Exiting Insert Mode

Three ways out, and why people remap.

Keys: Esc, Ctrl-[, Ctrl-C

Esc, Ctrl-[, and Ctrl-C all exit insert mode — but they're not identical. Esc and Ctrl-[ trigger InsertLeave; Ctrl-C bypasses it.

Exiting insert mode

There are three ways out of insert mode. Two are equivalent, one is subtly different — and that subtle difference matters.

The three exits

Key	Note
`Esc`	The canonical exit.
`Ctrl-[`	Identical to `Esc` (terminal heritage).
`{key:Ctrl-C}`	Exits, but skips InsertLeave.

See also: One-Shot Normal Mode, The Modes