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Distribution

Introduction

The Organization of the Screen

Point
The Echo Area
The Mode Line
The Menu Bar

Kinds of User Input

Keys

Mouse Input

Keys and Commands

Touchscreen Input and Virtual Keyboards

Using Emacs on Touchscreens
Using Emacs with Virtual Keyboards

Entering Emacs

Exiting Emacs

Basic Editing Commands

Inserting Text
Changing the Location of Point
Erasing Text
Undoing Changes
Files
Help
Blank Lines
Continuation Lines
Cursor Position Information
Numeric Arguments
Repeating a Command

The Minibuffer

Using the Minibuffer
Minibuffers for File Names
Editing in the Minibuffer
Completion
- Completion Example
  Completion Commands
  Completion Exit
  How Completion Alternatives Are Chosen
  Completion Options
Minibuffer History
Repeating Minibuffer Commands
Entering passwords
Yes or No Prompts

Running Commands by Name

Help

Help Summary
Documentation for a Key
Help by Command or Variable Name
Apropos
Help Mode Commands
Keyword Search for Packages
Help for International Language Support
Other Help Commands
Help Files
Help on Active Text and Tooltips

The Mark and the Region

Setting the Mark
Commands to Mark Textual Objects
Operating on the Region
The Mark Ring
The Global Mark Ring
Shift Selection
Disabling Transient Mark Mode

Killing and Moving Text

Deletion and Killing
- Deletion
  Killing by Lines
  Other Kill Commands
  Options for Killing
Yanking
- The Kill Ring
  Yanking Earlier Kills
  Appending Kills
“Cut and Paste” Operations on Graphical Displays
- Using the Clipboard
  Cut and Paste with Other Window Applications
  Secondary Selection
Accumulating Text
Rectangles
CUA Bindings

Registers

Saving Positions in Registers
Saving Text in Registers
Saving Rectangles in Registers
Saving Window and Frame Configurations in Registers
Keeping Numbers in Registers
Keeping File and Buffer Names in Registers
Keyboard Macro Registers
Bookmarks

Controlling the Display

Scrolling
Recentering
Automatic Scrolling
Horizontal Scrolling
Narrowing
View Mode
Follow Mode
Text Faces
Colors for Faces
- Color Names
  RGB Triplets
Standard Faces
Icons
Text Scale
Font Lock mode
- Traditional Font Lock
  Parser-based Font Lock
  Semantic Font Lock
Interactive Highlighting
Window Fringes
Displaying Boundaries
Useless Whitespace
Selective Display
Optional Mode Line Features
How Text Is Displayed
Displaying the Cursor
Line Truncation
Visual Line Mode
Customization of Display

Searching and Replacement

Incremental Search
- Basics of Incremental Search
  Repeating Incremental Search
  Isearch Yanking
  Errors in Incremental Search
  Special Input for Incremental Search
  Not Exiting Incremental Search
  Searching the Minibuffer
Nonincremental Search
Word Search
Symbol Search
Regular Expression Search
Syntax of Regular Expressions
Backslash in Regular Expressions
Regular Expression Example
Lax Matching During Searching
Replacement Commands
- Unconditional Replacement
  Regexp Replacement
  Replace Commands and Lax Matches
  Query Replace
Other Search-and-Loop Commands
Tailoring Search to Your Needs

Commands for Fixing Typos

Undo
Transposing Text
Case Conversion
Checking and Correcting Spelling

Keyboard Macros

Basic Use
The Keyboard Macro Ring
The Keyboard Macro Counter
Executing Macros with Variations
Naming and Saving Keyboard Macros
Editing a Keyboard Macro
Stepwise Editing a Keyboard Macro
Listing and Editing Keyboard Macros

File Handling

File Names
Visiting Files
Saving Files
- Commands for Saving Files
  Backup Files
  - Single or Numbered Backups
    Automatic Deletion of Backups
    Copying vs. Renaming
  Customizing Saving of Files
  Protection against Simultaneous Editing
  Shadowing Files
  Updating Time Stamps Automatically
  - Customizing the Time Stamp
    Forcing Time Stamps for One File
Reverting a Buffer
Auto Revert: Keeping buffers automatically up-to-date
- Auto Reverting Non-File Buffers
  - Auto Reverting the Buffer Menu
    Auto Reverting Dired buffers
Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters
- Auto-Save Files
  Controlling Auto-Saving
  Recovering Data from Auto-Saves
File Name Aliases
File Directories
Comparing Files
Diff Mode
Copying, Naming and Renaming Files
Miscellaneous File Operations
Accessing Compressed Files
File Archives
Remote Files
Quoted File Names
File Name Cache
Convenience Features for Finding Files
Viewing Image Files
Filesets

