Text Editors

On a remote server there is no graphical interface. Editing a config file, writing a script, or fixing a mistake all happen in the terminal. vi or vim is guaranteed to be present on virtually every Unix system ever shipped, which makes it the one editor worth knowing even if you prefer something else for daily work. The others covered here are worth knowing about so you can make an informed choice for your own machine.

nano

nano is the easiest terminal editor to get started with. It shows its own keyboard shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, so you do not need to memorize anything to use it. The ^ symbol in the menu means Ctrl.

nano /path/to/file.txt

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+O	Save (write out)
Ctrl+X	Exit
Ctrl+K	Cut the current line
Ctrl+U	Paste
Ctrl+W	Search
Ctrl+G	Help

nano’s limitation is that it is not present on all server images (minimal containers and Alpine-based images often omit it) and it has no modal editing, macros, or scripting. For a quick config file edit it is fine; for anything more, vim is the better investment.

vim

vim is a modal editor: the same keys do different things depending on which mode you are in. This is disorienting at first but becomes fast once it is internalized, because your hands never leave the home row to reach for a mouse or arrow keys.

Modes

vim has four modes you will use regularly:

Mode	How to enter	Purpose
Normal	Esc (always)	Navigation and commands. The mode vim starts in.
Insert	i before cursor, a after, o new line below, O new line above	Typing text
Visual	v (character), V (full line)	Selecting text to copy, delete, or indent
Command	:	Running named commands (save, quit, search-replace)

Getting In and Out

Key	Action
:w	Save
:q	Quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)
:wq	Save and quit
:q!	Quit without saving

Stuck in vim?

Press Esc a few times to make sure you are in Normal mode, then type :q! and press Enter. This exits without saving. You can always start over.

Navigation

These work in Normal mode. Reaching for arrow keys works too, but the home-row keys are faster once you build the habit.

Key	Action
h / j / k / l	Left / down / up / right
w / b	Jump forward / backward one word
0 / $	Jump to start / end of the current line
gg / G	Jump to the first / last line of the file
Ctrl+d / Ctrl+u	Scroll half a page down / up
:42	Jump to line 42

Editing

Key	Action
x	Delete the character under the cursor
dd	Delete (cut) the current line
[count]dd	Delete [count] lines, starting with the current one
yy	Yank (copy) the current line
[count]yy	Yank [count] lines, starting with the current one
p	Paste below the current line
u	Undo
Ctrl+r	Redo
=	Auto-indent the current line or selection
gg=G	Auto-indent the whole file

In Visual mode, select text first with v or V, then press d to delete or y to yank the selection.

Search and Replace

Key / Command	Action
/text	Search forward for “text”
?text	Search backward
n / N	Jump to next / previous match
:%s/old/new/g	Replace every occurrence of “old” with “new” in the file
:%s/old/new/gc	Same, but ask for confirmation before each replacement

Useful commands

Command	What it does
:set number	Show line numbers
:set nonumber	Hide line numbers
:e filename	Open another file in the current window
:syntax on	Enable syntax highlighting

A few lines in ~/.vimrc can make vim significantly more livable without turning it into a full IDE. At minimum, set number and syntax on are worth adding.

Neovim

Neovim is a modernized fork of vim with a Lua-based plugin system, a built-in LSP (Language Server Protocol) client for code completion and diagnostics, and better defaults out of the box. Every vim keybinding and command works unchanged in Neovim. The reason to be aware of it: much of the current vim plugin ecosystem targets Neovim specifically, and many online configurations assume it. It is not the right tool for a quick SSH session on an unfamiliar server, but it is a strong choice if you want vim as your primary editor on your own machine.

Emacs

Emacs is built on a different philosophy from vim: rather than a text editor, it is a programmable environment (in Emacs Lisp) that happens to edit text. It uses chord shortcuts (Ctrl+x Ctrl+s to save, Ctrl+x Ctrl+c to quit) rather than modal editing, and it maintains a persistent session where buffers, terminal sessions, and file trees all coexist. It has a devoted following, particularly in Lisp and functional programming communities. It is not a practical starting point for a sysadmin learning terminal editors, but it is worth knowing what it is when you encounter it.

Helix

Helix is a modal editor like vim but with a selection-first model: you select text first, then act on it, rather than vim’s action-then-motion order. It ships with tree-sitter syntax highlighting and LSP support built in, with no plugin installation or configuration needed. Because it works well out of the box without any dotfiles, it is a practical choice for a sysadmin who wants something more capable than nano on a fresh server where their vim config is not available.

Helix is not installed by default on most systems, so you would need to install it yourself. Its key bindings are similar enough to vim that the concepts transfer, but different enough that the table below is worth consulting.

Key / Command	Mode	Action
i	Normal	Insert before selection
a	Normal	Insert after selection
o / O	Normal	Open new line below / above
Esc	Insert / Select	Return to Normal mode
v	Normal	Enter Select (visual) mode
x	Normal	Select the current line (extend selection)
d	Normal / Select	Delete selection
c	Normal / Select	Change (delete selection and enter Insert mode)
y	Normal / Select	Yank (copy) selection
p	Normal	Paste after cursor
u	Normal	Undo
h / j / k / l	Normal	Left / down / up / right
w / b	Normal	Next / previous word
gg / ge	Normal	First / last line
/	Normal	Search
n / N	Normal	Next / previous match
:w	Command	Save
:q	Command	Quit
Space	Normal	Open command palette and file picker