Backspacing with vim

Question

I realize that the "command" for erasing a letter is x, but if you're seriously just erasing like 3-5 letters, is it really beneficial at all to press ESC + hhhhh + xxxxx?

In vim, is there any reason we can't use the backspace?

Answer 1

Since your your typing sequence starts with <Esc> I assume you are in insert mode, right? If so, you can type <C-w> to delete the word on the left of the cursor without leaving insert mode.

Hitting <bs> works in insert mode as well for single characters, there's no real need to get out of it if you only need to delete a few of the characters you just typed.

x is "the" command to erase a letter in normal mode but it only works alone (x) or with a count (5x), same for X. There are many situations where you need to act on a whole word or two, or what's between a pair of parenthesis, or until a specific pattern forward, or until and including a specific letter backward… In such situations, you should use d in combination with motions.

Answer 2

In command mode, Backspace is used to move cursor to left. If you want to use it as expected, use following command in command mode:

:nnoremap <bs> X  

Add it in your .vimrc file if you want permanent change.

Answer 3

Instead of ESC hhhhh xxxxx, try d5h.

Answer 4

You can use the mapping Sachin Shekhar suggested or do it "the Vi way", but there is in my opinion a better way:

The backspace setting controls how the Backspace key works. Putting this in your .vimrc makes the Backspace key work the way most people expect:

set backspace=indent,eol,start

Do :h 'backspace for more information.