Using Multiple Buffers

Creating and Selecting Buffers
Listing Existing Buffers
Miscellaneous Buffer Operations
Killing Buffers
Operating on Several Buffers
Indirect Buffers
Convenience Features and Customization of Buffer Handling
- Making Buffer Names Unique
  Fast minibuffer selection
  Customizing Buffer Menus

Multiple Windows

Concepts of Emacs Windows
Splitting Windows
Using Other Windows
Displaying in Another Window
Deleting and Resizing Windows
Displaying a Buffer in a Window
- How display-buffer works
  Displaying non-editable buffers.
Convenience Features for Window Handling
Window Tab Line
Window Tool Bar

Frames and Graphical Displays

Mouse Commands for Editing
Mouse Commands for Words and Lines
Following References with the Mouse
Mouse Clicks for Menus
Mode Line Mouse Commands
Creating Frames
Frame Commands
Fonts
Speedbar Frames
Multiple Displays
- Single-keyboard mode
Frame Parameters
Scroll Bars
Window Dividers
Drag and Drop
Menu Bars
Tool Bars
Tab Bars
Using System GUI Taskbar Features
Using Dialog Boxes
Tooltips
Mouse Avoidance
Text Terminals
Using a Mouse in Text Terminals

International Character Set Support

Introduction to International Character Sets
Language Environments
Input Methods
Selecting an Input Method
Coding Systems
Recognizing Coding Systems
Specifying a File’s Coding System
Choosing Coding Systems for Output
Specifying a Coding System for File Text
Coding Systems for Interprocess Communication
Coding Systems for File Names
Coding Systems for X Keyboard Input
Coding Systems for Terminal I/O
Fontsets
Defining Fontsets
Modifying Fontsets
Undisplayable Characters
Unibyte Editing Mode
Charsets
Bidirectional Editing

Major and Minor Modes

Major Modes
Minor Modes
Choosing File Modes

Indentation

Indentation Commands
Tab Stops
Tabs vs. Spaces
Convenience Features for Indentation
Code Alignment

Commands for Human Languages

Words
Sentences
Paragraphs
Pages
Quotation Marks
Filling Text
- Auto Fill Mode
  Explicit Fill Commands
  The Fill Prefix
  Adaptive Filling
Case Conversion Commands
Text Mode
Outline Mode
- Outline Minor Mode
  Format of Outlines
  Outline Motion Commands
  Outline Visibility Commands
  Viewing One Outline in Multiple Views
  Folding Editing
Org Mode
- Org as an organizer
  Org as an authoring system
TeX Mode
- TeX Editing Commands
  LaTeX Editing Commands
  TeX Printing Commands
  TeX Mode Miscellany
SGML and HTML Modes
Nroff Mode
Enriched Text
- Enriched Mode
  Hard and Soft Newlines
  Editing Format Information
  Faces in Enriched Text
  Indentation in Enriched Text
  Justification in Enriched Text
  Setting Other Text Properties
Editing Text-based Tables
- What is a Text-based Table?
  Creating a Table
  Table Recognition
  Commands for Table Cells
  Cell Justification
  Table Rows and Columns
  Converting Between Plain Text and Tables
  Table Miscellany
Two-Column Editing

