replace operation in Helix is a chain of commands:

1. Press %s (do NOT add : before)
2. Type your search term and press ENTER
3. Press c
4. Now you have multiselect active with original values deleted. You can type the value to replace your original values with whatever you will type
5. Press ENTER
6. Press , to exit from multiselect mode

Line operations

Delete a line

1. Press x to select the current line
2. Press d

Splits

You can split the editor window horizontally and vertically

Open a document in new split

Horizontal: %hsplit FILENAME. The editor will suggest you file names from current directory

Vertical: %vsplit FILENAME

Close a split

1. Press <ctrl> + w
2. Press q

Navigation between splits

1. Press <ctrl> + w
2. Press an arrow key you want to navigate to. Alternatively, you can use Vi key bindings (h - left, l- right, j - down, k - up)