Emacs Keyboard Shortcuts

A list of Emacs keyboard shortcuts that I use on a regular basis.

General Shortcuts

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-x Esc Esc	repeat-complex-command	Edit and re-evaluate last complex command.
C-h m	describe-mode	Help information for the current buffers modes.
C-h f	describe-function	Help information for a function.
C-h x	describe-command	Help information for a command (a function available using M-x).
C-h l	view-lossage	Show log for key presses and commands.
C-k	kill-line	Kill rest of line, or line if empty.
C-/	undo	Undo.
C-g C-/	undo-redo	Redo.
C-y	yank	Yank from kill ring.
M-y	yank-pop	Yank down the kill ring.
C-y M-y	yank-pop	Cycle through kills after a yank.
M-/	dabbrev-expand	Dabbrev (word) expand.
M-C-/	dabbrev-completion	Dabbrev (word) completion.
C-x s	save-some-buffers	Save all buffers.
C-x C-s	save-buffer	Save current buffer.
C-x C-w	write-file	Write the current buffer, can provide new file name.
C-o	open-line	Add blank line below.
C-x C-o	delete-blank-lines	Delete all blank lines below.
C-x C-c	save-buffers-kill-terminal	Quit Emacs.
C-x <left>	previous-buffer	Switch to the previous buffer.
C-x <right>	next-buffer	Switch to the next buffer.
M--	negative-argument	Prefix to perform negative meta commands.
C--	negative-argument	Prefix to perform negative commands.
C-a	move-beginning-of-line	Move cursor to the beginning of the line.
C-e	move-end-of-line	Move cursor to the end of the line.
M-a	backward-sentence	Move cursor to the beginning of the sentence.
M-e	forward-sentence	Move cursor to the end of the sentence.
M-m	back-to-indentation	Move cursor to the first non-whitepsace character on the line.
M-k	kill-sentence	Kill rest the rest of theing of the line.
M-l	downcase-word	Lowercase word forward.
M-c	capitalize-word	Capitalize word forward.
M-u	upcase-word	Uppercase word forward.
C-<space> C-<space>	set-mark-command	Add mark to mark ring.
C-u C-<space>	set-mark-command	Jump to previous mark.
C-x f	set-fill-column	Set fill column number.
M-q	fill-paragraph	Wrap/reformat to fill column.
M-v	scroll-down-command	Page up.
C-v	scroll-up-command	Page down.
M-^	delete-indentation	Join previous line.
M-- M-^	delete-indentation	Join following line.
M-<	beginning-of-buffer	Go to start of file.
M->	end-of-buffer	Go to end of file.
M-{	backward-paragraph	Previous paragraph.
M-}	forward-paragraph	Next paragraph.
C-x C-f	find-file	Find file.
C-x C-v	find-alternate-file	Find alternative file.
C-x k	kill-buffer	Kill current or named buffer.
C-x o	other-window	Go to next window, split.
C-x O	other-window	Go back to previous window, split.
C-x i	insert-file	Insert file contents into the current file.
C-x h	mark-whole-buffer	Highlight entire buffer.
C-M-\	indent-region	Re-indent code region in region or from previous mark point.
C-x C-x	exchange-point-and-mark	Put the mark where point is now, and point where the mark is now.
C-x C-j	dired-jump	Open Dired jump.
C-x SPC	rectangle-mark-mode	Rectangle edit mode, can use string-insert-rectangle.
C-x +	balance-windows	Resize all splits to equal sizes.
C-x 5 2	make-frame-command	Open in new frame.
C-x r SPC	point-to-register	Point-to-register.
C-x r j	jump-to-register	Jump-to-register.
g	revert-buffer	Refresh page, workes on many UI pages.
M-s o	occur	List lines using regex.
M-s h r	highlight-regexp	Highlights regex expression.
M-r	move-to-window-line-top-bottom	Move cursor to top, middle and bottom.
C-l	recenter-top-bottom	Move text in relation to the cursor, to top, middle and bottom.
M-!	shell-command	Run a shell command.
M-&	async-shell-command	Async shell command.
C-u 0	universal-argument	Infinite count prefix.
C-u {count}	universal-argument	Repeat operation x amount of times.
C-x z	repeat	Repeat command.
C-x backspace	backward-kill-sentence	Clear mini-buffer.
C-k C-k C-y C-y		Duplicate line. (Place cursor at start)
M-g M-g	goto-line	Go to line.
C-x b	switch-to-buffer	Quick switch buffer.
C-x 1	delete-other-windows	Kill other windows.
M-z (char)	zap-to-char	Zap up to char.
C-M-\	indent-region	Re-indent region.
C-x * g	calc-dispatch	Eval in new buffer.
M-<space>	just-one-space	Removes extra whitespace between two words.
C-u M-x	universal-argument	Run command with additional options.
C-x TAB	indent-rigidly	Allows you to manually indent a region inwards or outwards.
C-x x t	toggle-truncate-lines	Turn on or off line truncation.
	locate	Find a files matching a pattern across the entire system.
	recentf	Shows a list of recent files, if recentf mode is enabled.

