EMACS Quick Reference Guide Note that  (Esc) is always pressed prior (i.e. sequentially) to the following key. Avoid holding down the escape key. Note also that <ctrl>x<ctrl>f is different from <ctrl>xf. In the second case, do not hold down the control key while pressing f. Moving around <ctrl>p previous line <ctrl>n next line <ctrl>a beginning of line <ctrl>e end of line <ctrl>f and <ctrl>b forward and back one letter at a time arrow keys also move the cursor around (duplicating <ctrl>p, <ctrl>n, <ctrl>f, and <ctrl>b) <esc>v previous screenfull <ctrl>v next screenfull <esc> <esc>> end of document Cutting and Pasting <ctrl>k kills (cuts) to the end of the line (a second <ctrl>k will cut the carriage return) <ctrl>y yanks back text from the last kill (several kills in a row count as one kill unless another command or some typing somes between them) My immediately after a <ctrl>y will replace what you just yanked by previously killed text (and will keep moving backward through previous text you've killed) <ctrl>d deletes the character at the cursor location <ctrl>2 some text <ctrl>w wipes out a region (see below for regions) These can be yanked back with <ctrl>y using the mouse to copy and paste will work under Xwindows (such as elm) Files <ctrl>x<ctrl>f find file <ctrl>x<ctrl>s save file <ctrl>xi insert file at cursor position <ctrl>xs save any files that have changed (you'll have to answer y/n for each file) <ctrl>x<ctrl>w write out current buffer into new file (to save under a different file name) Search and Replace <ctrl>s search starting at cursor point (you'll be prompted for search string) Repeated <ctrl>s commands will find the next occurance. <ctrl>r reverse search <esc> (Escape) or any other command or mouse click will terminate a search <ctrl>s<ctrl>s will use the previous search string <esc>% prompts for a string and replacement and will ask for confirmation before replacing <esc>xreplace-string prompts for string and replacement and replaces all without confirmation Miscellaneous commands <ctrl>g abort command in progress <ctrl>x<ctrl>c quit emacs (<ctrl>z will suspend) <ctrl>xu undo, will continue to undo until the last save <esc>$ check spelling of this word <ctrl>xb change buffers (switch between files if more than one are open) <esc>q formats paragraph so all lines are no longer than "fill" amount <ctrl>xf sets "fill" amount to current cursor position use space or tab for word or command completion on the command line (minibuffer) You can create a region by setting a mark at one end with <ctrl>2 and moving the cursor to the other end. Operations on regions include <ctrl>w (wipe out), <ctrl>x<ctrl>i (indent, if no region is set, indents current line) and <ctrl>g (formats region according to "fill" amount).