CheatPress

Emacs Extensible text editor

Version 31 · source

Emacs, Postcard, light preview Light · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF Emacs, Postcard, dark preview Dark · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF Emacs, Postcard, ink saver preview Ink saver · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF
Emacs, A5, light preview Light · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF Emacs, A5, dark preview Dark · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF Emacs, A5, ink saver preview Ink saver · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF
Emacs, A4, light preview Light · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF Emacs, A4, dark preview Dark · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF Emacs, A4, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF
Emacs, A4 landscape, light preview Light · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF Emacs, A4 landscape, dark preview Dark · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF Emacs, A4 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF
Emacs, A3, light preview Light · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF Emacs, A3, dark preview Dark · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF Emacs, A3, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF
Emacs, A3 landscape, light preview Light · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF Emacs, A3 landscape, dark preview Dark · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF Emacs, A3 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF
Emacs, Letter, light preview Light · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF Emacs, Letter, dark preview Dark · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF Emacs, Letter, ink saver preview Ink saver · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF
Emacs, Tabloid, light preview Light · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF Emacs, Tabloid, dark preview Dark · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF Emacs, Tabloid, ink saver preview Ink saver · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF

Start here

Ctrl+X Ctrl+F
Open a file
Ctrl+X Ctrl+S
Save the buffer
Ctrl+G
Cancel anything
Alt+X
Run a command by name
Ctrl+S
Search forward
Ctrl+/
Undo
Ctrl+H k
What does this key do?
Ctrl+X Ctrl+C
Quit Emacs

Concepts

Frame the OS window
Window a view onto one buffer
Buffer text, maybe a file; point is the cursor

Files & Buffers

Ctrl+X Ctrl+F
Open or create a file
Naming a directory opens Dired.
Ctrl+X Ctrl+S
Save buffer
Ctrl+X Ctrl+C
Quit Emacs
Ctrl+X B
Switch buffer
Ctrl+X Ctrl+B
List all buffers
Ctrl+X K
Kill a buffer
Ctrl+X Ctrl+W
Save as another file
Ctrl+X S
Save all modified buffers
Ctrl+X Ctrl+Q
Toggle read-only
In Dired it edits file names as text; Ctrl+C Ctrl+C applies.
Alt+X revert-buffer
Reload file from disk

Windows

Ctrl+X 2
Split top / bottom
Ctrl+X 3
Split side by side
Ctrl+X O
Go to other window
Ctrl+X 1
Keep only this window
Ctrl+X 0
Close this window
Ctrl+Alt+V
Scroll the other window

Movement

Ctrl+F / Ctrl+B
Char forward / back
Ctrl+N / Ctrl+P
Next / previous line
Ctrl+A / Ctrl+E
Line start / end
Alt+F / Alt+B
Word forward / back
Ctrl+V / Alt+V
Page down / up
Alt+< / Alt+>
Buffer start / end
Alt+G G
Go to line
Ctrl+L
Recenter, then top, bottom
Alt+M
Back to first non-blank
Alt+{ / Alt+}
Paragraph back / forward
Ctrl+Alt+F / Ctrl+Alt+B
Sexp forward / back
Jumps over a balanced expression or bracket pair.

Kill & Yank

Ctrl+K
Kill to end of line
Ctrl+W
Kill region (cut)
Alt+W
Copy region
Ctrl+Y
Yank (paste)
Alt+Y
Replace yank with older kill
Only directly after Ctrl+Y; repeat to cycle the kill ring.
Ctrl+D
Delete char forward
Alt+D
Kill word forward
Alt+Backspace
Kill word backward
Alt+^
Join with previous line
Ctrl+X Ctrl+T
Transpose lines
Alt+U / Alt+L / Alt+C
Upcase / downcase / capitalise word
Ctrl+Alt+\
Indent region for the mode

Mark & Region

Ctrl+Space
Set the mark
Mark to point is the region. On some terminals use Ctrl+@.
Ctrl+X Ctrl+X
Swap point and mark
Ctrl+X H
Select whole buffer
Alt+H
Mark paragraph
Ctrl+Alt+H
Mark function
Ctrl+U Ctrl+Space
Jump back to previous mark
Repeat to walk the mark ring.

Search & Replace

Ctrl+S
Search forward
Press again for the next match; Enter stops, Ctrl+G returns to start.
Ctrl+R
Search backward
Alt+%
Query replace
Space / y
Replace this, go on
n / Backspace
Skip this one
!
Replace all remaining
Ctrl+Alt+S
Regexp search forward
Ctrl+Alt+%
Query replace regexp
Alt+X replace-string
Replace everywhere, no asking
Alt+X occur
List matching lines
Alt+X grep
Run grep, jump to hits

Undo & Cancel

Ctrl+G
Abort the current command
Ctrl+/
Undo
Also Ctrl+X U or Ctrl+_. Repeat to undo further.
Esc Esc Esc
Escape everything
Ctrl+U <n>
Repeat next command n times

Rectangles & Registers

Ctrl+X R K
Kill rectangle
Mark one corner, move to the opposite one first.
Ctrl+X R Y
Yank rectangle
Ctrl+X R T
Prefix each line with text
Ctrl+X R S
Save region in register
Ctrl+X R I
Insert register contents

Keyboard Macros

Ctrl+X (
Start recording macro
Ctrl+X )
Stop recording
Ctrl+X E
Run last macro
Then press e to repeat; Ctrl+U 0 Ctrl+X E runs it until an error.

Commands & Help

Alt+X
Run command by name
Ctrl+H t
Open the tutorial
Ctrl+H k
Describe a key
Ctrl+H f
Describe a function
Ctrl+H a
Apropos: find commands by word
Ctrl+H m
Describe current modes
Ctrl+H v
Describe a variable
Ctrl+H i
Open Info manuals
Alt+:
Evaluate a Lisp expression
Ctrl+X Ctrl+E
Eval Lisp before point
Alt+!
Run a shell command
Alt+X shell
Start a shell in a buffer
Alt+/
Expand previous word dynamically
Alt+X customize
Open the settings UI

Dired

Ctrl+X D
Open a directory in Dired
Ctrl+X Ctrl+J
Dired of this file's folder
Enter
Open file or folder
^
Go up a directory
m / u
Mark / unmark file
d
Flag file for deletion
x
Delete flagged files
R
Rename or move file
C
Copy file
Shift+=
Create directory

Recipes

Comment out a block with a rectangle
# mark start of first line, move to last line startCtrl+SpaceCtrl+X R T  ;; prompt: type ';; ' and Enter
Rename every foo to bar, ask each time
Alt+< Alt+%foo Enter bar Enter# y / n each match, ! for the rest
Edit a macro 100 times over lines
Ctrl+X (   # record on the first lineCtrl+A ... edit ... Ctrl+NCtrl+X )Ctrl+U 100 Ctrl+X E
Tidy a copied block of code
Ctrl+X HCtrl+Alt+\Ctrl+X Ctrl+S