This quick reference is arranged topically, in roughly the same order as the commands were treated in the text. Unfortunately, it's impossible to be both "quick" and thorough, particularly with an editor as large and comprehensive as GNU Emacs. We've tried to take a middle road between completeness and quickness; we'll confess that, if we've erred, we've erred on the side of quickness.
Table E-1. File-handling commands (Chapter 1)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x C-fFile Open File
find-file
Find file and read it in a new buffer.
C-x C-v
find-alternate-file
Read an alternate file, replacing the one read with C-x C-f.
C-x iFile Insert File
insert-file
Insert file at cursor position.
C-x C-s File Save (current buffer)
save-buffer
Save file.
C-x C-w File Save Buffer As
write-file
Write buffer contents to file.
C-x C-c File Exit Emacs
save-buffers-kill-emacs
Exit Emacs.
Table E-2. Cursor movement commands (Chapter 2)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-f
forward-char
Move forward one character (right).
C-b
backward-char
Move backward one character (left).
C-p
previous-line
Move to previous line (up).
C-n
next-line
Move to next line (down).
M-f
forward-word
Move one word forward.
M-b
backward-word
Move one word backward.
C-a
beginning-of-line
Move to beginning of line.
C-e
end-of-line
Move to end of line.
M-e
forward-sentence
Move forward one sentence.
M-a
backward-sentence
Move backward one sentence.
C-v
scroll-up
Move forward one screen.
M-v
scroll-down
Move backward one screen.
M-<
beginning-of-buffer
Move to beginning of file.
M->
end-of-buffer
Move to end of file.
(none)
goto-line
Go to line n of file.
(none)
goto-char
Go to character n of file.
M-n
digit-argument
Repeat the next command n times.
C-u n
universal-argument
Repeat the next command n times (four times if you omit n).
Table E-3. Deleting, yanking, region, and clipboard commands(Chapter 2)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-d
delete-char
Delete character under cursor.
Del
delete-backward-char
Delete previous character.
M-d
kill-word
Delete next word.
M-Del
backward-kill-word
Delete previous word.
C-yEdit Paste Most Recent
yank
Restore what you've deleted.
C-w Edit Cut
kill-region
Delete a marked region (see next section).
C-@ or C- Space
set-mark-command
Mark the beginning (or end) of a region.
C-x C-x
exchange-point-and-mark
Exchange location of cursor and mark.
C-w
kill-region
Delete the region.
C-y
yank
Paste most recently killed or copied text.
M-w
kill-ring-save
Copy the region (so it can be pasted with C-y).
C-x h
mark-whole-buffer
Mark buffer.
M-y
yank-pop
After C-y, pastes earlier deletion.
(none)
clipboard-kill-region
Cut region and place both in kill ring and on system clipboard.
(none)
clipboard-yank
Paste text from clipboard.
(none)
clipboard-kill-ring-save
Copy text to clipboard.
Table E-4. Text filling and reformatting commands (Chapter 2)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
(none) Options Word Wrap in Text Modes
auto-fill-mode
Toggle auto-fill mode, in which Emacs formats paragraphs as you type them.
M-q
fill-paragraph
Reformat paragraph.
(none) Edit Fill
fill-region
Reformat individual paragraphs within a region.
Table E-5. Stopping and undoing commands (Chapter 2)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-g
keyboard-quit
Abort current command.
C-x u
advertised-undo
Undo last edit (can be done repeatedly).
C-_ Edit Undo
undo
Undo last edit.
(none)
revert-buffer
Restore buffer to the state it was in when the file was last saved (or auto-saved).
Table E-6. Search and replace commands (Chapter 3)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-s Edit Search Incremental Search Forward String
isearch-forward
Start incremental search forward; follow by search string. Also, find next occurrence (forward) of search string.
C-r Edit Search Incremental Search Backward String
isearch-backward
Start incremental search backward; follow by search string. Also, find next occurrence (backward) of search string.
Table E-7. Regular expression search commands (Chapter 3)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-M-s Enter Edit Search Regexp Forward
re-search-forward
Search for a regular expression forward.
C-M-r Enter Edit Search Regexp Backwards
re-search-backward
Search for a regular expression backward.
C-M-s Edit Search Incremental Search Forward Regexp
isearch-forward-regexp
Search incrementally forward for a regular expression.
C-M-r Edit Search Incremental Search Backward Regexp
isearch-backward-regexp
Search incrementally backward for a regular expression.
C-M-% Edit Replace Replace Regexp
query-replace-regexp
Query-replace a regular expression.
Table E-8. Spell-checking commands (Chapter 3)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
(none) Tools Spell Checking Spell-Check Buffer
ispell-buffer
Check spelling of the buffer.
