Other ways to exit Insert mode besides Escape

Question

The primary reason I like vim over emacs is that my hand movement distance away from the home row is very low (even as a programmer). However, the one main time that I do this is leaving insert mode, by pressing Escape.

I recently learned that I can use Ctrl+C to leave insert mode as well. However, this isn't really an improvement.

How can I exit insert mode without having my hands leave the home row, and without massively impacting what I have the ability to type? Note: I use a mostly vanilla vim with a dvorak keyboard layout, though I'd love to hear solutions for a qwerty layout as well.

Answer 1

A common binding you'll see is jj, because it works well for QWERTY layouts if you use home row positioning.

inoremap jj <ESC>

In that case, to type a literal jj - you should wait for 1 sec (by default) between typing the second character. (see :help 'timeout' for details)

There is also c-o which will take you out of insert, letting you do one normal command, and then put you right back into insert.

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Avoid_the_escape_key

Answer 2

Beside the built-in alternatives <C-[> and <C-c> to <Esc> key cited by others, another popular solution is to remap <CapsLock> as an additional Escape. This both on a Qwerty and Dvorak keyboard.

This way you can press Esc very easily with the left little finger, without removing hands from the HomeRow (incidentally, Escape was just above CapsLock in the ADM-3A Terminal used by Bill Joy while writing vi).

Remapping can be done:

• on Windows using AutoHotKey utility;
• on Mac using the KeyRemap4MacBook utility and others;

• on Linux, varies according to the Desktop Environment. For example on Linux Mint/Cinnamon is just a matter of selecting the proper option in Menu->Keyboard->Keyboard Layouts->Caps Lock behavior. Alternatively, but less easily, it can be remapped at Xorg level using the xmodmap program and having it run the following .Xmodmap file:

  clear Lock
  keycode 0x42 = Escape
  

  The system can be setup to automatically run it at every login by placing strategically the following shell script lines (supposing .Xmodmap is on your home dir ~) in the chain of login auto-sourced files:

  if [ -s ~/.Xmodmap ]; then
    xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap
  fi
  

  It is tricky however, because actually sourced files vary according to the (desktop) environment used. As example, I have xmodmap called as an entry in the Cinnamon "Startup Applications" (which allows me to do more than the standard GUI key remapping customization).

Some people go even further and program the CapsLock key to behave:

• as a Ctrl key by pressing and holding it,
• as an Esc key by pressing and quickly releasing it.

This can be done on Windows and Mac by properly setting/programming the corresponding remap utility (specifically for AutoHotkey hints can be found here and for KeyRemap4MacBook check here). On Linux using the program xcape.

Answer 3

The mappings that I use are:

inoremap jk <esc>
inoremap kj <esc>

This way, you can simply hit j and k at the same time, without having to worry about which one you press first.

Answer 4

<C-[> and <C-c> are two native alternatives to <Esc>.

See :help i_<esc> and :help i_ctrl-c which explains the difference between <C-c> and <Esc>.

Answer 5

I would suggest using my plugin vim-easyescape.

Plug "zhou13/vim-easyescape"
let g:easyescape_chars = { "j": 1, "k": 1 }
let g:easyescape_timeout = 100
cnoremap jk <ESC>
cnoremap kj <ESC>

The problem with a simple map sequence inoremap jj <ESC> is that Vim will pause whenever you type j or k in insert mode (it is waiting for the next key to determine whether to apply the mapping). The pause causes visual distraction which you may or may not notice. vim-easyescape does not have such problem and supports custom timeout.

Answer 6

If you have an US English keyboard, pressing Ctrl-[ is equivalent for pressing Esc. This provides an easy way to exit from insert mode. Alternatively use Ctrl-c.

If you've vim in easy mode (-y), then you've to press Ctrl-l (Control-L) to exit insert mode.

There is also Ctrl+o which will only temporary exit insert mode just to execute one command and return back to insert mode (see: :help i_CTRL-O)

Or Ctrl+r, but it's only for inserting content of register or expression, e.g. Ctrl+r, =5*5 (see: :help i_CTRL-R, :help c_CTRL-R and stackoverflow post).

Read more at: Avoid the escape key at vim wikia

Answer 7

You can map Caps Lock to Control without installing any extra software:

• In Mac OS X visit System Preferences > Keyboard -> Modifier Keys
• In Linux execute: setxkbmap -option caps:ctrl_modifier
• In Windows edit your registry.

This brings Control onto the middle row, making it easier to press all Control modified strokes, including Ctrl-[ and Ctrl-C which both exit Insert mode in Vim.

Make Caps Lock perform both Ctrl and Escape?

Alternatively, at the bottom of his answer Giovanni suggests to map Caps Lock to perform both Control and Escape depending on the length of press, but this requires installing extra software.

Some people love this.

I did not. Because sometimes I press Ctrl, then change my mind, and release it. If I do that too quickly, within the configured timeout, then it sends an Escape stroke, which in some situations can be quite disruptive (for example closing the current dialog window).

Differences between Ctrl-[ and Ctrl-C

Ctrl-[ is probably what you want, since it always works like Escape.

One difference with Ctrl-C is: When leaving an edit in blockwise visual mode, Ctrl-C will keep the changes you made on the current line, but will not repeat the changes over the other lines in the block, which is the point of that mode.

