I've been using Ctrl-[ instead of Esc for so long that I forget that a lot of people don't know about it. This may not be convenient on non-English keyboard layouts.

More alternatives: https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Avoid_the_escape_key

small fun fact: I switched to this when the escape key was taken from me (thanks again NOT apple) After switching to a newer MacBook that has the escape key I did not start using that again, but stuck to the Ctrl-[ as it just works.

Better yet, remap CapsLock to Ctrl.

I'm playing into the joke here, but on most terminals, alt + <key> will actually be sent to the program as <esc> + key. You can use this to avoid pressing escape in Neovim.

Interesting tip too! Need to find the right combination however, I noticed that Alt-L might be a good one (no side effect it seems).

That will move your cursor to the right by one character after exiting insert mode.

Entering + exiting insert mode with i and Esc moves your cursor to the left by one, so I suppose this neutralizes it?

+1. I mainly use this approach. If your next intended move is to go to the next line, Alt-J will exit insert mode and go to the next line immediately. Also the same for Alt+w/W/b/B, Alt+o, Alt+0, etc etc and it's just a matter of using your left thumb at the same time as navigating.

Remapping Caps Lock to Ctrl is a life changer in any environment. Seriously, just try it. It makes a useless key actually useful.

But I use caps lock. Sometimes.

Nice, I didn’t pick up on that one. And I do have Caps Lock mapped to remapped to Escape haha.

If any vim enthusiasts haven’t read this history before, this article [1] provides a good overview of how ex/vi came to be. The photo of the Lear Siegler ADM-3A keyboard used by Bill Joy largely explains the odd choice of keys.

[1]: https://twobithistory.org/2018/08/05/where-vim-came-from.htm...

Trick for those wanting caps lock to be compose instead: ctrl-c also works as escape, and has historically been slightly faster due to sidestepping the escape timeout.

<c-c> is not completely equivalent to <esc>. For example, 50i=<c-c> will insert only one equals sign.

I've remapped caps lock to ctrl with chords and escape when clicked alone. Feel it's the best of both worlds :)

Wow super useful, didn't know that.

EDIT: removed comment about cursor behavior of ctrl-c, which comes from my vimrc config ^^ Turns out I learned that long ago, but never used it :-D

Aaaactually… professionals map jj to Esc.

JJ Abrams disagrees, though.

Depends on how fast a typist he is.

What about control+c? Also, I've never used vim without remapping `jj` to <Esc>.

Ctrl+C and Esc do not behave the same in all contexts. The correct replacement for Esc is Ctrl+[.

What if you need to type `jj`? Not uncommon to do so while writing math or physics papers. a_{jj}

Not using this personally but there can be a timeout, or you do jk<backspace>j. Fine if the letter sequence is rare enough.

Spacemacs defaults to fd, I don't think I ever accidentally left insert mode with that.

Happy vscode user these days. If I find myself fiddling with an editor it's a huge red flag to me that I hate what I'm working on.

I still don't understand how these mappings are good.

What if you need to type "fd" in insert mode? Like fd0, fd1, etc. Isn't that going to be a pain? Do you never have to type "fd"?

There is a timeout on multi-key mappings, so if you need to type fd0 you type f, wait 'timeoutlen' (1 second by default apparently), then type d0.

That's a pain, but it doesn't come up often. In return you get quite a lot of functionality (due to vim being modal) without having to move your fingers beyond the letter keys, which is quite relaxing.

Having fiddled with file descriptors, I could never live with such a remap. To each their own :)

fd sounds much worse as now you can't jump to d characters.

False. The fd mapping would only apply in insert mode. Jumping to d only occurs in normal mode.

Oops - you're correct, of course.

Type "jj" a little slower if you don't want it to be <esc>, it works fine.

I think jk is a bit easier to type but they both work well!

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, repeating the same key with the same finger is slower than dropping two fingers down onto `jk`.

But remapping Caps Lock to a combination Ctrl/Esc is so convenient, regardless of Vim!