When you start vi, the cursor is in the upper left corner of the vi screen. In command mode, you can move the cursor with a number of keyboard commands. Certain letter keys, the arrow keys, and the Return key, Back Space (or Delete) key, and the Space Bar can all be used to move the cursor when you're in command mode.
Most vi commands are case-sensitive; the "same" command typed in lowercase and uppercase characters could have radically different effects.
If your machine is equipped with arrow keys, try these now. You should be able to move the cursor freely about the screen using combinations of the up, down, right, and left arrow keys. Notice that you can only move the cursor across already existing text or input spaces.
If you're using vi from a remote terminal, the arrow keys may not work correctly. This will depend on your terminal emulator. If the arrow keys don't work in your case, you can use the following substitutes:
Press w ("word") to move the cursor to the right one word at a time.
Press b ("back") to move the cursor to the left one word at a time.
Press W or B to move the cursor past the adjacent punctuation to the next or previous blank space.
Press e ("end") to move the cursor to the last character of the current word.
Press ^ to move the cursor to the start of the current line.
Press $ to move the cursor to the end of the current line.
Press the Return key to move the cursor to the beginning of the next line down.
Press the Back Space key to move the cursor one character to the left.
Press the Space Bar to move the cursor one character to the right.
Press H ("high") to move the cursor to the top of the screen.
Press M ("middle") to move the cursor to the middle of the screen.
Press L ("low") to move the cursor to the bottom of the screen.