Copying and Moving Text — Yank, Delete, and Put

Many word processors allow you to “copy and paste” and “cut and paste” lines of text. The vi editor also includes these features. The vi command-mode equivalent of “copy and paste” is yank and put. The equivalent of “cut and paste” is delete and put.

The methods for copying or moving small blocks of text in vi involves the use of a combination of the yank, delete, and put commands.

Copying Lines

Copying a line requires two commands: yy or Y (“yank”) and either p (“put below”) or P (“put above”). Note that Y does the same thing as yy.

To yank one line, follow these steps.

1. Position the cursor anywhere on the line you want to yank.

2. Type yy.

3. Move the cursor to the line above where you want to put (copy) the yanked line.

4. Type p.

   A copy of the yanked line appears in a new line below the cursor.

   To place the yanked line in a new line above the cursor, type P.

The yy command works well with a count: to yank 11 lines, for example, type 11yy. Eleven lines, counting down from the cursor, are yanked, and vi indicates this with a message at the bottom of the screen: 11 lines yanked.

You can also use the P or p commands immediately after any of the deletion commands discussed earlier. This action puts the text you deleted above or below the cursor, respectively.

Use only cursor-moving commands between yanking or deleting and putting. If you delete or yank any other text before putting the new text in place, the lines you yanked or deleted are lost.

Moving Lines

Moving lines also requires two commands: dd (“delete”) and either p or P.

To move one line, position the cursor anywhere on the line and type dd. For example, to delete 5 lines, type 5dd.

Next, move the cursor to the line above where you want the deleted line reinserted and type p. This inserts the text on a new line below the cursor.

Alternatively, you can put the deleted line above the cursor by typing P.