GNU Emacs Reference

To print this in the library, select "print" from the "file" menu, then change "format for printed document" to "postscript".

Special keys

	M-	Means "Meta" key (the Escape key, or the Alt key)
	C-	Means "Control" key
	<RET>	Means "Return/Enter" key

Starting Emacs

To enter GNU Emacs, just type its name: emacs. To enter Emacs with a file loaded, type the filename after emacs: emacs file.

Leaving Emacs

Suspend Emacs (to be resumed later):		C-z
exit Emacs permanently:				C-x C-c

Files

read a file into Emacs:			C-x C-f
save a file back to disk:		C-x C-s
insert contents of another file:	C-x i
write buffer to a new filename:		C-x C-w

Motion

amount to move				backward	forward
--------------------------------	----------	-----------
character				C-b		C-f
character				left arrow	right arrow
word					M-b		M-f
line					C-p		C-n
line					up arrow	down arrow
to line beginning (or end)		C-a		C-e
to buffer beginning (or end)		M-<		M->
screen					C-v		M-v

Killing and Deleting

amount to kill				backward	forward
--------------------------------	----------	-----------
character				backspace	C-d
word					M-backspace	M-d
line (to end of)			M-O C-k		C-k

region kill/copy are from "mark" to current cursor "point".
kill region (save in kill-buffer)		C-w
copy region (into kill-buffer)			M-w

yank back last item in kill-buffer		C-y
replace last yank with previous kill-buff	M-y

Marking

set mark here			C-@ or C-SPACE
exchange point and mark		C-x C-x

Incremental Search

search forward			C-s
search backward			C-r
exit search			RETURN/ENTER
abort current search		C-g
interactively search/replace 	M-%

use C-s or C-r again to repeat the search

Interactive Tutorial

M-x help <RET> t