How to exit from "vim -y" in console?

Question

Accidentally I typed vim -y install python-requests instead of yum ... and I do not know how to exit from vim now. Standard option with shift + : + q! does not work. Are there any options how to exit from vim without killing it?

Answer 1

With -y (easy mode), Vim defaults to insert mode, and you cannot permanently exit to normal mode via <Esc>. However, like in default Vim, you can issue a single normal mode command via <C-O>. So to exit, type <C-O>:q!<CR>.

Alternatively, there's a special <C-L> mapping for easy mode that returns to normal mode.