Editing Programs

Major Modes for Programming Languages
Top-Level Definitions, or Defuns
- Left Margin Convention
  Moving by Defuns
  Moving by Sentences
  Imenu
  Which Function Mode
Indentation for Programs
- Basic Program Indentation Commands
  Indenting Several Lines
  Customizing Lisp Indentation
  Commands for C Indentation
  Customizing C Indentation
Commands for Editing with Parentheses
- Expressions with Balanced Parentheses
  Moving in the Parenthesis Structure
  Matching Parentheses
Manipulating Comments
- Comment Commands
  Multiple Lines of Comments
  Options Controlling Comments
Documentation Lookup
- Info Documentation Lookup
  Man Page Lookup
  Programming Language Documentation Lookup
Hideshow minor mode
Completion for Symbol Names
MixedCase Words
Semantic
Other Features Useful for Editing Programs
C and Related Modes
- C Mode Motion Commands
  Electric C Characters
  Hungry Delete Feature in C
  Other Commands for C Mode
Asm Mode
Fortran Mode
- Motion Commands
  Fortran Indentation
  - Fortran Indentation and Filling Commands
    Continuation Lines
    Line Numbers
    Syntactic Conventions
    Variables for Fortran Indentation
  Fortran Comments
  Auto Fill in Fortran Mode
  Checking Columns in Fortran
  Fortran Keyword Abbrevs

Compiling and Testing Programs

Running Compilations under Emacs
Compilation Mode
Subshells for Compilation
Searching with Grep under Emacs
Finding Syntax Errors On The Fly
Running Debuggers Under Emacs
- Starting GUD
  Debugger Operation
  Commands of GUD
  GUD Customization
  GDB Graphical Interface
  - GDB User Interface Layout
    Source Buffers
    Breakpoints Buffer
    Threads Buffer
    Stack Buffer
    Other GDB Buffers
    Watch Expressions
    Multithreaded Debugging
Executing Lisp Expressions
Libraries of Lisp Code for Emacs
Evaluating Emacs Lisp Expressions
Lisp Interaction Buffers
Running an External Lisp

Maintaining Large Programs

Version Control
- Introduction to Version Control
  - Understanding the Problems it Addresses
    Supported Version Control Systems
    Concepts of Version Control
    Merge-based vs Lock-based Version Control
    Changeset-based vs File-based Version Control
    Decentralized vs Centralized Repositories
    Types of Log File
  Version Control and the Mode Line
  Basic Editing under Version Control
  - Basic Version Control with Merging
    Basic Version Control with Locking
    Advanced Control in C-x v v
  Features of the Log Entry Buffer
  Registering a File for Version Control
  Examining And Comparing Old Revisions
  VC Change Log
  Undoing Version Control Actions
  Ignore Version Control Files
  VC Directory Mode
  - The VC Directory Buffer
    VC Directory Commands
  Version Control Branches
  - Switching between Branches
    Pulling/Pushing Changes into/from a Branch
    Merging Branches
    Creating New Branches
    Copying Changes Made By Revisions Between Branches
  Miscellaneous Commands and Features of VC
  - Change Logs and VC
    Deleting and Renaming Version-Controlled Files
    Revision Tags
    Merge Bases
    Commands to see all unintegrated changes
    Multiple Working Trees for One Repository
    Inserting Version Control Headers
    Editing VC Commands
    Preparing Patches
    Auto-Reverting Buffers That Visit Tracked Files
    Rewinding Branches
  Customizing VC
  - General Options
    Options for RCS and SCCS
    Options specific for CVS
Working with Projects
- Project Commands That Operate on Files
  Project Commands That Operate on Buffers
  Switching Projects
  Managing the Project List File
  VC-Aware Project Backend
Change Logs
- Change Log Commands
  Format of ChangeLog
Find Identifier References
- Find Identifiers
  - Looking Up Identifiers
    Commands Available in the *xref* Buffer
    Searching and Replacing with Identifiers
    Identifier Inquiries
  Tags Tables
  - Source File Tag Syntax
    Creating Tags Tables
    Etags Regexps
  Selecting a Tags Table
Emacs Development Environment
Merging Files with Emerge
- Overview of Emerge
  Submodes of Emerge
  State of a Difference
  Merge Commands
  Exiting Emerge
  Combining the Two Versions
  Fine Points of Emerge
Bug Reference

Abbrevs

Abbrev Concepts
Defining Abbrevs
Controlling Abbrev Expansion
Abbrevs Suggestions
Examining and Editing Abbrevs
Saving Abbrevs
Dynamic Abbrev Expansion
Customizing Dynamic Abbreviation

