The Two Modes That Explain Everything

Modes: The Key to Vim

Vim has modes. The two you must know:

Mode	You're doing…	How you get there
Normal	Navigating & running commands (delete, save, quit)	Press `Esc` (always returns here)
Insert	Actually typing text	Press `i` from Normal

There's also Command-line mode (for saving/quitting), which you enter by typing : from Normal.

        press i
NORMAL ─────────▶ INSERT   (now you can type)
   ▲                 │
   └──── press Esc ◀──┘

NORMAL ── press : ──▶ COMMAND-LINE  (type :wq to save & quit)

Tip: The golden rule: when in doubt, press Esc. It always takes you back to Normal mode. From Normal, everything is possible.

You open a file with vim filename. It starts in Normal mode - which is exactly why typing does weird things until you press i.