GNU Emacs Reference Card

Page 1

GNU Emacs Reference Card

(for version 20)

Starting Emacs

To enter GNU Emacs 20, just type its name: emacs

To read in a file to edit, see Files, below.

Leaving Emacs

suspend Emacs (or iconify it under X)

C-z

exit Emacs permanently

C-x C-c

Files

read a file into Emacs

C-x C-f

save a file back to disk

C-x C-s

save all files

C-x s

insert contents of another file into this buffer C-x i

replace this file with the file you really want C-x C-v

write buffer to a specified file

C-x C-w

version control checkin/checkout

C-x C-q

Getting Help

The help system is simple. Type C-h (or F1) and follow the di-

rections. If you are a first-time user, type C-h t for a tutorial.

remove help window

C-x 1

scroll help window

C-M-v

apropos: show commands matching a string C-h a

show the function a key runs

C-h c

describe a function

C-h f

get mode-specific information

C-h m

Error Recovery

abort partially typed or executing command C-g

recover a file lost by a system crash

M-x recover-file

undo an unwanted change

C-x u or C-_

restore a buffer to its original contents

M-x revert-buffer

redraw garbaged screen

C-l

Incremental Search

search forward

C-s

search backward

C-r

regular expression search

C-M-s

reverse regular expression search

C-M-r

select previous search string

M-p

select next later search string

M-n

exit incremental search

RET

undo effect of last character

DEL

abort current search

C-g

Use C-s or C-r again to repeat the search in either direction.

If Emacs is still searching, C-g cancels only the part not done.

1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permissions on back. v2.2

Motion

entity to move over

backward forward

character

C-b

C-f

word

M-b

M-f

line

C-p

C-n

go to line beginning (or end)

C-a

C-e

sentence

M-a

M-e

paragraph

M-{

M-}

page

C-x [

C-x ]

sexp

C-M-b

C-M-f

function

C-M-a

C-M-e

go to buffer beginning (or end)

M-<

M->

scroll to next screen

C-v

scroll to previous screen

M-v

scroll left

C-x <

scroll right

C-x >

scroll current line to center of screen

C-u C-l

Killing and Deleting

entity to kill

backward forward

character (delete, not kill)

DEL

C-d

word

M-DEL

M-d

line (to end of)

M-0 C-k

C-k

sentence

C-x DEL

M-k

sexp

M-- C-M-k

C-M-k

kill region

C-w

copy region to kill ring

M-w

kill through next occurrence of char

M-z char

yank back last thing killed

C-y

replace last yank with previous kill

M-y

Marking

set mark here

C-@ or C-SPC

exchange point and mark

C-x C-x

set mark arg words away

M-@

mark paragraph

M-h

mark page

C-x C-p

mark sexp

C-M-@

mark function

C-M-h

mark entire buffer

C-x h

Query Replace

interactively replace a text string

M-%

using regular expressions

M-x query-replace-regexp

Valid responses in query-replace mode are

replace this one, go on to next

SPC

replace this one, don't move

skip to next without replacing

DEL

replace all remaining matches

back up to the previous match

exit query-replace

RET

enter recursive edit (C-M-c to exit)

C-r

Multiple Windows

When two commands are shown, the second is for "other frame."

delete all other windows

C-x 1

split window, above and below

C-x 2

C-x 5 2

delete this window

C-x 0

C-x 5 0

split window, side by side

C-x 3

scroll other window

C-M-v

switch cursor to another window

C-x o

C-x 5 o

select buffer in other window

C-x 4 b

C-x 5 b

display buffer in other window

C-x 4 C-o C-x 5 C-o

find file in other window

C-x 4 f

C-x 5 f

find file read-only in other window

C-x 4 r

C-x 5 r

run Dired in other window

C-x 4 d

C-x 5 d

find tag in other window

C-x 4 .

C-x 5 .

grow window taller

C-x ^

shrink window narrower

C-x {

grow window wider

C-x }

Formatting

indent current line (mode-dependent)

TAB

indent region (mode-dependent)

C-M-\

indent sexp (mode-dependent)

C-M-q

indent region rigidly arg columns

C-x TAB

insert newline after point

C-o

move rest of line vertically down

C-M-o

delete blank lines around point

C-x C-o

join line with previous (with arg, next)

M-^

delete all white space around point

M-\

put exactly one space at point

M-SPC

fill paragraph

M-q

set fill column

C-x f

set prefix each line starts with

C-x .

set face

M-g

Case Change

uppercase word

M-u

lowercase word

M-l

capitalize word

M-c

uppercase region

C-x C-u

lowercase region

C-x C-l

The Minibuffer

The following keys are defined in the minibuffer.

complete as much as possible

TAB

complete up to one word

SPC

complete and execute

RET

show possible completions

fetch previous minibuffer input

M-p

fetch later minibuffer input or default

M-n

regexp search backward through history

M-r

regexp search forward through history

M-s

abort command

C-g

Type C-x ESC ESC to edit and repeat the last command that

used the minibuffer. Type F10 to activate the menu bar using

the minibuffer.

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GNU Emacs Reference Card

Buffers

select another buffer

C-x b

list all buffers

C-x C-b

kill a buffer

C-x k

Transposing

transpose characters

C-t

transpose words

M-t

transpose lines

C-x C-t

transpose sexps

C-M-t

Spelling Check

check spelling of current word

M-$

check spelling of all words in region

M-x ispell-region

check spelling of entire buffer

M-x ispell-buffer