Summary of Basic (X)emacs Commands

Notes

In the key sequences below, C stands for the control (Ctrl) key. When using a control key combination, hold the Ctrl key down while pressing the second key in the combination.

Similarly, M stands for meta-key and is usually the escape (Esc) key. When using a meta-key combination, press the meta-key, release it, then press the second key in the combination.

Commands


  M-v        Move backward one screenful 
  C-l        Clear screen and redisplay everything  
             (Putting the text near the cursor at the centre of the screen)    
  C-p        Move to the previous line 
  C-n        Move to the next line    
  C-b        Move backward one character  
  C-f        Move forward one character   
  C-d        Delete one character   
  C-k        Kill from the cursor position to end of line  
  C-y        To yank the lastly killed text back 
  C-a        Move to the begining of the line 
  C-e        Move to the end of the line   
  M-k        Kill to the end of the current sentence 
  M-f        Move forward one word  
  M-b        Move backward one word    
  M-a        Move to the begining of the sentence 
  M-e        Move to the end of the sentence   
  M-<        Move to the begining of the file  
  M->        Move to the end of the file   
  M-d        Kill the next word after the cursor 
  C-x u      Undoes one command's worth of changes    
  C-x C-s    Save the file   
  C-x C-w    Write to the file 
  C-x C-f    retrieve/open a file 
  C-u n C-f  Move forward `n' characters (n should be a number)
  C-x C-c    Save file and exit