In vi, how do I go to a particular line or word in a file? (2024)

You can go to a particular line or word in a fileusing vi in several ways:

• To make vi start at a particular line in a file, add+line_num to the command you use to start vi. Replaceline_num with the line number, for example:

   vi +36 foo.c

• If you're already in vi, you can use the goto command. To dothis, press Esc, type the line number, and then pressShift-g. If you press Esc and thenShift-g without specifying a line number, it will takeyou to the last line in the file.
• You can also use the ex command line to go to a line. (Forinformation about the ex mode, see Use the vi text editor) For instance, if you wanted to go to line 14, you couldpress Esc and then enter:

   :14

• To search forward for some text, use the/ (forward slash) command. PressEsc and then enter /pattern, replacingpattern with the text for which you want to searchforward. For example, to find every instance of the word "blimp", enter:

   /blimp

  To look for the next occurrence after the first, either pressn or press / againand then press Enter. To go back to a previousoccurrence, press Shift-n. To search backwards ina file, use the ? command.
• To see what line you're on at any time, pressCtrl-Shift-g. To number all lines, pressEsc and enter:

   :set number