Appendix E. Quick Reference

This quick reference is arranged topically, in roughly the same order as the commands were treated in the text. Unfortunately, it's impossible to be both "quick" and thorough, particularly with an editor as large and comprehensive as GNU Emacs. We've tried to take a middle road between completeness and quickness; we'll confess that, if we've erred, we've erred on the side of quickness.

Table E-1. File-handling commands (Chapter 1)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x C-fFile find-file	Find file and read it in a new buffer.
C-x C-v	find-alternate-file	Read an alternate file, replacing the one read with C-x C-f.
C-x iFile insert-file	Insert file at cursor position.
C-x C-s File save-buffer	Save file.
C-x C-w File write-file	Write buffer contents to file.
C-x C-c File save-buffers-kill-emacs	Exit Emacs.

Table E-2. Cursor movement commands (Chapter 2)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-f	forward-char	Move forward one character (right).
C-b	backward-char	Move backward one character (left).
C-p	previous-line	Move to previous line (up).
C-n	next-line	Move to next line (down).
M-f	forward-word	Move one word forward.
M-b	backward-word	Move one word backward.
C-a	beginning-of-line	Move to beginning of line.
C-e	end-of-line	Move to end of line.
M-e	forward-sentence	Move forward one sentence.
M-a	backward-sentence	Move backward one sentence.
C-v	scroll-up	Move forward one screen.
M-v	scroll-down	Move backward one screen.
M-<	beginning-of-buffer	Move to beginning of file.
M->	end-of-buffer	Move to end of file.
(none)	goto-line	Go to line n of file.
(none)	goto-char	Go to character n of file.
M-n	digit-argument	Repeat the next command n times.
C-u n	universal-argument	Repeat the next command n times (four times if you omit n).

Table E-3. Deleting, yanking, region, and clipboard commands(Chapter 2)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-d	delete-char	Delete character under cursor.
Del	delete-backward-char	Delete previous character.
M-d	kill-word	Delete next word.
M-Del	backward-kill-word	Delete previous word.
C-yEdit yank	Restore what you've deleted.
C-w Edit kill-region	Delete a marked region (see next section).
C-@ or C- Space	set-mark-command	Mark the beginning (or end) of a region.
C-x C-x	exchange-point-and-mark	Exchange location of cursor and mark.
C-w	kill-region	Delete the region.
C-y	yank	Paste most recently killed or copied text.
M-w	kill-ring-save	Copy the region (so it can be pasted with C-y).
C-x h	mark-whole-buffer	Mark buffer.
M-y	yank-pop	After C-y, pastes earlier deletion.
(none)	clipboard-kill-region	Cut region and place both in kill ring and on system clipboard.
(none)	clipboard-yank	Paste text from clipboard.
(none)	clipboard-kill-ring-save	Copy text to clipboard.

Table E-4. Text filling and reformatting commands (Chapter 2)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
(none) Options Word Wrap in Text Modes	auto-fill-mode	Toggle auto-fill mode, in which Emacs formats paragraphs as you type them.
M-q	fill-paragraph	Reformat paragraph.
(none) Edit Fill	fill-region	Reformat individual paragraphs within a region.

Table E-5. Stopping and undoing commands (Chapter 2)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-g	keyboard-quit	Abort current command.
C-x u	advertised-undo	Undo last edit (can be done repeatedly).
C-_ Edit undo	Undo last edit.
(none)	revert-buffer	Restore buffer to the state it was in when the file was last saved (or auto-saved).

Table E-6. Search and replace commands (Chapter 3)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-s Edit Incremental Search isearch-forward	Start incremental search forward; follow by search string. Also, find next occurrence (forward) of search string.
C-r Edit Incremental Search isearch-backward	Start incremental search backward; follow by search string. Also, find next occurrence (backward) of search string.

Table E-7. Regular expression search commands (Chapter 3)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-M-s Enter Edit Regexp Forward	re-search-forward	Search for a regular expression forward.
C-M-r Enter Edit Regexp Backwards	re-search-backward	Search for a regular expression backward.
C-M-s Edit Incremental Search isearch-forward-regexp	Search incrementally forward for a regular expression.
C-M-r Edit Incremental Search isearch-backward-regexp	Search incrementally backward for a regular expression.
C-M-% Edit Replace Regexp	query-replace-regexp	Query-replace a regular expression.

