GNU Emacs Reference Card

Document Unix 5.01
May 19, 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ENTERING AND EXITING Emacs

emacs
start Emacs
C-z
temporarily suspend Emacs
C-x C-c
quit Emacs

KEYS AND THE KEYBOARD

There are a number of special keys that are used with Emacs. Most commands require a combination of strokes. These are the basic key strikes that are required.
C-x
Simultaneously press CONTROL and x. This is used to begin many different commands.
META or M-
Special Emacs key used to begin many commands. This key is pressed. and then released before typing the next character. On most systems, this is the ESC key, but it can be changed.
M-x
Press META and then hit x.
C-u n
The prefix used to designate the number of times you want the command executed (over one), where n is the number of times. This is known as the argument of a command. The argument comes before the command.
Mn command
This sequence is also used to repeat a command, by typing META and then n, where n is the number of times you want the command that follows to be executed.
A buffer is somewhat analogous to a file, but it refers more specifically to a particular editing session. Using Emacs, you can open many buffers because they are separated from the files from which they came.

TUTORIAL

To run the Emacs tutorial type F1 t

TRANSPOSING

C-t
transpose character
M-t
transpose words
M-x C-t
transpose lines
M-C-t
transpose sexp

FILES

C-x C-f
read a file into Emacs
C-x C-s
save a file back to disk
C-x i
insert contents of another file into this buffer
C-x C-v
replace this file with the file you really want
C-x C-w
write buffer to a specified file
C-x d
run Dired, the directory editor

PRINTING

Don't print from emacs. Use the shell to print a file. E.g.

> lpcode Foo.java

GETTING HELP

The Help system is simple. Type F1 and follow the directions. (This card assumes you know the material in the tutorial).
C-x 1
get rid of Help (or any other) window
M-C-v
scroll Help window
F1 a
apropos: show commands matching a string
F1 a
show the function a key runs
F1 f
describe a function
F1 m
get current mode-specific information

ERROR RECOVERY

C-g
abort partially typed or executing command
M-x
recover-file recover a file lost by a system crash
C-x u or C-_
undo an unwanted change
M-x revert-buffer
restores a buffer to its original contents
C-l
redraw screen with cursor line in the center of buffer

INCREMENTAL SEARCH

C-s
search forward
C-r
search backward
M-C-s
regular expression match

Use C-s or C-r again to repeat the searching either direction

ESC
exit incremental search
DEL
undo effect of last character
C-g
abort current search (also the general abort command)
If Emacs is still searching, C-g will cancel the part of the search not done, otherwise it aborts the entire search.

MOTION

backward   forward  	entity to move over

C-b  	   C-f  	character
M-b        M-f  	word
C-p        C-n  	line
C-a        C-e  	go to beginning (or end) of sentence
M-[        M-]  	paragraph
C-x [      C-x ]  	page
M-C-b      M-C-f  	sexp (for programming languages)
M-C-a      M-C-e  	function
M-<        M->  	go to buffer beginning (or end)

KILLING AND DELETING

backward   forward  	entity to kill

DEL        C-d  	character (delete, not kill)

M-DEL      M-d  	word
M-0 C-k    C-k  	line (to end of)
C-x DEL    M-k  	sentence
M--M-C-k   M-C-k  	sexp
C-w
kill region
M-z char
kill to next occurrence of char
C-y
yank back last thing killed
M-y
replace last yank with previous kill

MARKING

Creates a region for a command to operate on. One end is bounded by the mark, the other by the point. The mark remains there until you reset it, but Emacs cannot show you where it is.
C-@ or C-SPACE
set mark here
C-x C-x
exchange point and mark
M-@
set mark arg words away
M-h
mark paragraph
C-x C-p
mark page
M-C-@
mark sexp
C-x h
mark entire buffer

