10.5 Summary of Commands by Key

Emacs commands are presented next in two alphabetical lists. Tables list keystrokes, command name, and description. C- indicates the Ctrl key; M- indicates the Meta key.

10.5.1 Control-Key Sequences

Binding	Command	Action
C-@	set-mark-command	Mark the beginning (or end) of a region.
C-Space	(Same as preceding)	(Same as preceding)
C-]	abort-recursive-edit	Exit recursive edit and exit query-replace.
C-a	beginning-of-line	Move to beginning of line.
C-b	backward-char	Move backward one character (left).
C-c C-c	interrupt-shell-subjob	Terminate the current job.
C-c C-d	shell-send-eof	End-of-file character.
C-c C-u	kill-shell-input	Erase current line.
C-c C-w	backward-kill-word	Erase previous word.
C-c C-z	stop-shell-subjob	Suspend current job.
C-d	delete-char	Delete character under cursor.
C-e	end-of-line	Move to end of line.
C-f	forward-char	Move forward one character (right).
C-g	keyboard-quit	Abort current command.
C-h	help-command	Enter the online help system.
C-h a	command-apropos	What commands involve this concept?
C-h b	describe-bindings	What are all the key bindings for this buffer?
C-h c	describe-key-briefly	What command does this keystroke sequence run?
C-h C-c	describe-copying	View the Emacs General Public License.
C-h C-d	describe-distribution	View information on ordering Emacs from the FSF.
C-h C-w	describe-no-warranty	View the (non)warranty for Emacs.
C-h f	describe-function	What does this function do?
C-h i	info	Start the Info documentation reader.
C-h k	describe-key	What command does this keystroke sequence run, and what does it do?
C-h l	view-lossage	What are the last 100 characters I typed?
C-h m	describe-mode	Tell me about the mode the current buffer is in.
C-h n	view-emacs-news	View news about updates to Emacs.
C-h s	describe-syntax	What is the syntax table for this buffer?
C-h t	help-with-tutorial	Run the Emacs tutorial.
C-h v	describe-variable	What does this variable mean, and what is its value?
C-h w	where-is	What is the key binding for this command?
C-k	kill-line	Delete from cursor to end-of-line.
C-l	recenter	Redraw screen with current line in the center.
C-n	next-line	Move to next line (down).
C-p	previous-line	Move to previous line (up).
C-q	quoted-insert	Insert next character typed. Useful for inserting a control character.
C-r	isearch-backward	Start or repeat nonincremental search backward.
C-r	(none)	Enter recursive edit (during query replace).
C-s	isearch-forward	Start or repeat nonincremental search forward.
C-t	transpose-chars	Transpose two letters.
C-u n	universal-argument	Repeat the next command n times.
C-u C-x (	start-kbd-macro	Execute last macro defined, then add keystrokes.
C-u C-x q	(none)	Insert recursive edit in a macro definition.
C-v	scroll-up	Move forward one screen.
C-w	kill-region	Delete a marked region.
C-x (	start-kbd-macro	Start macro definition.
C-x )	end-kbd-macro	End macro definition.
C-x [	backward-page	Move backward one page.
C-x ]	forward-page	Move forward one page.
C-x ^	enlarge-window	Make window taller.
C-x {	shrink-window-horizontally	Make window narrower.
C-x }	enlarge-window-horizontally	Make window wider.
C-x <	scroll-left	Scroll the window left.
C-x >	scroll-right	Scroll the window right.
C-x .	set-fill-prefix	Prepend each line in paragraph with characters from beginning of line up to cursor column; cancel prefix by typing this command in column 1.
C-x 0	delete-window	Delete current window.
C-x 1	delete-other-windows	Delete all windows but this one.
C-x 2	split-window-vertically	Divide current window in two vertically, resulting in one window on top of the other.
C-x 3	split-window-horizontally	Divide current window in two horizontally, resulting in two side-by-side windows.
C-x 4 b	switch-to-buffer-other-window	Select a buffer in the other window.
C-x 4 f	find-file-other-window	Find a file in the other window.
C-x 5 b	switch-to-buffer-other-frame	Select a buffer in another frame.
C-x 5 f	find-file-other-frame	Find a file in another frame.
C-x a -	inverse-add-global-abbrev	Define previous word as global (mode-independent) abbreviation.
C-x a i l	inverse-add-mode-abbrev	Define previous word as mode-specific abbreviation.
C-x b	switch-to-buffer	Move to the buffer specified.
C-x C-b	list-buffers	Display the buffer list.
C-x C-c	save-buffers-kill-emacs	Exit Emacs.
C-x C-f	find-file	Find file and read it.
C-x C-l	downcase-region	Lowercase region.
C-x C-p	mark-page	Place cursor and mark around whole page.
C-x C-q	(none)	Toggle read-only status of buffer.
C-x C-s	save-buffer	Save file. (If terminal hangs, C-q restarts.)
C-x C-t	transpose-lines	Transpose two lines.
C-x C-u	upcase-region	Uppercase region.
C-x C-v	find-alternate-file	Read an alternate file, replacing the one currently in the buffer.
C-x C-w	write-file	Write buffer contents to file.
C-x C-x	exchange-point-and-mark	Exchange location of cursor and mark.
C-x Del	backward-kill- sentence	Delete previous sentence.
C-x e	call-last-kbd-macro	Execute last macro defined.
C-x h	mark-whole-buffer	Place cursor and mark around whole buffer.
C-x i	insert-file	Insert file at cursor position.
C-x k	kill-buffer	Delete the buffer specified.
C-x o	other-window	Move to the other window.
C-x q	kbd-macro-query	Insert a query in a macro definition.
C-x s	save-some-buffers	Ask whether to save each modified buffer.
C-x u	advertised-undo	Undo last edit (can be done repeatedly).
C-y	yank	Restore killed text.
C-z	suspend-emacs	Suspend Emacs (use exit or fg to restart).