Dired, the Directory Editor

Entering Dired
Navigation in the Dired Buffer
Deleting Files with Dired
Flagging Many Files at Once
Visiting Files in Dired
Dired Marks vs. Flags
Operating on Files
Shell Commands in Dired
Shell Command Guessing
Transforming File Names in Dired
File Comparison with Dired
Subdirectories in Dired
Subdirectory Switches in Dired
Moving Over Subdirectories
Hiding Subdirectories
Updating the Dired Buffer
Dired and find
Editing the Dired Buffer
Viewing Image Thumbnails in Dired
Other Dired Features

The Calendar and the Diary

Movement in the Calendar
- Motion by Standard Lengths of Time
  Beginning or End of Week, Month or Year
  Specified Dates
Scrolling in the Calendar
Counting Days
Miscellaneous Calendar Commands
Writing Calendar Files
Holidays
Times of Sunrise and Sunset
Phases of the Moon
Conversion To and From Other Calendars
- Supported Calendar Systems
  Converting To Other Calendars
  Converting From Other Calendars
The Diary
- The Diary File
  Displaying the Diary
  Date Formats
  Commands to Add to the Diary
  Special Diary Entries
  Appointments
  Importing and Exporting Diary Entries
  - Importing iCalendar data as Diary Entries
    Displaying iCalendar entries in the Diary
    Exporting Diary Entries to iCalendar
    Importing Outlook appointments as Diary Entries
Daylight Saving Time
Summing Time Intervals
More advanced features of the Calendar and Diary
- Customizing the Calendar
  Customizing the Holidays
  Converting from the Mayan Calendar
  Date Display Format
  Time Display Format
  Customizing the Diary
  Diary Entries Using non-Gregorian Calendars
  Diary Display
  Fancy Diary Display
  Sexp Entries and the Fancy Diary Display

Sending Mail

The Format of the Mail Buffer
Mail Header Fields
Mail Aliases
Mail Commands
- Mail Sending
  Mail Header Editing
  Citing Mail
  Mail Miscellany
Mail Signature
Mail Amusements
Mail-Composition Methods

Reading Mail with Rmail

Basic Concepts of Rmail
Scrolling Within a Message
Moving Among Messages
Deleting Messages
Rmail Files and Inboxes
Multiple Rmail Files
Copying Messages Out to Files
Labels
Rmail Attributes
Sending Replies
Summaries
- Making Summaries
  Editing in Summaries
Sorting the Rmail File
Display of Messages
Rmail and Coding Systems
Editing Within a Message
Digest Messages
Reading Rot13 Messages
movemail program
Retrieving Mail from Remote Mailboxes
Retrieving Mail from Local Mailboxes in Various Formats

Email and Usenet News with Gnus

Gnus Buffers
When Gnus Starts Up
Using the Gnus Group Buffer
Using the Gnus Summary Buffer

Host Security

Network Security

Document Viewing

DocView Navigation
DocView Searching
DocView Slicing
DocView Conversion

Running Shell Commands from Emacs

Single Shell Commands
Interactive Subshell
Shell Mode
Shell Prompts
Shell Command History
- Shell History Ring
  Shell History Copying
  Shell History References
Directory Tracking
Shell Bookmarks
Shell Mode Options
Emacs Terminal Emulator
Term Mode
Remote Host Shell
Serial Terminal

Using Emacs as a Server

TCP Emacs server
Invoking emacsclient
emacsclient Options

Printing Hard Copies

PostScript Hardcopy
Variables for PostScript Hardcopy
Printing Package

Sorting Text

Editing Pictures

Basic Editing in Picture Mode
Controlling Motion after Insert
Picture Mode Tabs
Picture Mode Rectangle Commands

Editing Binary Files

Saving Emacs Sessions

Recursive Editing Levels

Hyperlinking and Web Navigation Features

Web Browsing with EWW
Embedded WebKit Widgets
Following URLs
Activating URLs
Finding Files and URLs at Point

Games and Other Amusements

Emacs Lisp Packages

The Package Menu Buffer
Package Statuses
Package Installation
Package Files and Directory Layout
Fetching Package Sources
- Specifying Package Sources

