Main source is Absolute Beginners Guide to
Emacs
with pictures and key bindings, good plain language overview
Use modeline to check place in file: <file> line number:column
top/bot/all/xx%
Top first line is visible
Bot last line is visible
All first and last line are visible
45% relative position in the file
Format is same as vim ruler (in vim :help ruler)
Name
Shortcuts
Buffer, Save
C-x C-s
Buffer, Switch
C-x b
Buffer, Switch: Cycle through buffers
C-x right , C-x left
Buffer, Switch: List Buffers
C-x C-b
Exit emacs
C-x C-c
Find / Open file
find-file, C-x C-f
Function, pass argument
C-u <argument> <function>
Help
C-h C-h
Personal and common major mode leader key
C-c
Quit partial command
C-g
Quit read only buffer
q
Reload screen, mode (many modes like magit, dashboard)
g
Run any command
M-x
Run commands relevant to buffer modes
M-S-X (M-X)
Name
Shortcuts
proced: htop equivalent, list system processes and act on them
proced
proced: Mark
m
proced: sort, select sorting
s
proced: sort, by memory
s m
proced: kill
k
proced: quit
k
proced: help
proced-help
Location of save, history, kill ring and other file variable
savehist-file
Restart Emacs
restart-emacs
Name
Shortcuts
Update all packages
auto-package-update-now
Update all straight installed packages
straight-pull-all
Name
Shortcuts
New frame (window)
C-x 5 2
Close frame (window)
C-x 5 0
Speedbar (like file, buffer explorer)
speedbar
Name
Shortcuts
Split, set only 1 window (un-split)
C-x 1
Split window horizontally
C-x 2
Split window vertically
C-x 3
Go to other windows (cycle through windows))
C-x o
Name
Shortcuts
Indent region fn1
C-M-\ or indent-region
Indent region right
Ctrl + right arrow
Indent region left
Ctrl + left arrow
Indent region with keys
Select region, C-x TAB, use arrows, ESC x 3
Sort text lines, numeric, alpha, other
sort-lines or org-sort
Increase, add numbers in selected/marked rectangle region
rectangle-number-lines
fn1 Indent region can be used to indent region to same column or
“delete” an indent by reset the first item in the region to the
desired indentation.
Name
Shortcuts
Mark / Select
C-SPC (Spacebar) to start/stop highlight
Mark - multiple select, region in rectangle, if in Evil, switch to Emacs
C-x SPC or rectangle-mark-mode
Mark - paragraph
mark-paragraph
Mark - select current paragraph
M-h
Cut (kill marked) text
SHIFT-DEL or C-w
Cut to end of current line
C-k
Copy (copy marked) text
C-INSERT or M-w
Paste (yank text back)
SHIFT-INSERT or C-y
Paste (using kill ring)
M-y or M-Y (reverse direction)
Undo - redo
C-/ or C-_
Undo
C-M-_
Undo Multiple Mode
undo-tree-mode
Kill word (delete word near cursor)
M-d
Comment Region / Uncomment region
M-; / uncomment-region
Comment region with box
comment-box
Clear kill ring
(setq kill-ring nil)
For undo in region, select/mark region and undo will be limited to the
region, there are other operations like replace-string (search and
replace) that work the same way
See also:
Only matches characters, not regex unless using isearch-…-regex
Name
Shortcuts
Search and highlight in file
M-s h l or hi-lock-face-buffer
Search and highlight in file, cancel
M-s h u or hi-lock-unface-buffer aka unhighlight-regexp
Search in file isearch
C-s or isearch-forward, C-s or isearch-backward
Search in file isearch, cancel
C-g
Search in file isearch, enter at point
Enter
Search in file isearch, enter beginning of search word
C-b
Search in file isearch regex
C-M-s or isearch-forward-regex, C-M-r or isearch-backward-regex
Search in file isearch, repeat last search
C-s C-s or C-r C-r
Search in file isearch with occur for buffer with results
C-s <search-text> M-s-o (while in isearch)
Search with search results occur
M-s-o or occur
Name
Shortcuts
Search all files with *
