Typed Commands

List of commands that can be run from the command menu, which is open with :

Name	Description
:quit and :q	Close the current view.
:quit! and :q!	Force close the current view, ignoring unsaved changes.
:open, :o, :edit and :e	Open a file from disk into the current view.
:buffer-close, :bc and :bclose	Close the current buffer.
:buffer-close!, :bc! and :bclose!	Close the current buffer forcefully, ignoring unsaved changes.
:buffer-close-others, :bco and :bcloseother	Close all buffers but the currently focused one.
:buffer-close-others!, :bco! and :bcloseother!	Force close all buffers but the currently focused one.
:buffer-close-all, :bca and :bcloseall	Close all buffers without quitting.
:buffer-close-all!, :bca! and :bcloseall!	Force close all buffers ignoring unsaved changes without quitting.
:buffer-next, :bn and :bnext	Goto next buffer.
:buffer-previous, :bp and :bprev	Goto previous buffer.
:write and :w	Write changes to disk. Accepts an optional path (:write some/path.txt)
:write! and :w!	Force write changes to disk creating necessary subdirectories. Accepts an optional path (:write! some/path.txt)
:write-buffer-close and :wbc	Write changes to disk and closes the buffer. Accepts an optional path (:write-buffer-close some/path.txt)
:write-buffer-close! and :wbc!	Force write changes to disk creating necessary subdirectories and closes the buffer. Accepts an optional path (:write-buffer-close! some/path.txt)
:new and :n	Create a new scratch buffer.
:format and :fmt	Format the file using the LSP formatter.
:indent-style	Set the indentation style for editing. (‘t’ for tabs or 1-16 for number of spaces.)
:line-ending	Set the document’s default line ending. Options: crlf, lf.
:earlier and :ear	Jump back to an earlier point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span.
:later and :lat	Jump to a later point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span.
:write-quit, :wq and :x	Write changes to disk and close the current view. Accepts an optional path (:wq some/path.txt)
:write-quit!, :wq! and :x!	Write changes to disk and close the current view forcefully. Accepts an optional path (:wq! some/path.txt)
:write-all and :wa	Write changes from all buffers to disk.
:write-all! and :wa!	Forcefully write changes from all buffers to disk creating necessary subdirectories.
:write-quit-all, :wqa and :xa	Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views.
:write-quit-all!, :wqa! and :xa!	Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views forcefully (ignoring unsaved changes).
:quit-all and :qa	Close all views.
:quit-all! and :qa!	Force close all views ignoring unsaved changes.
:cquit and :cq	Quit with exit code (default 1). Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq 2).
:cquit! and :cq!	Force quit with exit code (default 1) ignoring unsaved changes. Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq! 2).
:theme	Change the editor theme (show current theme if no name specified).
:yank-join	Yank joined selections. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline.
:clipboard-yank	Yank main selection into system clipboard.
:clipboard-yank-join	Yank joined selections into system clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline.
:primary-clipboard-yank	Yank main selection into system primary clipboard.
:primary-clipboard-yank-join	Yank joined selections into system primary clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline.
:clipboard-paste-after	Paste system clipboard after selections.
:clipboard-paste-before	Paste system clipboard before selections.
:clipboard-paste-replace	Replace selections with content of system clipboard.
:primary-clipboard-paste-after	Paste primary clipboard after selections.
:primary-clipboard-paste-before	Paste primary clipboard before selections.
:primary-clipboard-paste-replace	Replace selections with content of system primary clipboard.
:show-clipboard-provider	Show clipboard provider name in status bar.
:change-current-directory and :cd	Change the current working directory.
:show-directory and :pwd	Show the current working directory.
:encoding	Set encoding. Based on https://encoding.spec.whatwg.org.
:character-info and :char	Get info about the character under the primary cursor.
:reload and :rl	Discard changes and reload from the source file.
:reload-all and :rla	Discard changes and reload all documents from the source files.
:update and :u	Write changes only if the file has been modified.
:lsp-workspace-command	Open workspace command picker
:lsp-restart	Restarts the language servers used by the current doc
:lsp-stop	Stops the language servers that are used by the current doc
:tree-sitter-scopes	Display tree sitter scopes, primarily for theming and development.
:tree-sitter-highlight-name	Display name of tree-sitter highlight scope under the cursor.
:debug-start and :dbg	Start a debug session from a given template with given parameters.
:debug-remote and :dbg-tcp	Connect to a debug adapter by TCP address and start a debugging session from a given template with given parameters.
:debug-eval	Evaluate expression in current debug context.
:vsplit and :vs	Open the file in a vertical split.
:vsplit-new and :vnew	Open a scratch buffer in a vertical split.
:hsplit, :hs and :sp	Open the file in a horizontal split.
:hsplit-new and :hnew	Open a scratch buffer in a horizontal split.
:tutor	Open the tutorial.
:goto and :g	Goto line number.
:set-language and :lang	Set the language of current buffer (show current language if no value specified).
:set-option and :set	Set a config option at runtime. For example to disable smart case search, use :set search.smart-case false.
:toggle-option and :toggle	Toggle a boolean config option at runtime. For example to toggle smart case search, use :toggle search.smart-case.
:get-option and :get	Get the current value of a config option.
:sort	Sort ranges in selection.
:rsort	Sort ranges in selection in reverse order.
:reflow	Hard-wrap the current selection of lines to a given width.
:tree-sitter-subtree and :ts-subtree	Display the smallest tree-sitter subtree that spans the primary selection, primarily for debugging queries.
:config-reload	Refresh user config.
:config-open	Open the user config.toml file.
:config-open-workspace	Open the workspace config.toml file.
:log-open	Open the helix log file.
:insert-output	Run shell command, inserting output before each selection.
:append-output	Run shell command, appending output after each selection.
:pipe	Pipe each selection to the shell command.
:pipe-to	Pipe each selection to the shell command, ignoring output.
:run-shell-command and :sh	Run a shell command
:reset-diff-change, :diffget and :diffg	Reset the diff change at the cursor position.
:clear-register	Clear given register. If no argument is provided, clear all registers.
:redraw	Clear and re-render the whole UI
:move and :mv	Move the current buffer and its corresponding file to a different path
:yank-diagnostic	Yank diagnostic(s) under primary cursor to register, or clipboard by default
:read and :r	Load a file into buffer