Table E-8. Spell-checking commands (Chapter 3)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
(none) Tools Spell Checking ispell-buffer	Check spelling of the buffer.
(none) Tools Spell Checking ispell-comments-and-strings	Checks spelling of comments and strings in a program.
(none) Tools Automatic Spell-Checking (Flyspell)	flyspell-mode	Enter the flyspell minor mode, in which incorrectly spelled words are highlighted.
(none)	flyspell-buffer	Spell-check the current buffer, underlining all misspelled words. Use middle mouse button to correct.

Table E-9. Buffer commands (Chapter 4)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x b Buffers switch-to-buffer	Move to the buffer specified.
C-x Buffers next-buffer	Move to the next buffer in the buffer list.
C-x Buffers Previous Buffer	previous-buffer	Move to the previous buffer in the buffer list.
C-x C-b Buffers list-buffers	Display the buffer list.
C-x k	kill-buffer	Delete the buffer specified.
(none)	kill-some-buffers	Ask about deleting each buffer.

Table E-10. Windows and frames (Chapter 4)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x 2 File split-window-vertically	Divide current window into two windows, one above the other.
C-x 3	split-window-horizontally	Divide current window into two side-by-side windows.
C-x o	other-window	Move to the other window; if there are several, move to the next window.
C-x 0	delete-window	Delete the current window.
C-x 1 File delete-other-windows	Delete all windows but this one.
C-x 4 f	find-file-other-window	Find a file in the other window.
C-x 4 b	switch-to-buffer-other-window	Select a buffer in the other window.
(none) Tools Compare (Ediff) compare-windows	Compare this window with the next window and show the first difference.
C-x 5 o Buffers other-frame	Move to other frame.
C-x 5 0 File delete-frame	Delete current frame.
C-x 5 2 File make-frame	Create a new frame on the current buffer.
C-x 5 f	find-file-other-frame	Find file in a new frame.
C-x 5 r	find-file-read-only-other-frame	Finds a file in a new frame, but it is read-only.
C-x 5 b	switch-to-buffer-other-frame	Make frame and display other buffer in it.

Table E-11. Shell mode commands (Chapter 5)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
(none)	shell	Enter shell mode.
C-c C-c Signals comint-interrupt-subjob	Interrupt current job; equivalent to C-c.
C-c C-z Signals comint-stop-subjob	Suspend or stop a job; C-z in Unix shells.
M-p In/Out comint-previous-input	Retrieve previous commands (can be repeated to find earlier commands).
M-n In/Out comint-next-input	Retrieve subsequent commands (can be repeated to find more recent commands).
Enter	comint-send-input	Send input on current line.
Tab	comint-dynamic-complete	Complete current command, filename, or variable name.

Table E-12. Dired commands (Chapter 5)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x d File dired	Start Dired.
C Operate dired-do-copy	Copy file.
d Mark dired-flag-file-deletion	Flag for deletion.
D Operate dired-do-delete	Query for immediate deletion.
f	dired-advertised-find-file	Find (so you can edit).
g Immediate revert-buffer	Reread the directory from disk.
m or * m Mark Mark	dired-mark	Mark with *.
Q Operate dired-do-query-replace	Query replace string in marked files.
R Operate dired-do-rename	Rename file.
s	dired-sort-toggle-or-edit	Sort the Dired display by date or by filename (toggles between these).
t Mark dired-toggle-marks	Toggle marks on files and directories; pressing t once marks all unmarked files and directories; pressing t again restores original marks.
u Mark dired-unmark	Remove mark.
+ Immediate dired-create-directory	Create a directory.
* ! or M-Del Mark dired-unmark-all-files	Remove all marks from all files.

Table E-13. Macro commands (Chapter 6)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x (	kmacro-start-macro	Start macro definition.
F3	kmacro-start-macro-or-insert-counter	Start macro definition. If pressed while defining a macro, insert a counter.
C-x )	kmacro-end-macro	End macro definition.
F4	kmacro-end-or-call-macro	End macro definition (if definition is in progress) or invoke last keyboard macro.
C-x e	kmacro-end-and-call-macro	Execute last keyboard macro defined. Can type e to repeat macro.
C-x C-k n	name-last-kbd-macro	Name the last macro you created (before saving it).
C-x C-k e	edit-kbd-macro	Edit a keyboard macro by typing C-x e for the last keyboard macro defined, M-x for a named macro, C-h l for lossage, or keystrokes for a macro bound to a key.
C-x C-k Enter	kmacro-edit-macro	Edit the last keyboard macro.