M-x grep , grep <options> PATTERN *
Search and replace with extra functionality
M-Shift-% or query replace or replace-string
Find and replace search query
M-% or query-replace
Find and replace search query from isearch
C-s <search-text> M-% (while in isearch, can also work with isearch regex commands)
Find and replace search query, previous queries
M-p
Find and replace works for whole buffer or selected region
Name
Shortcuts
Search in file
M-x swiper or helm-swoop
Find and replace - Close all file buffers
projectile-replace
Find and replace - Close all file buffers
dired-do-find-regexp-and-replace (Q) in dired in a directory or with marked files
Find word -Search (backward)
C-r or Backspace (aka DEL)
Regexp “helper”, interactive
M-x re-builder
Re-builder - interactive regexp editing that highlights matches
For re-builder, escape characters are double like word boundary
\\< and a group is \\(...\\)
Switch to string syntax and things look like normal Emacs regexps:
(setq reb-re-syntax 'string)
Name
Shortcuts
Delete the character just before the cursor
<DEL>
Delete the next character after the cursor, delete line on character before empty lines
C-d
Delete to end of line/beginning of line
C-k, C-u
Kill from the cursor position to end of line
C-k
Kill the next word after the cursor
M-d
Kill the word immediately before the cursor
M-<DEL>
Kill to the end of the current sentence
M-k
Use various functions to convert region/words to all uppercase,
lowercase or capitalize all words
Name
Shortcuts
Capitalize words in region
Capitlize-dwim
Upper case all words in region
upcase-dwim
Lower case all words in region
downcase-dwim
Combine navigation commands with C-u + number plus the navigation
command to move by that number (e.g. C-u 2 C-f to move forward 2
characters).
Name
Shortcuts
Move forward a character
C-f
Move backward a character
C-b
Move forward a word
M-f= or `C-arrow-key-left
Move to next line
C-n
Move to previous line
C-p
Move to beginning of line
C-a or home
Move to end of line
C-e or end
Move to beginning of buffer
M-< or =C-Home
Move to end of buffer
M-> or =C-End
Move back to beginning of sentence
M-a
Move forward to end of sentence
M-e
Scroll up
Page Up or C-v
Scroll up other window
M-Page Up
Scroll down
Page Down M-v
Scroll down other window
M-Page Down
Increase font / text size
C-x C-+ or text scale increase
Navigate on headings / code parts in buffer
counsel-imenu or imenu / M-g i (Emacs 29)
Navigate on headings
counsel-outline
Switch to or restart ‘scratch
scratch-buffer
Center current line in buffer
C-l
Center current line in buffer, then top
C-l C-l
Clone, duplicate buffer
clone-buffer
Time, view clock, time of day
M-x display-time-mode
Source: Issue 001 - System
Crafters - see
Tips of the Week
Name
Shortcuts
Draw line in buffer where fill-column is set
display-fill-column-indicator-mode
Automatically wrap paragraph text to fit within the specified width
auto-fill-mode
Center a region
center-region
Reshapes a paragraph of text so that it fits under 80 columns
M-q or fill-paragraph
Set at where fill-column cuts off for display fill column indicator
Source: GNU Emacs Manual -
Registers
Register is like a bookmark/saved text, position, window/frame
configuration, and rectangle for later use. Register names are a single
character like r.
Name
Shortcuts
Bookmark set
C-x r m, bookmark-set
Bookmark: jump to
C-x r b , bookmark-jump
Bookmark: list all
C-x r l , list-bookmarks
Bookmark: save all to file
bookmark-save
Name
Shortcuts
Register: View contents of named register “r”
view-register RET r
Register: Record position of point in register “r”
C-x r SPC r , point-to-register
Register: Go to register “r”, recall frameset, number, etc.
