How do I quit from Vi?

vim is a modal editor. Hit the ESC key to get into Normal (command) mode then type :q and press Enter.

To quit without saving any changes, type :q! and press Enter.

See also Getting out in Vim documentation.

I use ctrl+[ to generate the esc sequence, this keeps me from having to move my fingers from the home row (remember the esc key was in a different place when vi was invented. :wq will write all files regardeless of necessity. I suggest using ZZ (which is shift+z twice) which will only write if a change has been made in the file. Also :xa is the same as ZZ except if you have more than 1 file open in the editor instance (such as vim tabs). note: I'm not sure all this is 100% compat with all vi clones, but I know it works with vim

The quit from the vi is another way is Esc :x.

The option is used for save and quit at the same time.