EMACS Quick Reference Guide
Note that (Esc) is always pressed prior (i.e. sequentially) to
the following key. Avoid holding down the escape key. Note also that <ctrl>x<ctrl>f is different from
<ctrl>xf. In the second case, do not hold down the control key while pressing f.
- <ctrl>p previous line
- <ctrl>n next line
- <ctrl>a beginning of line
- <ctrl>e end of line
- <ctrl>f and <ctrl>b forward and back one letter at a time
- arrow keys also move the cursor around (duplicating <ctrl>p, <ctrl>n,
<ctrl>f, and <ctrl>b)
- <esc>v previous screenfull
- <ctrl>v next screenfull
- <esc>> end of document
Cutting and Pasting
- <ctrl>k kills (cuts) to the end of the line (a second <ctrl>k
will cut the carriage return)
- <ctrl>y yanks back text from the last kill (several kills in a
row count as one kill unless another command or some typing somes between them)
- My immediately after a <ctrl>y will replace what you just yanked
by previously killed text (and will keep moving backward through previous text you've killed)
- <ctrl>d deletes the character at the cursor location
- <ctrl>2 some
text <ctrl>w wipes out a region (see below for regions)
These can be yanked back with <ctrl>y
- using the mouse to copy and paste will work under Xwindows (such as
- <ctrl>x<ctrl>f find file
- <ctrl>x<ctrl>s save file
- <ctrl>xi insert file at cursor position
- <ctrl>xs save any files that have changed (you'll have to answer
y/n for each file)
- <ctrl>x<ctrl>w write out current buffer into new file (to
save under a different file name)
Search and Replace
- <ctrl>s search starting at cursor point (you'll be prompted for
search string) Repeated <ctrl>s commands will find the next occurance.
- <ctrl>r reverse search
- <esc> (Escape) or any other command or mouse click will terminate
- <ctrl>s<ctrl>s will use the previous search string
- <esc>% prompts for a string and replacement and will ask for confirmation
- <esc>xreplace-string prompts for string and replacement and replaces
all without confirmation
- <ctrl>g abort command in progress
- <ctrl>x<ctrl>c quit emacs (<ctrl>z will suspend)
- <ctrl>xu undo, will continue to undo until the last save
- <esc>$ check spelling of this word
- <ctrl>xb change buffers (switch between files if more than one
- <esc>q formats paragraph so all lines are no longer than "fill"
- <ctrl>xf sets "fill" amount to current cursor position
- use space or tab for word or command completion on the command line
- You can create a region by setting a mark at one end with <ctrl>2
and moving the cursor to the other end. Operations on regions include <ctrl>w (wipe out), <ctrl>x<ctrl>i
(indent, if no region is set, indents current line) and <ctrl>g (formats region according to "fill"
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