Table E-14. Outline mode commands (Chapter 7)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
(none)	outline-mode	Toggle outline mode
C-c C-t Hide hide-body	Hide all body lines.
C-c C-a Show show-all	Show everything that's hidden.

Table E-15. Compilation mode commands (Chapter 9)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x `	next-error	Move to the next error message and visit the corresponding source code.
M-n	compilation-next-error	Move to the next error message.
M-p	compilation-previous-error	Move to the previous error message.
C-c C-c	compilation-goto-error	Visit the source code for the current error message.

Table E-16. Basic indentation commands (Chapter 7 and Chapter 9)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-M-\	indent-region	Indent each line between the cursor and mark.
M-m	back-to-indentation	Move to the first nonblank character on the line.
M-^	delete-indentation	Join this line to the previous one.

Table E-17. C motion commands (Chapter 9)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
M-a	c-beginning-of-statement	Move to the beginning of the current statement.
M-e	c-end-of-statement	Move to the end of the current statement.
M-q	c-fill-paragraph	If in comment, fill the paragraph, preserving indentations and decorations.
C-M-a	beginning-of-defun	Move to the beginning of the body of the function surrounding the point.
C-M-e	end-of-defun	Move to the end of the function.
C-M-h	c-mark-function	Put the cursor at the beginning of the function, the mark at the end.
C-c C-q	c-indent-defun	Indent the entire function according to indentation style.
C-c C-u	c-up-conditional	Move to the beginning of the current preprocessor conditional.
C-c C-p	c-backward-conditional	Move to the previous preprocessor conditional.
C-c C-n	c-forward-conditional	Move to the next preprocessor conditional.

Table E-18. SQL mode commands (Chapter 9)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-c C-c	sql-send-paragraph	Send the paragraph the cursor is on. A paragraph is defined by the particular database client. For the sql-mysql process, for example, a paragraph begins with a statement like select or update and ends with a semicolon. Any number of lines can intervene.
C-c C-r	sql-send-region	Send the marked region.
C-c C-b	sql-send-buffer	Send the entire buffer.

Table E-19. Lisp commands (Chapter 9)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-M-b	backward-sexp	Move backward by one S-expression.
C-M-f	forward-sexp	Move forward by one S-expression.
C-M-t	transpose-sexps	Transpose the two S-expressions around the cursor.
C-M-@	mark-sexp	Set mark to the end of the current S-expression; set the cursor to the beginning.
C-M-k	kill-sexp	Delete the S-expression following the cursor.
(none)	backward-kill-sexp	Delete the S-expression preceding the cursor.
C-M-n	forward-list	Move forward by one list.
C-M-p	backward-list	Move backward by one list.
C-M-d	down-list	Move forward and down one parenthesis level.
(none)	up-list	Move forward out of one parenthesis level.
C-M-u	backward-up-list	Move backward out of one parenthesis level.
C-M-a	beginning-of-defun	Move to the beginning of the current function.
C-M-e	end-of-defun	Move to the end of the current function.
C-M-h	mark-defun	Put the cursor at the beginning of the function, put the mark at the end.

Table E-20. VC commands (Chapter 12)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-x v v	vc-next-action	Go to the next logical version control state.
C-x v d	vc-directory	Show all registered files beneath a directory.
C-x v =	vc-diff	Generate a version difference report.
C-x v u	vc-revert-buffer	Throw away changes since the last checked-in revision.
C-x v ~	vc-version-other-window	Retrieve a given revision in another window.
C-x v l	vc-print-log	Display a file's change comments and history.
C-x v i	vc-register	Register a file for version control.
C-x v h	vc-insert-headers	Insert version control headers in a file.
C-x v r	vc-retrieve-snapshot	Check out a named project snapshot.
C-x v s	vc-create-snapshot	Create a named project snapshot.
C-x v c	vc-cancel-version	Throw away a saved revision.
C-x v a	vc-update-change-log	Update a GNU-style ChangeLog file.

