Notation
C-x Hold down CONTROL and press x
M-x Press and release ESC, then press x
(On some machines, you can hold down ALT and press x)
Starting, Quitting, and Help
emacs file --> From the UNIX command line, open file in emacs.
C-x C-c --> Quit emacs
C-g --> Abort current command
C-x u --> Undo last command
C-h t --> Run tutorial
Moving Around
C-a --> Beginning of line
C-e --> End of line
M-v --> Page up
C-v --> Page down
M-< --> Beginning of file
M-> --> End of file
C-l --> Center window on cursor
Files, Buffers, and Windows
C-x C-f --> Open (or create a new file)
C-x C-s --> Save
C-x C-w --> Save as (write)
C-x b --> Switch to another buffer
C-x 2 --> Split window in two
C-x 1 --> Return to a single window
C-x o --> Move to other window
Editing
C-s --> Search
M-% --> Find and replace, with verification of each instance
M-x --> replace-string Find and replace
C-SPACE --> Set mark
C-w --> Cut
M-w --> Copy
C-y --> Paste (“yank” something into existence)
C-k --> Cut rest of current line (use again to cut end-of-line too)
Intermediate Tricks
M-; --> Insert comment in code
M-x --> comment-region Comment selected region
M-x --> uncomment-region Uncomment selected region
C-u 5 --> command Perform command 5 times
(Any other number works, too)
C-x --> ( Begin recording keyboard macro
C-x ) --> End recording keyboard macro
C-x e --> Run last keyboard macro
M-/ --> Complete the current word
(If emacs guesses wrong, try again)
M-x --> dunnet Play dungeon adventure game
other
M-x lusty-file-explorer --> call file explorer (when lusty file explorer is installed)
M-x lusty-buffer-explorer --> call buffer explorer (when lusty file explorer is installed)
C-x f --> close file
M-x revert-buffer RET --> refresh buffer list
C-u C-x TAB --> indent block to four spaces right
C-u -4 C-x TAB --> indent block to four spaces left
M-x goto-line --> Read a number and go to that line (first line = 1).
C-M-f --> find matching brace forward
C-M-b --> find matching brace backward