everyday emacs commands

everyday_emacs.txt

# start / exit / suspend
emacs -nw - start emacs in terminal
C-x C-x   - exit
C-z       - suspend

# file navigation
C-x C-f   - find then load file
C-x C-s   - save file
C-x C-v   - reload file
C-x k     - close file
C-x b     - switch to other open file (buffer)
M-x nuke-all-buffers - close all open files

# search
C-s       - search forward within file / move to next occurrence of search results
C-r       - search backward within file / move to previous occurrence of search results
M-x rgrep - search across files
M-x replace-string - search & replace

# navigation
C-f - forward 1 character
C-b - backward 1 character
M-f - forward 1 word
M-b - backward 1 word
C-n - next line
C-p - previous line
C-v - page down
M-v - page up
C-l - set line (where cursor is) to be in the middle of the screen. Cycle middle-top-bottom by pressing multiple times.

# windows
C-x 1 - close other windows except the selected one
C-x 2 - split the selected window horizontally
C-x 3 - split the selected window vertically
C-x o - cycle through windows
C-x + - balance windows (same as M-x balance-windows)

# marking
C-space - set a mark (then do navigation to set the end of block)
C-w     - cut (after a block has been marked)
M-w     - copy (after a block has been marked)
C-y     - paste (after a block has been marked)
M- ;    - comment-out a region (after a block has been marked)
C-M-\   - auto-indent a region (after a block has been marked)

# misc
C-k   - delete a line
C-x u - undo a change
M-x align-regexp - align text based on regex (mark a region first)