You’ll probably be familiar with keyboard shortcuts written like Ctrl+c to copy something to the clipboard or Alt+F4 to close a window. Emacs keybindings are not too different from those, but the way they are written is more condensed:

• Ctrl+c becomes C-c
• Alt+F4 becomes M-f4
• Ctrl+Alt+Del becomes C-M-delete¹
• Unmodified keys like the letter x are written as is

Sometimes Emacs keybindings require you to enter several keys in a row, in a pattern. Each step of the pattern is separated by a space where you should let go of all keys.

For example, the keystrokes to enter a ½ symbol are C-x 8 1 / 2. This means you should press Ctrl+x, let go, then type the individual keys 8, 1, / and finally 2.

Some instructions will require you to enter long strings of text, for example a command name or a search query. In this case, the spaces may be omitted (it would be too long to put a space between every letter). You’ll also need to hit enter or RET at the end of the input.

Look at the example M-x save-buffer. The first part clearly translates to Alt+x, but the second part is a little more confusing since it has a - in it.

If you think about it, it’s impossible for save to be a modifier like Ctrl or Alt. Moreover, save-buffer has no spaces, so we should read it as a string of characters that should be typed in. In other words, press Alt+x then type in the exact characters “save-buffer” and hit enter.

In most cases, Emacs will give you instructions and feedback in the echo area. This is the small area at the bottom of your Emacs window, and it acts kind of like a status bar that can sometimes take input directly from you².

When I’m not focusing on the content of my work, my eyes are invariably glued to the echo area. This is doubly true if I’m trying to do something new in Emacs that I’ve never done before.

If you want to learn more about what Emacs is doing or what options you have, especially if you’re stuck in a weird state, then look in the echo area — Emacs might just be trying to get your attention. Get into the habit of checking down there often, like checking the mirrors while you’re driving.

Uh oh. You’ve pressed the wrong keys and you have no idea what Emacs is doing. Maybe it’s asking you a weird question. Or maybe it’s just hanging. Your CPU fan starts spinning up…what if it’s trying to download the entire internet? What do you do now?

Don’t panic — keep calm and press C-g. It’s the universal “abort” command³. Get used to mashing it when you want to abort, abort, abort!

I’m pretty sure even seasoned Emacs users mash C-g a lot. We all mess up every now and again.

Most of the power of Emacs comes with its command⁴ system. If you know the name of a command, you can call it by pressing M-x and typing it. When you read some instructions on Stack Exchange or Reddit and they casually mention a command that looks useful, just type M-x followed by the command name and it’ll run.

This is the slowest way to invoke a command, but it’s also the easiest to remember since commands are usually named very sensibly. Even if you remember just part of the command name, you’ll usually be able to find a partial match in the M-x list.

For example, say you’ve forgotten the keystrokes and the exact command name for saving a buffer (a.k.a. file). You can type M-x save and hit TAB to get suggestions. Looking through the list you’ll likely come across the save-buffer command, which is what you needed.

The magic in M-x is that almost every action in Emacs is a command so M-x is the ultimate entry point to everything you can possibly do in Emacs. This is why a lot of Emacs symbolism is decorated with M-x—it really is the heart and soul of Emacs.

You’ve been given advice by a kind internet stranger to run the command C-x * q with the promise that it will help you. Sure enough when you press it, you get a neat little calculator in the minibuffer at the bottom of Emacs. Just what the doctor ordered!

But wait—what sorcery is this? Is there more to learn? How do you open pandora’s box for all things “calculator” in Emacs?

In other words: you want to know what command C-x * q runs so that you can understand it better. What you need is describe-key, a nifty little command that lets you enter any key sequence; if the sequence is bound to a command, it will tell you what it is.

You can either call it manually via M-x describe-key or you can use its most common keybinding C-h k (read: “get me [h]elp for this [k]ey”). After that, just type your key sequence and Emacs will try its best explain itself.

In this case, we type in C-x * and then Emacs cuts us off early, telling us that it’s bound to calc-dispatch. Ah, this means the q key is handled separately by calc-dispatch. The documentation for calc-dispatch even tells us where to look for more help, i.e. M-x calc-dispatch-help.

So you’ve found a cool new command upcase-word and you’re using it regularly, but you’re getting tired of calling M-x upcase-word all the time. Maybe there’s a keybinding that makes it easier to call. The question is: how do we find it?

M-x describe-function is how. The keybinding for this helpful command is C-h f (read: “get me Help for this Function”).

When you call describe-function on upcase-word, a window will pop up giving you all the information Emacs has on upcase-word, including a line that says:

It is bound to M-u

It’s that simple, as long as the command you’re looking at has a keybinding in your Emacs setup. If not, you’ll have to manually bind it, but that’s a topic for another time.

My last tip for learning Emacs more effectively is to use an Emacs distribution. A distribution is a canned configuration that you can download and get started with fairly quickly. Think of it like one of those dinner kits that are delivered to your door so you can practice cooking without having to worry about too many of the details.

I recommend Doom Emacs, which is what I use daily.

Why use a distribution instead of learning things from scratch?

Good luck and have fun!