I had the same issue. Here's my config to solve it (ijkl become like arrow keys, h is insert instead): map k g<Down> map i g<Up> map j <Left> n

I had the same issue. Here's my config to solve it (ijkl become like arrow keys, h is insert instead): map k g<Down> map i g<Up> map j <Left> noremap h i Note that with this config, we maintain the normal mode "inner" text objects with "h" instead of "i". So where you would previous type di' to delete inside quotes, now you'll dh'. And dh( instead of di(, etc. It all works, and I've been using this config for a couple years now.