It also won't check for abbreviations, or trigger the InsertLeave event. See :help i_CTRL-C

Answer 8

In terminal vi and Vim, alt + single-normal-mode-key will work for quick edits in most terminals.

This works because most terminals send the alt modifier as the escape character. For example, when you type alt+k the terminal emulator sends two character to the running program: esc, k. Vi and Vim interpret this as you would expect; it leaves insert mode (because of the escape) and executes the normal mode command (in the example, moving the cursor up one line).

This can be a convenient way to exit insert mode if your keyboard has the alt key next to the space bar (so that it can be pressed by thumb, leaving your fingers on the home row), so long as you are using a terminal emulator with this behaviour and don't mind running a normal mode command.

Answer 9

I've been using Ctrl+3 since quite some time, I find it easier to type than most alternatives and seems to work nicely (at least on Linux). My Caps Lock is mapped to Ctrl, so it's very comfy to type it.

I tried using Ctrl+c for some time, but I had some issues with it which I don't recall exactly now, but I wasn't getting the exact same behavior as Esc, like I get now with Ctrl+3.

Answer 10

FWIW I use:

:map! ;l ^[
:vmap ;l ^[

It feels similar to hitting Return. I use ; as the leader for other Insert-mode mappings too.

The only time I've needed to type ';' + letter is when code golfing; I've not had any conflicts otherwise.

Answer 11

I have settled for <A-e> for the escape:

noremap  <A-e> <Esc>
snoremap <A-e> <Esc>
inoremap <A-e> <Esc>
tnoremap <A-e> <Esc>

" For some reason in command line mode '\e' is interpreted as Enter.
cnoremap <A-e> <C-c>

Edit: Just found about <C-\><C\n> which sends you to normal mode from any other mode. It also has better overall behavior. The mappings become:

noremap <A-e> <C-\><C-n>
noremap! <A-e> <C-\><C-n>

Answer 12

Here's a no-config, Mac-only alternative that I only just learned about. In macOS's Terminal.app and in MacVim's GUI version, (but not, notably, in the iTerm2 terminal*,) the standard macOS key combination ⌘. (Command-period) can be used to emulate an Esc keystroke.

_{* At least, not using any configuration options I could find in the preferences.}

Answer 13

To overcome the lagging caused by naive mapping inoremap jk <ESC>. I have written a plugin called better-escape.vim. Here is how to use it:

let g:better_escape_shortcut = 'jk'
let g:better_escape_interval = 200

By default, the time interval threshold for the pressing of j and k is set to 150 ms. That is, if the time interval between pressing k and pressing j is above the threshold, we assume that you want to insert jk literally. Otherwise, we assume you want to leave insert mode. This time interval can be customized via option g:better_escape_interval. In the above example, we have the time interval to 200ms.

With better-escape.vim, you can even set multiple shortcuts to escape insert mode:

let g:better_escape_shortcut = ['jk', 'jj', 'kj', 'лл']

Any of those shortcuts will help you escape insert mode easily.

Answer 14

As well as the other answers, remember that you don't always need to exit insert mode to perform commands. Two examples:

• CTRL-O (:help i_CTRL-O) will accept one normal mode command and then return to insert mode. For example, if on an empty line you enter insert mode and type the brown you can then type ^Obquick ^OA to change the text to the quick brown and remain in insert mode with your cursor after brown.

  This can be particularly handy with normal-mode mappings you create yourself. I map <TAB>d to insert the current date and normally use this via ^O^Id while I'm inserting text.¹

• CTRL-R (:help i_CTRL-R) lets you insert buffers and other information into the text as you're typing in insert mode. For example, ^R" will insert the your most recent deletion, and ^R% will insert the current filename.

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^{¹ I use :noremap <TAB><TAB> <TAB> to maintain access to the "move (count) forward in jump list" command.}

Answer 15

As already mentioned, remapping of CAPSLOCK to ESC and CTRL requires additional SW. For me, this is not an issue and I'm enjoying this mapping a lot! This is how I did it:

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Remap CAPSLOCK to ESC and CTRL on Windows

If you want to remap CAPSLOCK to both

1. to ESC (when pressed alone)
2. to CTRL (when pressed with other keys) you can use this little piece of open source software by ililim.

You do not need Admin privileges for this and ESC and CTRL are still working as expected.

I use it to enjoy convenient CTRL + anything presses without hurting my pinky and to toggle modes in Vim that I use via ssh in MobaXterm. For installation just follow this description.

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Remap CAPSLOCK to ESC and CTRL on Linux

To do the same on Linux, you can use XCAPE. To install it on Ubuntu use:

sudo apt install xcape

For the actual mapping do:

setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps
xcape -e 'Control_L=Escape'

The 1st command is to map CAPSLOCK to ESC whereas the 2nd one takes care of CTRL pressed with other keys.

To have this permanently working in X sessions, you can add this to ~/.xprofile.

Answer 16

nnoremap <C-I> <C-I>
vnoremap <Tab> <Esc>gV
onoremap <Tab> <Esc>
inoremap <Tab> <Esc>`^

I remap tab to exit. I think historically that's where the esc key used to be, so I used it and never looked back. I hardly ever need to put in a tab in a document, and when I do I just press shift + tab. I have never once missed the original tab binding.

Answer 17

vim v8.1 press any combine below in insert mode, will exit insert mode.

Alt+e
Alt+w
Alt+j
Alt+k
Alt+h
Alt+l
Alt+.