Customization

Easy Customization Interface
- Customization Groups
  Browsing and Searching for Settings
  Changing a Variable
  Saving Customizations
  Customizing Faces
  Customizing Specific Items
  Custom Themes
  Creating Custom Themes
Variables
- Examining and Setting Variables
  Hooks
  Local Variables
  Local Variables in Files
  - Specifying File Variables
    Safety of File Variables
  Per-Directory Local Variables
  - Per-Directory Variables via EditorConfig
  Per-Connection Local Variables
Customizing Key Bindings
- Keymaps
  Prefix Keymaps
  Local Keymaps
  Minibuffer Keymaps
  Changing Key Bindings Interactively
  Rebinding Keys in Your Init File
  Modifier Keys
  Rebinding Function Keys
  Named ASCII Control Characters
  Rebinding Mouse Buttons
  Disabling Commands
The Emacs Initialization File
- Init File Syntax
  Init File Examples
  Terminal-specific Initialization
  How Emacs Finds Your Init File
  Non-ASCII Characters in Init Files
  The Early Init File
  User Lisp Directory
Keeping Persistent Authentication Information
Newcomers Theme

Quitting and Aborting

Dealing with Emacs Trouble

Recursive Editing Levels
Garbage on the Screen
Garbage in the Text
Running out of Memory
When Emacs Crashes
Recovery After a Crash
Emergency Escape
If DEL Fails to Delete

Reporting Bugs

Reading Existing Bug Reports and Known Problems
When Is There a Bug
Understanding Bug Reporting
Checklist for Bug Reports
Sending Patches for GNU Emacs

Contributing to Emacs Development

Coding Standards
Copyright Assignment

How To Get Help with GNU Emacs

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

GNU Free Documentation License

Command Line Arguments for Emacs Invocation

Action Arguments
Initial Options
Command Argument Example
Environment Variables
- General Variables
  Miscellaneous Variables
  The MS-Windows System Registry
Specifying the Display Name
Font Specification Options
Window Color Options
Options for Window Size and Position
Internal and Outer Borders
Frame Titles
Icons
Other Display Options

X Options and Resources

X Resources
Table of X Resources for Emacs
Lucid Menu And Dialog X Resources
Motif Menu X Resources
GTK+ resources
- GTK+ Resource Basics
  GTK+ widget names
  GTK+ Widget Names in Emacs
  GTK+ styles

Emacs 30 Antinews

Emacs and macOS / GNUstep

Basic Emacs usage under macOS and GNUstep
- Grabbing environment variables
Mac / GNUstep Customization
- Modifier keys
  Frame Variables
  macOS Trackpad/Mousewheel Variables
Windowing System Events under macOS / GNUstep
GNUstep Support

Emacs and Haiku

Haiku Installation and Startup
Font Backends and Selection under Haiku

Emacs and Android

Android History
Starting Emacs on Android
What Files Emacs Can Access on Android
Accessing Files from Other Programs on Android
Running Emacs under Android
The Android Window System
Font Backends and Selection under Android
Troubleshooting Startup Problems on Android
Installing Extra Software on Android

Emacs and Microsoft Windows/MS-DOS

How to Start Emacs on MS-Windows
Text Files and Binary Files
File Names on MS-Windows
Emulation of ls on MS-Windows
HOME and Startup Directories on MS-Windows
Keyboard Usage on MS-Windows
Mouse Usage on MS-Windows
Subprocesses on Windows 9X/ME and Windows NT/2K/XP/Vista/7/8/10
Printing and MS-Windows
Specifying Fonts on MS-Windows
Miscellaneous Windows-specific features
Emacs and MS-DOS
- Keyboard Usage on MS-DOS
  Mouse Usage on MS-DOS
  Display on MS-DOS
  File Names on MS-DOS
  Printing and MS-DOS
  International Support on MS-DOS
  Subprocesses on MS-DOS

The GNU Manifesto

What’s GNU? Gnu’s Not Unix!
Why I Must Write GNU
Why GNU Will Be Compatible with Unix
How GNU Will Be Available
Why Many Other Programmers Want to Help
How You Can Contribute
Why All Computer Users Will Benefit
Some Easily Rebutted Objections to GNU’s Goals

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Key (Character) Index

Command-Line Options Index

Command and Function Index

Variable Index

Concept Index

On this page

GNUstep Support

Emacs can be built and run under GNUstep, but there are still issues to be addressed. Interested developers should contact the emacs-devel mailing list.

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Using Emacs on Haiku.

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