45 GNU Emacs Keyboard Shortcuts

The use of Emacs is enhanced by knowing a few Emacs shortcuts. The sole purpose of this article is to provide you with the Emacs shortcuts. Emacs is also known as a real-time display text editor. Familiarize yourself with these Emacs shortcut keys to become proficient with it.

Below is a list of the most basic and frequently used Emacs shortcut keys. You can download Emacs shortcuts for Linux users in PDF format.

Most used Emacs Shortcuts

ActionGNU Emacs Shortcuts
Open fileCtrl + F
SaveCtrl + S
Save AsCtrl + W
Save AllS
Revert to FileCtrl + V
Revert BufferMeta + X
Close Window or BufferK
QuitCtrl + Q
Begin SelectionCtrl + Spacebar
Cancel SelectionCtrl + G
Copy SelectionMeta + W
Cut SelectionCtrl + W
Cut LineCtrl + K
PasteCtrl + Y
Copy Selection to Numbered ClipboardCtrl + X R S
Paste from Numbered ClipboardCtrl + X R I
DeleteDelete
Forward DeleteCtrl + D
Delete WordMeta + Delete
Forward Delete wordMeta + D
UndoCtrl + _

Search Shortcuts

ActionGNU Emacs Shortcuts
Incremental searchCtrl + S
Incremental search reverseCtrl + R
Regexp incremental searchMeta + Ctrl + S
Regexp incremental search reverseMeta + Ctrl + R
Interactive Search and ReplaceMeta + %
Previous Matching BracketMeta + Ctrl + B
Next Matching BracketMeta + Ctrl + F

Formatting Shortcuts

ActionGNU Emacs Cheat Sheet
Re-flow ParagraphMeta + Q
Indent SelectionMeta + Ctrl + \
Uppercase WordMeta + U
Lowercase WordMeta + L
Capitalize WordMeta + C
Uppercase SelectionCtrl + U
Lowercase SelectionCtrl + L

Macros Shortcuts

ActionEmacs Shortcuts
Start Recording(
Stop Recording)
Repeat command # timesMeta + #
Play MacroE

Window Shortcuts

ActionEmacs Shortcuts
Next WindowB
Choose WindowCtrl + B
Maximize1
Split Horizontal2
Split Vertical3
Switch Focus Between Windows0
Activate Menu BarMeta + ‘
CloseK

Hence, by learning all of the above Emacs shortcut keys, you will be on your way to becoming an Emacs expert. Vim is another text editor that users might want to consider. Have a look at Vim shortcuts. Which text editor you choose is completely an individual’s choice.

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