(none) Tools Spell Checking Spell-Check Comments
ispell-comments-and-strings
Checks spelling of comments and strings in a program.
(none) Tools Spell Checking Automatic Spell-Checking (Flyspell)
flyspell-mode
Enter the flyspell minor mode, in which incorrectly spelled words are highlighted.
(none)
flyspell-buffer
Spell-check the current buffer, underlining all misspelled words. Use middle mouse button to correct.
Table E-9. Buffer commands (Chapter 4)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x b Buffers Select Named Buffer
switch-to-buffer
Move to the buffer specified.
C-x Buffers Next Buffer
next-buffer
Move to the next buffer in the buffer list.
C-x Buffers Previous Buffer
previous-buffer
Move to the previous buffer in the buffer list.
C-x C-b Buffers List All Buffers
list-buffers
Display the buffer list.
C-x k
kill-buffer
Delete the buffer specified.
(none)
kill-some-buffers
Ask about deleting each buffer.
Table E-10. Windows and frames (Chapter 4)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x 2 File Split Window
split-window-vertically
Divide current window into two windows, one above the other.
C-x 3
split-window-horizontally
Divide current window into two side-by-side windows.
C-x o
other-window
Move to the other window; if there are several, move to the next window.
C-x 0
delete-window
Delete the current window.
C-x 1 File Unsplit Windows
delete-other-windows
Delete all windows but this one.
C-x 4 f
find-file-other-window
Find a file in the other window.
C-x 4 b
switch-to-buffer-other-window
Select a buffer in the other window.
(none) Tools Compare (Ediff) This Window and Next Window
compare-windows
Compare this window with the next window and show the first difference.
C-x 5 o Buffers Frames
other-frame
Move to other frame.
C-x 5 0 File Delete Frame
delete-frame
Delete current frame.
C-x 5 2 File New Frame
make-frame
Create a new frame on the current buffer.
C-x 5 f
find-file-other-frame
Find file in a new frame.
C-x 5 r
find-file-read-only-other-frame
Finds a file in a new frame, but it is read-only.
C-x 5 b
switch-to-buffer-other-frame
Make frame and display other buffer in it.
Table E-11. Shell mode commands (Chapter 5)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
(none)
shell
Enter shell mode.
C-c C-c Signals BREAK
comint-interrupt-subjob
Interrupt current job; equivalent to C-c.
C-c C-z Signals STOP
comint-stop-subjob
Suspend or stop a job; C-z in Unix shells.
M-p In/Out Previous Input
comint-previous-input
Retrieve previous commands (can be repeated to find earlier commands).
M-n In/Out Next Input
comint-next-input
Retrieve subsequent commands (can be repeated to find more recent commands).
Enter
comint-send-input
Send input on current line.
Tab
comint-dynamic-complete
Complete current command, filename, or variable name.
Table E-12. Dired commands (Chapter 5)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x d File Open Directory
dired
Start Dired.
C Operate Copy to
dired-do-copy
Copy file.
d Mark Flag
dired-flag-file-deletion
Flag for deletion.
D Operate Delete
dired-do-delete
Query for immediate deletion.
f
dired-advertised-find-file
Find (so you can edit).
g Immediate Refresh
revert-buffer
Reread the directory from disk.
m or * m Mark Mark
dired-mark
Mark with *.
Q Operate Query Replace in Files
dired-do-query-replace
Query replace string in marked files.
R Operate Rename to
dired-do-rename
Rename file.
s
dired-sort-toggle-or-edit
Sort the Dired display by date or by filename (toggles between these).
t Mark Toggle Marks
dired-toggle-marks
Toggle marks on files and directories; pressing t once marks all unmarked files and directories; pressing t again restores original marks.
u Mark Unmark
dired-unmark
Remove mark.
+ Immediate Create Directory
dired-create-directory
Create a directory.
* ! or M-Del Mark Unmark All
dired-unmark-all-files
Remove all marks from all files.
Table E-13. Macro commands (Chapter 6)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x (
kmacro-start-macro
Start macro definition.
F3
kmacro-start-macro-or-insert-counter
Start macro definition. If pressed while defining a macro, insert a counter.
C-x )
kmacro-end-macro
End macro definition.
F4
kmacro-end-or-call-macro
End macro definition (if definition is in progress) or invoke last keyboard macro.
C-x e
kmacro-end-and-call-macro
Execute last keyboard macro defined. Can type e to repeat macro.
C-x C-k n
name-last-kbd-macro
Name the last macro you created (before saving it).
C-x C-k e
edit-kbd-macro
Edit a keyboard macro by typing C-x e for the last keyboard macro defined, M-x for a named macro, C-h l for lossage, or keystrokes for a macro bound to a key.