Highlighting

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M-s h .	highlight-symbol-at-point	Highlight each instance of the symbol at point.
M-s h l	highlight-lines-matching-regexp	Highlight all lines that match REGEXP using FACE.
M-s h p	highlight-phrase	Set face of each match of phrase REGEXP to FACE.
M-s h r	highlight-regexp	Set face of each match of REGEXP to FACE.
M-s h u	unhighlight-regexp	Remove highlighting of each match to REGEXP set by hi-lock.

Macros

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-x (	kmacro-start-macro	Define keyboard macro.
C-x )	kmacro-end-macro	End keyboard macro definition.
C-x e	kmacro-end-and-call-macro	Playback keyboard macro, can just keep pressing e after first press.
C-x C-k <space>	kmacro-step-edit-macro	Open keyboard macro debugger.
C-x C-k e	edit-kbd-macro	Enter macro editor, (C-c C-c) to finish editing.
C-x C-k n	kmacro-name-last-macro	Save the keyboard macro for later use.
	insert-kbd-macro	Insert a saved macro into the file, in Emacs lisp.

Project

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-x p !	project-shell-command	Run shell-command in the current project's root directory.
C-x p &	project-async-shell-command	Run async-shell-command in the current project's root directory.
C-x p f	project-find-file	Visit a file (with completion) in the current project.
C-x p F	project-or-external-find-file	Visit a file (with completion) in the current project or external roots.
C-x p b	project-switch-to-buffer	Display buffer in the selected window, for a buffer belonging to the current project.
C-x p s	project-shell	Start an inferior shell in the current project's root directory.
C-x p d	project-find-dir	Start Dired in a directory inside the current project.
C-x p D	project-dired	Start Dired in the current project's root.
C-x p v	project-vc-dir	Run VC-Dir in the current project's root.
C-x p c	project-compile	Run compile in the project root.
C-x p e	project-eshell	Start Eshell in the current project's root directory.
C-x p k	project-kill-buffers	Kill the buffers belonging to the current project.
C-x p p	project-switch-project	Switch to another project by running an Emacs command.
C-x p g	project-find-regexp	Find all matches for REGEXP in the current project's roots.
C-x p G	project-or-external-find-regexp	Find all matches for REGEXP in the project roots or external roots.
C-x p r	project-query-replace-regexp	Query-replace REGEXP in all the files of the project.
C-x p x	project-execute-extended-command	Execute an extended command in project root.

Balanced Expressions

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-M-f	forward-sexp	Forward over an sexps.
C-M-b	backward-sexp	Backward over a sexps.
C-M-d	down-list	Move down into a sexps.
C-M-u	backward-up-list	Move up out of a sexps.
C-M-n	forward-list	Move forward to the sexps.
C-M-p	backward-list	Move backward to the previous sexps.
C-M-k	kill-sexp	Kill down into sexps.
M-(	insert-parentheses	Wraps region in parenthesis.

Incremental Search

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-M-s	isearch-forward-regexp	Regex search.
C-s	isearch-forward	Incremental search.
C-s C-s	isearch-repeat-forward	Repeat incremental search.
C-s C-w	isearch-yank-word-or-char	Enter incremental search and start expanding the selection.
C-r	isearch-backward	Incremental search backward.
C-r C-r	isearch-repeat-backward	Repeat incremental search backward.
C-s C-y	isearch-yank-kill	Start incremental search using yanked text.
C-s M-y	isearch-yank-pop-only	Start incremental search from kill ring string.
C-r	recursive-edit	During query replace, enter recursive edit mode.
C-M-c	exit-recursive-edit	During query replace, exit recursive edit mode and continue query replacement.
C-]	abort-recursive-edit	During query replace, exit recursive edit mode and query replace modes.
M-s o	isearch-occur	Show all lines matching the search term in occur.
M-s e	isearch-edit-string	To edit the search string in the minibuffer.
M-s h r	isearch-highlight-regexp	Highlights the last search string.

Query Replace

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M-%	query-replace	Start a query replace operation.
!		Replace all remaining matches in this buffer with no more questions.
^		Move point back to previous match.
u		Undo previous replacement.
U		undo all replacements.
E		Edit the replacement string.

Tags

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M-.	xref-find-definitions	Jump to tag.
M-,	xref-go-back	Jump back.
C-x 4 .	xref-find-definitions-other-window	Visit tag in new split.
C-x 5 .	xref-find-definitions-other-frame	Visit tag in new frame.

