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Table 28.4 gives a brief listing of the major commands provided by emacs. <Esc><c> means to press and release the meta key—usually the <Esc> key on a PC keyboard, although on some keyboards you can use the <Alt> key and then press the following <c> key. <Ctrl-c> means to press the <Ctrl> key and the <c> key at the same time. Remember, pressing <Ctrl-g> at any time stops the currently executing command.
| Key Sequence | Description |
|---|---|
| Saving to Disk | |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-s> | Saves current buffer to disk |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-w> | Writes current buffer to disk, asking for a new filename |
| <Ctrl-x><n> | Changes filename of current buffer |
| <Esc><z> | Writes all changed buffers to disk and exits emacs |
| Reading from Disk | |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-f> | Finds file, reads into a new buffer created from filename |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-r> | Reads file into current buffer, erasing previous contents |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-i> | Inserts file into the current buffer at the cursor’s location |
| Moving the Cursor | |
| <Ctrl-f> | Moves forward one character |
| <Ctrl-b> | Moves backward one character |
| <Ctrl-a> | Moves to front of current line |
| <Ctrl-e> | Moves to end of current line |
| <Ctrl-n> | Moves to next line |
| <Ctrl-p> | Moves to previous line |
| <Esc><f> | Moves forward a word |
| <Esc><b> | Moves backward a word |
| <Esc><a> | Goes to a line |
| <Esc><Shift-.> | Moves to beginning of buffer |
| <Esc><Shift-,> | Moves to end of buffer |
| Deleting and Inserting | |
| <Ctrl-d> | Deletes next character |
| <Ctrl-c> | Inserts a space |
| <Esc><d> | Deletes next word |
| <Ctrl-k> | Deletes to end of current line |
| <Return> | Inserts a new line |
| <Ctrl-j> | Inserts a new line and indent |
| <Ctrl-o> | Opens a new line |
| <Ctrl-w> | Deletes region between mark and cursor |
| <Esc><w> | Copies region to kill buffer |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-o> | Deletes lines around cursor |
| Searching and Replacing | |
| <Ctrl-s> | Searches forward from current position |
| <Ctrl-r> | Reverses search from current position |
| <Ctrl-x><s> | Repeats search forward |
| <Ctrl-x><r> | Repeats search in reverse |
| <Esc><r> | Replaces all instances of first typed string in mini-buffer with second typed string, ending each string with <Esc> |
| <Esc><Ctrl-r> | Queries before performing the replacement. Answer in the mini-buffer with one of the following: <Ctrl-g>: Cancels operation <!>: Replaces the rest <?>: Gets a list of options <.>: Exits to where command was initiated <y> or Spacebar: Replaces and continues with replace operation <n>: Doesn’t replace but continues with replace operation |
| Marked Text | |
| <Ctrl><Spacebar> | Sets mark at current cursor position |
| <Ctrl-x><Ctrl-x> | Exchanges mark and cursor |
| <Ctrl-w> | Deletes the marked region |
| <Esc-w> | Copies marked region to kill buffer |
| <Ctrl-y> | Inserts the kill buffer at the current cursor position |
| Buffers | |
| <Ctrl-x><b> | Switches to another buffer |
| <Ctrl-x><x> | Switches to next buffer in buffer list |
| <Esc><Ctrl-n> | Changes name of current buffer |
| <Ctrl-x><k> | Deletes a non-displayed buffer |
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