C-x C-k Enter
kmacro-edit-macro
Edit the last keyboard macro.
Table E-14. Outline mode commands (Chapter 7)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
(none)
outline-mode
Toggle outline mode
C-c C-t Hide Hide Body
hide-body
Hide all body lines.
C-c C-a Show Show All
show-all
Show everything that's hidden.
Table E-15. Compilation mode commands (Chapter 9)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x `
next-error
Move to the next error message and visit the corresponding source code.
M-n
compilation-next-error
Move to the next error message.
M-p
compilation-previous-error
Move to the previous error message.
C-c C-c
compilation-goto-error
Visit the source code for the current error message.
Table E-16. Basic indentation commands (Chapter 7 and Chapter 9)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-M-/
indent-region
Indent each line between the cursor and mark.
M-m
back-to-indentation
Move to the first nonblank character on the line.
M-^
delete-indentation
Join this line to the previous one.
Table E-17. C motion commands (Chapter 9)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
M-a
c-beginning-of-statement
Move to the beginning of the current statement.
M-e
c-end-of-statement
Move to the end of the current statement.
M-q
c-fill-paragraph
If in comment, fill the paragraph, preserving indentations and decorations.
C-M-a
beginning-of-defun
Move to the beginning of the body of the function surrounding the point.
C-M-e
end-of-defun
Move to the end of the function.
C-M-h
c-mark-function
Put the cursor at the beginning of the function, the mark at the end.
C-c C-q
c-indent-defun
Indent the entire function according to indentation style.
C-c C-u
c-up-conditional
Move to the beginning of the current preprocessor conditional.
C-c C-p
c-backward-conditional
Move to the previous preprocessor conditional.
C-c C-n
c-forward-conditional
Move to the next preprocessor conditional.
Table E-18. SQL mode commands (Chapter 9)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-c C-c
sql-send-paragraph
Send the paragraph the cursor is on. A paragraph is defined by the particular database client. For the sql-mysql process, for example, a paragraph begins with a statement like select or update and ends with a semicolon. Any number of lines can intervene.
C-c C-r
sql-send-region
Send the marked region.
C-c C-b
sql-send-buffer
Send the entire buffer.
Table E-19. Lisp commands (Chapter 9)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-M-b
backward-sexp
Move backward by one S-expression.
C-M-f
forward-sexp
Move forward by one S-expression.
C-M-t
transpose-sexps
Transpose the two S-expressions around the cursor.
C-M-@
mark-sexp
Set mark to the end of the current S-expression; set the cursor to the beginning.
C-M-k
kill-sexp
Delete the S-expression following the cursor.
(none)
backward-kill-sexp
Delete the S-expression preceding the cursor.
C-M-n
forward-list
Move forward by one list.
C-M-p
backward-list
Move backward by one list.
C-M-d
down-list
Move forward and down one parenthesis level.
(none)
up-list
Move forward out of one parenthesis level.
C-M-u
backward-up-list
Move backward out of one parenthesis level.
C-M-a
beginning-of-defun
Move to the beginning of the current function.
C-M-e
end-of-defun
Move to the end of the current function.
C-M-h
mark-defun
Put the cursor at the beginning of the function, put the mark at the end.
Table E-20. VC commands (Chapter 12)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-x v v
vc-next-action
Go to the next logical version control state.
C-x v d
vc-directory
Show all registered files beneath a directory.
C-x v =
vc-diff
Generate a version difference report.
C-x v u
vc-revert-buffer
Throw away changes since the last checked-in revision.
C-x v ~
vc-version-other-window
Retrieve a given revision in another window.
C-x v l
vc-print-log
Display a file's change comments and history.
C-x v i
vc-register
Register a file for version control.
C-x v h
vc-insert-headers
Insert version control headers in a file.
C-x v r
vc-retrieve-snapshot
Check out a named project snapshot.
C-x v s
vc-create-snapshot
Create a named project snapshot.
C-x v c
vc-cancel-version
Throw away a saved revision.
C-x v a
vc-update-change-log
Update a GNU-style ChangeLog file.
Table E-21. Ediff commands (Chapter 12)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
Space or n
ediff-next-difference
Move to the next difference between the files.
Del or p
ediff-previous-difference
Move to the preceding difference between the files.
j
ediff-jump-to-difference
Go to the difference specified as a numeric prefix argument.
a
ediff-copy-A-to-B
Copy the version of the current difference found in buffer A to buffer B.
b
ediff-copy-B-to-A
Copy the version of the current difference found in buffer B to buffer A.
r a or r b
ediff-restore-diff
Restore the current difference in buffer A (or B) to the way it was before copying from the other buffer.