C-x r j r , jump-to-register
Register: Copy region into register “r”
C-x r s r , copy-to-register
Register: Insert (paste) from register “r”
C-x r i r, insert-register
Register: Append region to register “r”
append-to-register RET r
Register: Prepend region to register “r”
prepend-to-register RET r
Register: Copy rectangle region to register “r”
C-x r r r , copy-rectangle-to-register
Register: Insert rectangle region to register “r”
C-x r i r , copy-rectangle-to-register
Register: Save window and frame configurations
window-configuration-to-register
Register: Save frames and windows configurations
frameset-to-register
Register: Restore window/frame config (same as jump)
C-x r j r , jump-to-register
Register: Store number in register “r”
C-x r n r , number-to-register
Register: Increment number in register “r”
C-x r + r , increment-register
Register: Save macro to register “r”
C-x C-k x r , kmacro-to-register
Register: Execute keyboard macro in register “r”
C-x r j r
Save file and buffer names in registers:
(set-register r '(file . name))
Name
Shortcuts
Customize interface
M-x customize
Activate text major mode
M-x text-mode
Completion, minibuffer
M-x.ido-mode or fido-mode
Change margins for auto-fill-mode auto line wrapping)
C-x f
Set directory local variables
M-x.add-dir-local-variable or use .dir-locals.el
Set directory local variables that only apply in a certain directory
like with using projectile-test-cmd, setting file formatter, project
and language specific
configurations/LSPs
and others
Example .dir-locals.el to set compile command
((nil . ((compile-command . "cmake --fresh -S <source> -B <build> && cmake --build <build> -j32 && ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir <build> -j32"))))
;; For a rust project, tells LSP to analyze the code with the generate_templates feature enabled
;; Additional multiple features can be added like debug_mode and experimental
((nil . ((lsp-rust-features . ["generate_templates" "debug_mode" "experimental"]))))
Name
Shortcuts
Record macro
F3
Stop recording macro
F4
Execute macro
F4
Execute macro until end of file or error
C-0 F4
Name, save macro
M-x kmacro-name-last-macro= (use a prefix like mp-)
Have Emacs generate Elisp for a macro
M-x insert-kbd-macro
Tip: using insert-kbd=macro, save for use as an interactive function
for repetitive use
Name
Shortcuts
Help
C-h
Help on feature
C-h c
Help on command
C-h k
Help on function (describe-function)
C-h f= - can drill into function’s cod
Help on variable (describe-variable)
C-h v
Help on key bindings for current function/minibuffer
C-h b
Help on all active major and minor modes
C-h m or M-x describe-mode
Help Apropos (search command keyword)
C-h a
Help Search - search all manuals
info-apropos
Read manuals (aka info) for installed packages
C-h i
Open emacs manual
C-h r
Help buffer - next / Previous page in Info buffer
n / p
For Emacs manuals, info-emacs-manual and press h to view info mode
manual
Name
Shortcuts
Cross references
f
Directory, list of manuals (e.g. emacs, calc)
d
Help for info mode
S-H or ?
Link, go back
l
Link, history of nodes visited
L
Link, return to previous node
r
Menu, up
u
Node, go to node by name
g
Node, menu
m
Node, menu selections (if available)
1, 2, 3, - , 9
Node, next
n, Enter, ]
Node, previous
p, [
Node, top node of current manual
t
Node, top of info manuals directory
d
Page, Backward
Del or Backspace
Page, Forward or next node at end of page
Space
Page, Reset
C-l
Quit
q
Search, all info manuals installed
M-x info-apropos
Search, index
i
Search, manual
s
Search, with autocomplete
m
g command examples
Name
Shortcuts
Go to info-mode directory node
g(dir)Top<RET>
Go to Emacs directory node
g(emacs)Top<RET>
Go to whole file of current manual
g*<RET>
Name
Shortcuts
Suspend Emacs temporarily
C-x C-z
Run emacs for first time on command line
emacs -q
Check for unbalanced parentheses in Lisp
check-parens=
Name
Shortcuts
Run elisp code
eval-expression or M-:
Evaluate the current elisp expression
C-x C-e or eval-last-sexp
Evaluate region or buffer