BUFFERS

C-x b
select another buffer
C-x C-b
list all buffers
C-x k
kill a buffer

QUERY REPLACE

You should use this instead of REPLACE when you want to replace some occurrences of an expression but not all of them.
M-x
query replace word newword
M-%
string newstring interactively replace a lost string
M-x
query-replace-regexp using regular expressions

Valid responses in query-replace mode are

SPACE
replace this one, go on to next and pause
,
replace this one, don't move
DEL
skip to next without replacing
!
replace all remaining matches
^
back up to the previous match
ESC
exit query-replace
C-r
enter recursive edit (C-M-c) to exit

KEYBOARD MACROS

You can customize keyboard macros within a file to abbreviate a sequence of keys or commands that you use frequently. This is how you define them.
C-x (
start defining keyboard macro
C-x )
end keyboard macro definition
C-x e
execute last-defined keyboard macro
C-u C-x (
append to last keyboard macro
M-x name-last-kbd-macro
name last keyboard macro
M-x insert-kbd-macro
insert lisp definition buffer
M-x name
to invoke a defined keyboard macro

THE MINIBUFFER

This is the bottom line in your Emacs window. It echoes all commands. The following keys are defined in the minibuffer.
TAB
complete as much as possible
SPACE
complete up to one word
RET
complete and execute
?
show possible completions
C-g
abort command

Type C-x ESC to edit and repeat the last command that used the minibuffer. The following keys are then defined:

M-p
previous minibuffer command
M-n
next minibuffer command

MULTIPLE WINDOWS

C-x 1
delete all other windows
C-x 0
delete this window
C-x 2
split window in two horizontally
C-x 5
split window in two vertically
M-C-v
scroll other window
C-x o
with cursor to another window
M-x
shrink window shorter
C-x ^
grow window taller
C-x {
shrink window narrower
C-x }
grow window wider
C-x 4 b
select a buffer in other window
C-x 4 f
find file in other window
C-x 4 m
compose mail in other window
C-x 4 d
run Dired in other window
C-x 4 .
find tag in other window

FORMATTING

TAB
indent cursor line (mode-dependent)
M-C-\
indent region (mode-dependent)
M-C-q
indent sexp (mode-dependent)
C-x TAB
indent region rigidly arg columns
C-o
insert new line after point
M-C-o
move rest of line vertically down
C-x C-o
delete blank lines around point
M-\
delete all whitespace around point
M-SPC
put exactly one space at point
M-q
fill paragraph
M-g
fill-region
C-x f
set fill column
C-x .
set prefix each line starts with

TAGS

M-. tag
find tag
C-u M-. tag
find next

SHELLS

M-!
find tag
C-u M-. tag
find next occurrence of tag
M-x visit-tags-table
specify a new tags file
M-x tags-search
reg exp search on all files in tags table
M-x tags-query-replace
query replace on all the files
M-,
continue last tags search or query-replace

CASE CHANGE

note: M-- means press META, release and press the minus (-) key. 
last word     next word  	case
M-- M-u       M-u  		uppercase
M-- M-l       M-l  		lowercase
M-- M-c       M-c  		capitalize
C-x C-u
uppercase region
C-x C-l
lowercase region
M-x
capitalize region

SPELLING CHECK

M-$
check spelling of current word
M-x spell-region
check spelling of all words in region
M-x spell-buffer
check spelling of entire buffer
If the word is incorrect, Emacs will ask you to edit it, and will then do a query replace (so you must use the query replace commands to actually fix your mistakes).

REGULAR EXPRESSIONS

The following have special meaning inside a regular expression.
. (dot)
any single character
*
zero or more repeats
+
one or more repeats
?
zero or one repeat
[...]
any character in set
[^...]
any character not in set
^
beginning of line
$
end of line
\
quote a special character c
\|
alternative or
\(...\)
grouping
\n
nth group
\
beginning of buffer
\'
end of buffer
\b
word break
\B
not beginning or end of word
\<
beginning of word
\>
end of word
\w
any word-syntax character
\W
any non-word-syntax character
\s c
character with syntax c
\S c
character with syntax not c

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