I am not sure why the advice starts with "ctrl+q". In insert mode, "ctrl+q" followed by "ctrl+c" will cause the literal ctrl+c character to be inserted, and ":

I am not sure why the advice starts with "ctrl+q". In insert mode, "ctrl+q" followed by "ctrl+c" will cause the literal ctrl+c character to be inserted, and ":q!" after that won't have the desired effect. Similarly for search mode. A better suggestion is probably to just hit Esc repeatedly to try to get back to normal mode, and exit via ZZ (save) or ZQ (don't save).