C-c C-e or elisp-eval-region-or-buffer
Name
Shortcuts
Open shell
M-x eshell
Open other shell
M-x term
Name
Shortcuts
Line mode to navigate buffer independent of prompt
C-c C-j (on) / C-c C-k (off)
Access Emacs command prompt
C-x M-x= (my binding is F1)
Scroll one screen at a time
S-Page Up/Down
Send C-c SIGINT to terminal
C-c C-c or C-g C-c C-c to quit any keyboard commands and send SIGINT)
Run shell command asynchronously: M-& - show command results in
separate buffer
Name
Shortcuts
Run command, one
eshell-command
Name
Shortcuts
Activate artist mode for drawing
artist-mode
Name
Shortcuts
Open web browser
eww
Open system browser on current file / url
browse-url-of-file, browse-url
Open html file, from eww or other browser
eww-open-file
Reader mode to remove nav headers and others
R, eww-readable
Copy text from eww with org mode links
org-eww-copy-for-org-mode
Previous, next page
l, r
Name
Shortcuts
Compile, go to next error and file
C-x `
Compile, run async shell command, output buffer
M-x compile
Compile, run last compile command again
M-x recompile
Completion, Suggestions at cursor
completion-at-point
Flycheck, check LSP, linters, checkers enabled
C-c ! v or flycheck-verify-setup
Flycheck, LSP, linters, Errors List
C-c ! l or flycheck-list-errors
Language spoken, describe (help) for input method
describe-input-method (example french-postfix)
Language spoken, set input method
set-input-method
Language spoken, toggle (on or off) input method
toggle-input-method
LSP Mode - Code formatting
C-c l = == or TAB
LSP Mode - Display symbols with treemacs
M-x lsp-treemacs-symbols
LSP Mode - Find definitions
C-c l g g
LSP Mode - Find references
C-c l g r
LSP Mode - Flymake tracks problems in file
flymake-show-buffer-diagnostics
LSP Mode - Leader key
C-c l
LSP Mode - Refactor like rename
C-c l r
LSP, Update LSP servers
M-x lsp-update-servers
LSP, Update LSP specific server
M-x lsp-update-server
Spelling - Flyspell autocorrect word
C-M-i
Spelling - Flyspell suggest words for correction
C-c-$
Tags, automatically regenerate TAGS file in repo
M-x etags-regen-mode
Source: Emacs: write with input method (e.g. French) and Jinx for
spelling - Protesilaos on
YouTube
set-input-method and select a language like french-postfixWhen typing a character like e, input method will show keys for
alternate characters
Example: Je peux écrire en français! , during typing e and c, input
method shows in mini-buffer
Use describe-input-method to see available characters
Exit with toggle-input-method to turn off input method
The input method is separate from the operating system language input.
Spelling with languages can use the package jinx with libenchant and
M-x jinx-correct-all to apply spelling fixes.
Source: ediff Basics -
Prot
Function to see difference between files side by side
When going through diffs, see ediff control panel for description of
differences
Buffers are normal buffers and can be edited
ediff can be used in magit status, when selecting commits
Name
Shortcuts
Diff on Files
ediff-files
Diff on 3 Files
ediff3-files
Diff on buffers
ediff-buffers
Diff on buffers, ediff help
?
Diff, ediff move difference at point in file A to B
a
Diff, ediff move difference at point in file B to A
b
Diff, ediff next, previous difference
n, N
Diff, ediff diff output difference
D
Diff, ediff quit
q
Name
Shortcuts
Recover file from autosave
M-x recover-file
Name
Shortcuts
List all fonts
M-x list-faces-display
Name
Shortcuts
Commit current file
C-x v v
Display diff showing changes to current file
C-x v =
See annoted version of file showing commits
C-x v g
See log of previous changes to file
C-x v l
Name
Shortcuts
Convert strokes to commands, see more with
strokes-help
Supports remote systems and docker, podman, and kubernetes connection
methods
Name
Shortcuts
Month, previous/next
<, >
Name
Shortcuts
Load a new theme
load-theme
Toggle a theme variant if available
toggle-theme
Disable a theme
disable-theme
Name
Shortcuts
Play game, pong
M-x pong
Play game, snake
M-x snake
Play game, tetris
M-x tetris
Psychotherapy with Eliza
M-x doctor