what is the command to move the cursor to the start of the current line?

June 28, 2026

The command you’re looking for is: 0 In vi/vim , pressing 0 (zero) in normal mode moves the cursor to the start of the current line.

Quick Scoop

In vi-style editors, a single keystroke is all it takes to jump to the start of the line.

Here are the closely related commands so you don’t mix them up:

0 → Move to the absolute start of the current line (first column).

^ → Move to the first non-blank character on the current line (skips leading spaces/tabs).

$ → Move to the end of the current line.

A tiny mental story to remember it:

Think of 0 as “column zero” – the very beginning.
Think of ^ as “start of real text” on that line, ignoring indentation.

Mini FAQ

Does this work in vim and classic vi?
Yes, 0, ^, and $ are standard cursor movement commands in both vi and vim.

Why do some tutorials say^?
They’re answering a slightly different question: “go to first non-space character,” which is ^, not 0.

HTML table: vi/vim line-start commands

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Command</th>
      <th>Moves cursor to</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>0</td>
      <td>Absolute start of current line (column 0)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>^</td>
      <td>First non-blank character on current line</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>$</td>
      <td>End of current line</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR:
To move the cursor to the start of the current line in vi/vim, press 0 (zero).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.