Table E-21. Ediff commands (Chapter 12)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
Space or n	ediff-next-difference	Move to the next difference between the files.
Del or p	ediff-previous-difference	Move to the preceding difference between the files.
j	ediff-jump-to-difference	Go to the difference specified as a numeric prefix argument.
a	ediff-copy-A-to-B	Copy the version of the current difference found in buffer A to buffer B.
b	ediff-copy-B-to-A	Copy the version of the current difference found in buffer B to buffer A.
r a or r b	ediff-restore-diff	Restore the current difference in buffer A (or B) to the way it was before copying from the other buffer.
A or B	ediff-toggle-read-only	Switch the specified buffer into (or out of) read-only mode.
g a or g b	ediff-jump-to-difference-at-point	Recenter the comparison buffers on the difference nearest to your current location (point) in the specified buffer.
!	ediff-update-diffs	Recalculate and redisplay the highlighted regions; useful if you've manually made extensive changes to a buffer.
w a or w b	ediff-save-buffer	Save the specified buffer to disk.
z	ediff-suspend	Close the Ediff control window, but leave the session active so you can resume it later.
q	ediff-quit	Close the Ediff window and end this comparison session.

Table E-22. CUA mode commands (Chapter 13)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-c C-x C-x	cua-exchange-point-and-mark	Exchange location of cursor and mark.
C-x or C-w or S-Delete	kill-region	Delete the region.
C-v or C-y or S-Insert	cua-paste	Paste most recently killed or copied text.
C-c	copy-region-as-kill	Copy the region.
M-v	cua-repeat-replace-region	After highlighting and replacing a string, find the next string and replace it the same way.
M-y	cua-paste-pop	After C-v, pastes earlier deletion.
C-z or C-x u	cua-undo	Undoes the last change.
C-x C-z	iconify-frame	Minimize the current frame (what C-z does outside CUA mode).

Table E-23. Help commands (Chapter 14)

Keystrokes	Command name	Question answered
C-h k Help Describe Key	describe-key	What command does this keystroke sequence run, and what does it do?
C-h f Help Describe Function	describe-function	What does this function do?
C-h v Help Describe Variable	describe-variable	What does this variable mean, and what is its value?
C-h m Help Describe Buffer Modes	describe-mode	Tell me about the modes the current buffer is in.
C-h b Help List Key Bindings	describe-bindings	What are all the key bindings for this buffer?
C-h a Help apropos-command	What commands include this word?
(none) Help apropos-variable	What variables include this regular expression?
(none) Help apropos	What functions and variables involve this regular expression?

Table E-24. Documentation help commands (Chapter 14)

Keystrokes	Command name	Action
C-h t Help help-with-tutorial	Run the Emacs tutorial.
C-h i	info	Start the Info documentation reader. If prefaced with C-u, reads an Info file of your choice.
C-h r Help info-emacs-manual	Open the Emacs manual.
C-h K Help Find Key in Manual	Info-goto-emacs-key-command-node	Start Info documentation reader at the node that discusses this key sequence.
(none) Help emacs-index-search	Search the index of the Emacs user manual.
C-h p	finder-by-keyword	Invoke a menu that lets you get information about Emacs Lisp packages available on your system.

Table E-25. Important modes

Mode	Function
fundamental-mode	The default mode
text-mode	Major mode for writing text (Chapter 2)
outline-mode	Major mode for writing outlines (Chapter 7)
picture-mode	Major mode for creating ASCII drawings using the keyboard (Chapter 7)
html-mode	Major mode for writing HTML (Chapter 8)
sgml-mode	Major mode for writing SGML and XML (Chapter 8)
latex-mode	Major mode for formatting files for TEX and LATEX (Chapter 8)
c-mode, c++-mode	Major mode for writing C and C++, and Java programs (Chapter 9)
java-mode	Major mode for writing Java programs (Chapter 9)
perl-mode, cperl-mode	Major modes for writing Perl programs (Chapter 9)
sql-mode	Major mode for interacting with databases using SQL (Chapter 9)
emacs-lisp-mode	Major mode for writing Emacs Lisp functions (Chapter 9 and Chapter 11)
lisp-mode	Major mode for writing Lisp programs (Chapter 9 and Chapter 11)
lisp-interaction-mode	Major mode for writing and evaluating Lisp expressions ( Chapter 9 andChapter 11)
auto-fill-mode	Minor mode that enables word wrap (Chapter 2)
overwrite-mode	Minor mode that replaces characters as you type instead of inserting them (Chapter 2)
flyspell-mode	Minor mode for flyspell spell-checker (Chapter 3)
flyspell-prog-mode	Minor mode for spell-checking programs with flyspell (Chapter 3)
abbrev-mode	Minor mode for word abbreviations (Chapter 3)
artist-mode	Minor mode for creating ASCII drawings using the mouse (Chapter 7)
font-lock-mode	Minor mode for highlighting text in colors and fonts (Chapter 9)
vc-mode	Minor mode for using version control systems (Chapter 12)