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.
Download the Emacs Cheat Sheet PDF
Table of Contents
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
| Action | GNU Emacs Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Open file | Ctrl + F |
| Save | Ctrl + S |
| Save As | Ctrl + W |
| Save All | S |
| Revert to File | Ctrl + V |
| Revert Buffer | Meta + X |
| Close Window or Buffer | K |
| Quit | Ctrl + Q |
| Begin Selection | Ctrl + Spacebar |
| Cancel Selection | Ctrl + G |
| Copy Selection | Meta + W |
| Cut Selection | Ctrl + W |
| Cut Line | Ctrl + K |
| Paste | Ctrl + Y |
| Copy Selection to Numbered Clipboard | Ctrl + X R S |
| Paste from Numbered Clipboard | Ctrl + X R I |
| Delete | Delete |
| Forward Delete | Ctrl + D |
| Delete Word | Meta + Delete |
| Forward Delete word | Meta + D |
| Undo | Ctrl + _ |
Similar Programs: Visual Studio Code Shortcuts
Search Shortcuts
| Action | GNU Emacs Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Incremental search | Ctrl + S |
| Incremental search reverse | Ctrl + R |
| Regexp incremental search | Meta + Ctrl + S |
| Regexp incremental search reverse | Meta + Ctrl + R |
| Interactive Search and Replace | Meta + % |
| Previous Matching Bracket | Meta + Ctrl + B |
| Next Matching Bracket | Meta + Ctrl + F |
Formatting Shortcuts
| Action | GNU Emacs Cheat Sheet |
|---|---|
| Re-flow Paragraph | Meta + Q |
| Indent Selection | Meta + Ctrl + \ |
| Uppercase Word | Meta + U |
| Lowercase Word | Meta + L |
| Capitalize Word | Meta + C |
| Uppercase Selection | Ctrl + U |
| Lowercase Selection | Ctrl + L |
Similar Programs: Atom Keyboard Shortcuts
Macros Shortcuts
| Action | Emacs Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Start Recording | ( |
| Stop Recording | ) |
| Repeat command # times | Meta + # |
| Play Macro | E |
Similar Programs: Sublime Text Keyboard Shortcuts
Window Shortcuts
| Action | Emacs Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Next Window | B |
| Choose Window | Ctrl + B |
| Maximize | 1 |
| Split Horizontal | 2 |
| Split Vertical | 3 |
| Switch Focus Between Windows | 0 |
| Activate Menu Bar | Meta + ‘ |
| Close | K |
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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