how to repeat the last or previous command in emacs editor

display emacs line numbers

One of the useful features of an editor is the ability repeat commands with minimal keystrokes. Many users find it useful when having to execute arduous long commands that require some typing. The emacs repeat command will repeat the last action that was performed while ignoring the input events like moving around in the buffer. M-x repeat It is bound…

how to rename a buffer and file in emacs editor

save file in emacs

One of the features you will need to use repeatedly while using a text editor is the ability to save the buffer or the file to the disk. In Emacs, saving the file or buffer to disk is easy enough but how do you rename the current buffer or save it to different file on the disk. save buffer to…

how to reverse lines and characters in the buffer in emacs editor

emacs execute shell command

There are several different commands to sort text in the buffer. Reversing lines, words or even paragraphs is just a variation of sorting text. Reverse Lines in buffer The command to reverse text is reverse-region, and as the command indicates works on the current active region of the buffer. M-x reverse-region The reverse-region command will reverse the order of the…

how to create a new file or buffer in emacs editor

save buffers and exit emacs

If you have been using emacs as your text editor then one of the first things you probably want to know is how to create a new file or buffer in the editor. As with many of the modern editors, emacs has the concept of a buffer and a file. A buffer is the “object” that the editor holds on…

how to enable and disable toolbar, menubar, tabbar and scrollbar in emacs

emacs toolbar menubar tabbar scrollbar

Most emacs distributions, at least the ones I have seen come with the toolbar and the menubar enabled. More often than not, it is a distraction and a waste of space. Also if you were planning to learn emacs the emacs way, then these definitely are not helpful. You can hide or disable both the toolbar and menubar in the…

how to show line numbers in emacs editor

display emacs line numbers

When editing a file in emacs, you can choose to display the line numbers just like the other text editors. show which line number First lets see how you can find the current line number that the point is in the buffer. This is useful if you don’t have line numbers enabled in the buffer. M-x what-line This will print…

how to abort, quit and exit emacs

save buffers and exit emacs

There is a long standing joke about the vim text editor which somehow depicts the complexity of the text editors when it comes to newbies……It usually goes something like this. “I have been using vi editor for two years….mostly because I cannot figure out how to exit.” Something that can be said about emacs as well, but it does have…

how to save a file or buffer in emacs editor

save file in emacs

If you have worked with emacs then you might be familiar with the concept of buffers. It is similar to what other editors might call tabs or files. In emacs, it refers to the contents of some file or directory that you had opened and it is a copy of the contents of those files. So the contents of the…

how to sort text, lines and fields in the emacs editor

sort text in emacs

Emacs has several different ways of sorting text in the buffer. You can sort lines, paragraphs and also sort text based on fields or words in the line. Sort Lines This is probably the simplest of all sorting method. The sort-lines command sorts all lines in the active region. Select the region in the buffer that you want to sort…

how to go to a specific line number in emacs

go to line in emacs

One of the common forms of navigation with in a text editor is the ability to go to specific line in the buffer by using the line number. In emacs, you can browse or navigate the buffer in several different ways and the “go to line number” feature is just one of them. The function in emacs that performs this…

how to delete lines and sentences in emacs in linux

emacs delete blank lines

There are so many different text editors in Linux to choose from. Vi and emacs are probably two of the well known editors. There are probably several hundreds more..but as you are here you probably use emacs. Although emacs is not technically just a text editor, it does have text editing capabilities and we will consider it to be one…

the ergodox ez glow: the keyboard worth considering

ergodox ez glow

Just like most, my quest for an ergonomic keyboard and mouse started one fine morning when I felt a tingling sensation in my left ring and pinkie fingers. It was not bad. I still had full power in my fingers and there was no pain, just a tingling sensation similar to pins and needles that you get from paresthesia. It…