High School

You just discovered the changes you made to your file in vi editor are all wrong and you need to exit without saving - what keystroke or combination of keystrokes will do this from command mode?

Answer :

If you have made changes in the vi editor that you want to discard, and you need to exit without saving, you can do this by using a specific command sequence from command mode. Here’s how:

  1. Enter Command Mode:

    • First, ensure you are in command mode. You can do this by pressing the Esc key, which ensures you are not in insert mode.
  2. Exit Without Saving:

    • In command mode, type :q! and then press Enter. Here’s what each part means:
      • : - This tells vi that you are entering a command.
      • q - This stands for 'quit.' It indicates that you want to exit the editor.
      • ! - This is used to force the quit command, meaning that it will exit without saving any changes.

Entering :q! and hitting Enter will exit the vi editor immediately, discarding all changes made during that session. This is particularly useful when you realize the changes are undesired and shouldn't be kept.