vi
Classic Unix modal text editor available on virtually every system.
Synopsis
vi [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Examples
vi file.txt
vi +42 script.sh
vi -R /etc/passwd
vi -r recovered.txt
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -R | Read-only mode |
| +n | Open at line number n |
| -c | Execute command after opening |
| -r | Recover from swap file |
About vi
The `vi` command classic Unix modal text editor available on virtually every system. Text viewing and editing commands are fundamental tools in any Linux user's toolkit.
Linux treats almost everything as a file, so the ability to quickly inspect, filter, transform, and edit file contents from the command line is critical. These commands are regularly combined with pipes and redirects to build powerful data-processing pipelines.
The command accepts 4 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man vi`). The 4 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More File Viewing & Editing Commands
Other commands in the File Viewing & Editing category