How do I exit Vim?

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VIM has basically two modes: Command Mode (called also “Normal Mode” below) and Insert Mode.
Most likely you are in “insert mode” which does (not surprisingly) insert what you type, while in “command mode” it would try to execute the commands you give (such as :quit).

However VIM indicates when it is in insert mode by displaying “— INSERT —” on the left side of the last line (it also displays line and column number there).

Example VIM terminal screen

So to end insert mode and return to command mode, just hit the Esc key. Then you can type : to enter “Command-line mode”. A colon (:) will appear at the bottom of the screen and you can type in one of the following commands. To execute a command, press the Enter key.

  • :q to quit (short for :quit)
  • :q! to quit without saving (short for :quit!)
  • :wq to write and quit
  • :wq! to write and quit even if file has only read permission (if file does not have write permission: force write)
  • :x to write and quit (similar to :wq, but only write if there are changes)
  • :exit to write and exit (same as :x)
  • :qa to quit all (short for :quitall)
  • :cq to quit without saving and make Vim return non-zero error (i.e. exit with error)

You can also exit Vim directly from “Normal mode” by typing ZZ to save and quit (same as :x) or ZQ to just quit (same as :q!). (Note that case is important here. ZZ and zz do not mean the same thing.)

Vim has extensive help – that you can access with the :help command – where you can find answers to all your questions and a tutorial for beginners.

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