This page provides tips for learning to use Emacs and learning more about Emacs. See also EmacsNewbie.
‘C-h r’. You can also read it on the web.Some people learn best by doing, not reading. To learn by doing, 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 its name at the prompt.‘M-x M-p’ to recall it.‘C-h w’ to see if what keys a given command is bound to, if any.‘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.
‘M-x’, such as Smex.