Saving and Exiting

Writing a file means saving the edits and updating the file’s modification time.

Command

Action

ZZ

Quit vi, writing the file only if changes were made.

:x

Same as ZZ.

:wq

Write and quit file.

:w

Write file.

:w file

Save copy to file.

:n1,n2w file

Write lines n1 to n2 to new file.

:n1,n2w >> file

Append lines n1 to n2 to existing file.

:w!

Write file (overriding protection).

:w! file

Overwrite file with current buffer.

:w %.new

Write current buffer named file as file.new.

:q

Quit file.

:q!

Quit file (discarding edits).

Q

Quit vi and invoke ex.

:vi

Return to vi after Q command.

%

Current filename.

#

Alternate filename.

Get Mac OS X Tiger in a Nutshell now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.