Quick Start Card — First 30 Minutes

This is the only page you need for your first VisiData session. Learn these 20 keys first. Everything else can wait.

tip

Bookmark this page. The full Keyboard Map has 100+ keys — come back to that after your first hour.

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Open VisiData

vd filename.csv                    # open a CSV file
vd filename.xlsx                   # open Excel
cat file.json | vd -f json         # pipe JSON from stdin
vd directory/                      # browse a directory

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The 20 Keys That Matter First

Move Around

Key	Does what
Arrow keys or hjkl	Move cursor
g + Arrow	Jump to edge (first/last row or column)
q	Go back one sheet (exit if on last)

Understand Your Data

Key	Does what
Shift+I	Profile all columns — null counts, min, max, mean
Shift+F	Frequency table for current column — value counts
[ / ]	Sort ascending / descending by current column

Select and Filter Rows

Key	Does what
| + pattern	Select rows matching regex in current column
z| + expr	Select rows matching Python expression
"	Open new sheet with only selected rows
gu	Deselect all

Change Column Type (do this before sorting or aggregating)

Key	Does what
#	Cast to integer
%	Cast to float
@	Cast to date

Edit and Transform

Key	Does what
e	Edit current cell
Ctrl+C	Cancel an edit (inside edit mode)
gs then g=	Bulk set selected rows to Python expression
U	Undo last change

Save

Key	Does what
Ctrl+S	Save current sheet
Shift+D then Ctrl+S	Save workflow as replayable .vdj

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Your First 5-Minute Workflow

vd ~/github/practice-folder/visidata/01-loading/01-employees.csv

# 1. Look at the data — just scroll around with arrow keys
# 2. Press Shift+I → see how many nulls, what types you have
# 3. Press q → back to source
# 4. Move to 'salary' column → press % → cast to float
# 5. Press ] → sort by salary descending — see top earners
# 6. Move to 'department' column → press Shift+F → see department counts
# 7. Press q → back to source
# 8. Move to 'department' → press | → type Engineering → Enter
#    → Engineering rows turn yellow (selected)
# 9. Press " → open filtered sheet with only Engineering employees
# 10. Press Ctrl+S → save to /tmp/engineering.csv
# 11. Press q → back to full sheet

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If You're Stuck

Situation	Key
Don't know what key to use	Space — command palette, type a keyword
Lost in the sheet stack	Shift+S — see all open sheets
Want to cancel something	Ctrl+C
Accidentally deleted something	U — undo
Want to quit cleanly	gq — quit all sheets

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Common Beginner Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Sort gives wrong order (1, 10, 2)	Cast column to # or % first
" opens empty sheet	No rows were selected — use | first
q exits VisiData	That was the last sheet — use Ctrl+^ to swap instead
Expression gives #ERR	Column not cast — cast to % or # before using in g= or =

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What's Next

When you're ready for the full reference:

• Keyboard Map — every key in VisiData, organized by category
• Sheet Stack and Prefix Keys — understand why VisiData works the way it does
• Column Types and Casting — deep dive into types