10.5.2 Meta-Key Sequences

Binding	Command	Action
M-- M-c	negative-argument; capitalize-word	Capitalize previous word.
M-- M-l	negative-argument; downcase-word	Lowercase previous word.
M-- M-u	negative-argument; upcase-word	Uppercase previous word.
M-$	spell-word	Check spelling of word after cursor.
M-%	query-replace	Search for and replace a string.
M-!	shell-command	Prompt for a shell command and run it.
M-<	beginning-of-buffer	Move to beginning of file.
M->	end-of-buffer	Move to end-of-file.
M-{	backward-paragraph	Move backward one paragraph.
M-}	forward-paragraph	Move forward one paragraph.
M-^	delete-indentation	Join this line to the previous one.
M-n	digit-argument	Repeat the next command n times.
M-n C-x e	digit-argument; call-last-kbd-macro	Execute the last defined macro n times.
M-a	backward-sentence	Move backward one sentence.
M-b	backward-word	Move one word backward.
M-c	capitalize-word	Capitalize first letter of word.
M-C-\	indent-region	Indent a region to match first line in region.
M-C-c	exit-recursive-edit	Exit a recursive edit.
M-C-o	split-line	Split line at cursor; indent to column of cursor.
M-C-r	isearch-backward-regexp	Incremental search backward for regular expression.
M-C-s	isearch-forward-regexp	Incremental search forward for regular expression.
M-C-v	scroll-other-window	Scroll other window.
M-d	kill-word	Delete word that cursor is on.
M-Del	backward-kill-word	Delete previous word.
M-e	forward-sentence	Move forward one sentence.
M-f	forward-word	Move one word forward.
(none)	fill-region	Reformat individual paragraphs within a region.
M-h	mark-paragraph	Place cursor and mark around whole paragraph.
M-k	kill-sentence	Delete sentence that cursor is on.
M-l	downcase-word	Lowercase word.
M-m	back-to-indentation	Move cursor to first nonblank character on line.
M-q	fill-paragraph	Reformat paragraph.
M-t	transpose-words	Transpose two words.
M-u	upcase-word	Uppercase word.
M-v	scroll-down	Move backward one screen.
M-x	(none)	Execute a command by typing its name.