This page provides tips for learning to use Emacs and learning more about Emacs. See also EmacsNewbie.
Try the EmacsTutorial, or read one of the BooksAboutEmacs.
Most people learn best by doing and not just by reading over a list of commands and trying to memorize them. Get yourself a text file to play around with. Make a backup copy if you’re nervous about losing it. But don’t worry – Emacs makes it hard to lose your work, and it has a great undo command: ‘C-/’ or `C-_’.
Emacs key bindings can be intimidating at first since they are quite distinct from those used in other applications and platforms. Keep the following advice in mind.
‘M-x’ and typing it in.‘M-x M-p’ or by typing it in again.‘C-h w’.‘C-h w M-p’ to peek at it again or use ‘C-h b’ to browse the bindings available in the current buffer.Some EmacsNewbies rush too quickly to add or change key bindings. This can mean avoiding to learn Emacs and spending more time configuring. Competency with ‘M-x’ and help are core Emacs skills for life. ‘M-x’ should become your command line in Emacs.