LearningEmacs

This page provides tips for learning to use Emacs and learning more about Emacs. See also EmacsNewbie.

• A short list of basic Emacs features: WhyUseEmacs.
• Try the EmacsTutorial, or read one of the BooksAboutEmacs.
• Learn Emacs using its SelfDocumentation. Asking Emacs directly is the best way to get to know it. (Start by asking it how to ask it…)
• Stuck? GetHelp
• Use AproposMode to find functions and variables based on words in their documentation or parts of their name.
• Read the EmacsManual in Emacs, in InfoMode (hypertext form): ‘C-h r’. You can also read it on the web or in epub format.
• LearnEmacsLisp to learn Emacs – Emacs is a Lisp environment. You don’t have to become a Lisp expert to take advantage of this connection. Knowing a little Lisp helps you ask Emacs.
• Watch EmacsScreencasts – A good place to start, with many resources.
• Some beginner-oriented tutorials written by users:
  • Mastering Emacs reading guide
  • Xah Emacs Tutorial
  • EmacsCrashCourse.
  • How to learn Emacs – a tutorial leveraging Emacs’s self-documentation and source code.
  • OnePageGuideToLearningEmacs – A one-image guide to learning key Emacs concepts (GnuEmacs 24 and later).
  • Emacs Mini Manual - An Emacs mini manual for starters to learn Emacs before reading the real (and big) Emacs manual.
  • Absolute Beginners Guide to Emacs - another Emacs intro for newbies.
• Explore the Emacs community and learn from other people who use Emacs.
• Emacs configuration generator - for setting up a configuration driven by optional inclusion with explanations of what is being enabled.
• Consider trying out one of the StarterKits. There are many varying accounts of people switching to and from starter kits to hand-rolled configurations. However, these will certainly help in getting started faster and as references.

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.

1. Try to memorize only the most commonly used keys presented in the EmacsTutorial. You will learn other keys as you go.
2. Use apropos and help to find commands to accomplish a task.
3. You can run a command using ‘M-x’ and typing its name at the prompt.
4. You can run a command again by using ‘M-x M-p’ to recall it.
5. Use ‘C-h w’ to see if what keys a given command is bound to, if any.
6. If you forget a key binding, try ‘C-h w M-p’ to peek at it again or use ‘C-h b’ to browse the bindings available in the current buffer.
7. If you can’t burn a key binding into your brain with this approach, then you might not be using it enough to matter. Don’t worry about it.
8. If you’re convinced after a fair amount of practice that a given key binding is really bad, then consider binding its command to a different key. But not before.

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.

Emacs Lisp libraries and snippets that can help you learn Emacs

• Awesome Emacs has lots of recommendations.
• Use Icicles to explore keys, commands, variables, faces, buffers, files, property lists,… that match a given pattern (name or regexp). Far more than AproposMode.
• Use LaCarte to more easily explore Emacs menus.
• Use the improved menu bar provided by MenuBarPlus.
• Use the helpful package for an enhanced help with more contextual information
• Use the improved Emacs help provided by HelpPlus.
• Enable a random TipOfTheDay.
• Play the game KeyWiz to learn Emacs key bindings.
• Use a suggestion system for ‘M-x’, such as ‘icomplete-mode’ or Smex.
• Enable WhichKey or KeySee to aid in exploration and key binding familiarity.

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