A or B
ediff-toggle-read-only
Switch the specified buffer into (or out of) read-only mode.
g a or g b
ediff-jump-to-difference-at-point
Recenter the comparison buffers on the difference nearest to your current location (point) in the specified buffer.
!
ediff-update-diffs
Recalculate and redisplay the highlighted regions; useful if you've manually made extensive changes to a buffer.
w a or w b
ediff-save-buffer
Save the specified buffer to disk.
z
ediff-suspend
Close the Ediff control window, but leave the session active so you can resume it later.
q
ediff-quit
Close the Ediff window and end this comparison session.
Table E-22. CUA mode commands (Chapter 13)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-c C-x C-x
cua-exchange-point-and-mark
Exchange location of cursor and mark.
C-x or C-w or S-Delete
kill-region
Delete the region.
C-v or C-y or S-Insert
cua-paste
Paste most recently killed or copied text.
C-c
copy-region-as-kill
Copy the region.
M-v
cua-repeat-replace-region
After highlighting and replacing a string, find the next string and replace it the same way.
M-y
cua-paste-pop
After C-v, pastes earlier deletion.
C-z or C-x u
cua-undo
Undoes the last change.
C-x C-z
iconify-frame
Minimize the current frame (what C-z does outside CUA mode).
Table E-23. Help commands (Chapter 14)
Keystrokes
Command name
Question answered
C-h k Help Describe Describe Key
describe-key
What command does this keystroke sequence run, and what does it do?
C-h f Help Describe Describe Function
describe-function
What does this function do?
C-h v Help Describe Describe Variable
describe-variable
What does this variable mean, and what is its value?
C-h m Help Describe Describe Buffer Modes
describe-mode
Tell me about the modes the current buffer is in.
C-h b Help Describe List Key Bindings
describe-bindings
What are all the key bindings for this buffer?
C-h a Help Search Documentation Find Commands by Name
apropos-command
What commands include this word?
(none) Help Search Documentation Find Options by Name
apropos-variable
What variables include this regular expression?
(none) Help Search Documentation Find Any Object by Name
apropos
What functions and variables involve this regular expression?
Table E-24. Documentation help commands (Chapter 14)
Keystrokes
Command name
Action
C-h t Help Emacs Tutorial
help-with-tutorial
Run the Emacs tutorial.
C-h i
info
Start the Info documentation reader. If prefaced with C-u, reads an Info file of your choice.
C-h r Help Read the Emacs Manual
info-emacs-manual
Open the Emacs manual.
C-h K Help More Manuals Find Key in Manual
Info-goto-emacs-key-command-node
Start Info documentation reader at the node that discusses this key sequence.
(none) Help Search Documentation Look Up Subject in User Manual
emacs-index-search
Search the index of the Emacs user manual.
C-h p
finder-by-keyword
Invoke a menu that lets you get information about Emacs Lisp packages available on your system.
Table E-25. Important modes
Mode
Function
fundamental-mode
The default mode
text-mode
Major mode for writing text (Chapter 2)
outline-mode
Major mode for writing outlines (Chapter 7)
picture-mode
Major mode for creating ASCII drawings using the keyboard (Chapter 7)
html-mode
Major mode for writing HTML (Chapter 8)
sgml-mode
Major mode for writing SGML and XML (Chapter 8)
latex-mode
Major mode for formatting files for TEX and LATEX (Chapter 8)
c-mode, c++-mode
Major mode for writing C and C++, and Java programs (Chapter 9)
java-mode
Major mode for writing Java programs (Chapter 9)
perl-mode, cperl-mode
Major modes for writing Perl programs (Chapter 9)
sql-mode
Major mode for interacting with databases using SQL (Chapter 9)
emacs-lisp-mode
Major mode for writing Emacs Lisp functions (Chapter 9 and Chapter 11)
lisp-mode
Major mode for writing Lisp programs (Chapter 9 and Chapter 11)
lisp-interaction-mode
Major mode for writing and evaluating Lisp expressions ( Chapter 9 andChapter 11)
auto-fill-mode
Minor mode that enables word wrap (Chapter 2)
overwrite-mode
Minor mode that replaces characters as you type instead of inserting them (Chapter 2)
flyspell-mode
Minor mode for flyspell spell-checker (Chapter 3)
flyspell-prog-mode
Minor mode for spell-checking programs with flyspell (Chapter 3)
abbrev-mode
Minor mode for word abbreviations (Chapter 3)
artist-mode
Minor mode for creating ASCII drawings using the mouse (Chapter 7)
font-lock-mode
Minor mode for highlighting text in colors and fonts (Chapter 9)
vc-mode
Minor mode for using version control systems (Chapter 12)