emacs Commands
Here are some of the most important commands that are used in emacs. Starting, Exiting, Reading and Writing Files in emacs Command Description emacs myfile Start emacs and edit myfile Ctl-x i Insert prompted for file at current position Ctl-x s Write out the file keeping current name Ctl-x Ctl-w Write out the file giving a new name when prompted Ctl-x Ctl-s Write out all files currently being worked on and exit Ctl-x Ctl-c Exit after being prompted if there any unwritten modified files Changing Position in emacs Command Description arrow keys Use the arrow keys for up, down, left and right; or: Ctl-n One line down Ctl-p One line up Ctl-f One character left Ctl-b One character right Ctl-a Move to beginning of line Ctl-e Move to end of line M-f Move to beginning of next word M-b Move back to beginning of preceding word M-< Move to beginning of file M-x goto-line n Move to line n M-> Move to end of file Ctl-v or PageDown Move forward one page M-v or PageUp Move backward one page Ctl-l Refresh and center screen Searching for Text in emacs Command Description Ctl-s Search forward for prompted for pattern, or for next pattern Ctl-r Search backwards for prompted for pattern, or for next pattern Changing, Adding and Deleting Text in emacs Command Description Ctl-o Insert a blank line Ctl-d Delete character at current position Ctl-k Delete the rest of the current line Ctl-_ or Ctl-x u Undo the previous operation Ctl-space Mark the beginning of the selected region; the end will be at the cursor position Ctl-w Yank (cut) the current marked region and put it in buffer Ctl-y Paste at the current position the yanked line or lines from the buffer