Emacs keybindings use a shorthand notation: C- means hold Ctrl, and M- means hold Alt (Meta). For example, C-x C-s means press Ctrl+x, then Ctrl+s. Start Emacs with -nw to run it inside the terminal instead of opening a window.
[emacs](/man/emacs) textfile.txt
[emacs](/man/emacs) -nw textfile.txt
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-x C-f | Open a file |
| C-x C-s | Save current file |
| C-x C-w | Save as (write to a different file) |
| C-x C-c | Quit Emacs |
| C-g | Cancel current command or operation |
| C-/ | Undo last change (also C-x u) |
Stuck in a command you did not mean to start? C-g cancels almost anything. The built-in interactive tutorial is at C-h t.
Movement commands come in pairs: C- moves by small units, M- moves by larger units.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-f | Move forward one character |
| C-b | Move backward one character |
| M-f | Move forward one word |
| M-b | Move backward one word |
| C-n | Move to next line |
| C-p | Move to previous line |
| C-a | Move to beginning of line |
| C-e | Move to end of line |
| M-a | Move to beginning of sentence |
| M-e | Move to end of sentence |
| M-{ | Move to beginning of paragraph |
| M-} | Move to end of paragraph |
| C-v | Scroll down one page |
| M-v | Scroll up one page |
| M-< | Move to beginning of buffer |
| M-> | Move to end of buffer |
| M-g g | Jump to a line number |
| C-M-a | Move to beginning of function |
| C-M-e | Move to end of function |
Mark a region with C-SPC to set the start point, then move the cursor to select text. Emacs says "kill" for cut and "yank" for paste.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-SPC | Set mark (start of selection) |
| C-x h | Select the entire buffer |
| C-w | Cut (kill) selected region |
| M-w | Copy selected region |
| C-y | Paste (yank) last killed text |
| M-y | After C-y: cycle through earlier killed text |
| C-k | Kill from cursor to end of line |
| C-d | Delete character under cursor |
| M-d | Kill from cursor to end of word |
| TAB | Indent current line |
| C-x C-+ | Increase text size |
| C-x C-- | Decrease text size |
Killed text accumulates in the kill ring, not just a single clipboard. Press C-y then repeat M-y to step back through everything you killed recently.
Emacs uses incremental search: results appear as you type. Press C-s again to jump to the next match, Enter to stop at the current one, or C-g to cancel and return to where you started.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-s | Search forward (incremental) |
| C-r | Search backward (incremental) |
| M-% | Search and replace (query mode) |
In query replace, answer y to replace, n to skip, ! to replace all remaining, q to stop.
Every open file lives in a buffer. Emacs can split the screen into multiple windows, each showing a buffer.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-x 2 | Split into top and bottom windows |
| C-x 3 | Split into left and right windows |
| C-x 1 | Close all windows except current |
| C-x 0 | Close current window |
| C-x o | Switch to the next window |
| C-x b | Switch to a different buffer by name |
| C-x C-b | List all open buffers |
| C-x k | Kill (close) a buffer |
| C-x d | Open the directory browser (Dired) |
Run any command by name with M-x followed by the command name. Every keybinding is a shortcut for one of these commands.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| M-x eshell | Open a terminal shell inside Emacs |
| M-x toggle-word-wrap | Toggle word wrapping |
| M-x flyspell-mode | Toggle spell checking |
| M-x display-line-numbers-mode | Toggle line numbers |
| M-x visual-line-mode | Toggle visual line wrapping |
| M-x compile | Run a compile command |
| M-x package-list-packages | Browse and install packages |
Emacs documents itself. The help system answers "what does this key do" and "which key runs this command".
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| C-h t | Open the interactive tutorial |
| C-h k | Describe what a key combination does |
| C-h f | Describe a function |
| C-h v | Describe a variable |
| C-h a | Search commands by keyword |