Normal mode

Think of normal mode as Helix’s default state. Helix starts in normal mode, and if you’re using Helix properly, normal mode is what you’ll naturally fall back to when editing.

To get into normal mode, hit the escape key. No matter where you are in Helix, you can generally keep hitting escape until the statusline reads NOR again.

Starting in normal mode might seem unnatural, but it makes sense when you realize that most of the time, we’re navigating the document and editing existing text as opposed to inserting new text.

Try it in the editor: hit escape (nothing changes — you were already in normal mode), then poke a few other keys and see what happens.