Xref

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M-.	xref-find-definitions	Find definitions at point.
M-,	xref-go-back	Pop marker and return.
M-?	xref-find-references	Find references matching a pattern.
C-M-.	xref-find-apropos	Find symbols matching a pattern.

Bookmarks

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-x r m	bookmark-set	Create / set bookmark.
C-x r b	bookmark-jump	Open bookmark.
C-x r l	bookmark-bmenu-list	List bookmarks.

Abbrev

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-x a g	add-global-abbrev	Add global abbrev.
C-x a l	add-mode-abbrev	Add local abbrev.
C-q		Mute abbrev.

Ivy Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
S-<space>	ivy-restrict-to-matches	Narrow search to current term.
C-M-p	ivy-previous-line-and-call	Preview up.
C-M-n	ivy-next-line-and-call	Preview down.
M-o	ivy-dispatching-done	Open item options.

Occur Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
e	occur-edit-mode	Directly edit the entry in place.
C-c C-c	occur-mode-goto-occurrence	Return back to occur mode after edit.

Dired Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-o	dired-display-file	Preview file but stay in Dired buffer.
C-u k	dired-do-kill-lines	Remove section.
X	dired-do-shell-command	Execute shell command on file.
Q	dired-do-find-regexp-and-replace	Query replace marked files, <space> accept, n decline and C-x s to save all.
+	dired-create-directory	Create directory.
^	dired-up-directory	Go up one directory.
	find-name-dired	Recursively find a file.

IBuffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
/ /	ibuffer-filter-disable	Remove all filtering currently in effect.
/ m	ibuffer-filter-by-used-mode	Add a filter by a major mode now in use.
/ n	ibuffer-filter-by-name	Add a filter by buffer name.
/ f	ibuffer-filter-by-filename	Add a filter by filename.
Q	ibuffer-do-query-replace	Query replace in each of the marked buffers.

Grep Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
C-c C-K	command kill-compilation	Kill process.

Compile Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
?	describe-mode	Describe-mode.
g	recompile	Recompile.
h	describe-mode	Describe-mode.
q	quit-window	Quit-window.
	compile	Run one of the targets in your make file.

Interactively Do Things (Ido) Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M-f	ido-wide-find-file-or-pop-dir	Find file recursively. Search into sub directory.
?	ido-completion-help	See a full list of all matching buffers.
C-j	ido-select-text	Choose selected file/folder/text from minibuffer. e,g. Open folder in Dired .
C-x C-f ... C-d	dired	Enter dired on the current directory.
C-x C-f ... C-f	find-file	Fallback to non-Ido, while finding a files.
C-x C-b ... C-b	ido-switch-buffer	Fallback to non-Ido, while finding a buffer.

Interface To Spell (Ispell) and On The Fly Spell (Flyspell)

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
M $	ispell-word	Check and correct spelling of the word at point.
C-M i	completion-at-point	Complete the word before point based on the spelling dictionary.
M-TAB	flyspell-auto-correct-word	Automatically corrects the current word at point, will also cycle between option.
C-c $	flyspell-correct-word-before-point	Correct word before point.
	flyspell-mode	Enable Fly-spell mode, which highlights all misspelled words.
	flyspell-prog-mode	Enable Fly-spell mode for comments and strings only.
	flyspell-buffer	Check and correct spelling in the buffer.

Org Buffer

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
S-M-RET	org-insert-todo-heading	Insert a new TODO entry below the current one.
C-c / t	org-match-sparse-tree	View todo items in a sparse tree.
C-c C-t	org-todo	Toggle todo item state.
C-c C-s	org-schedule	Schedule todo item.
C-c C-d	org-deadline	Add deadline to todo item.
C-c [	org-agenda-file-to-front	Add file to agenda.
C-c ]	org-remove-file	Remove file to agenda.
C-c .	org-timestamp	Insert current date.
C-c C-e	org-export-dispatch	Open exporter.
C-c C-e #	org-export-dispatch	Insert template.
C-c C-e P x	org-export-dispatch	Export specific project.

EWW

Shortcut	Command Invoked	Description
B	eww-list-bookmarks	Display your bookmarks.
b	eww-add-bookmark	Add the current page as a bookmark.
l	eww-back-url	Go to the previously displayed page.
r	eww-forward-url	Go to the next displayed page.
g	eww-reload	Reload the current page.
G	eww	Go to a new address.
H	eww-list-histories	Shows a list of your histories.
TAB	shr-next-link	Skip to the next link.

Useful Commands

Command	Description
keep-lines	Delete all lines not matching the provided regex.
flush-lines	Delete all lines matching the provided regex.
sort-lines	Sort lines in region alphabetically.
delete-duplicate-lines	Delete all but one copy of any identical lines in the region.
ff-find-other-file	Find the header or source file corresponding to this file.