GNU Emacs keyboard shortcuts

Movement

These default editing commands move by character, word, line, sentence, screen, or buffer.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Move forward one character	`CtrlF`	`CtrlF`	`CtrlF`
Move backward one character	`CtrlB`	`CtrlB`	`CtrlB`
Move to the next line	`CtrlN`	`CtrlN`	`CtrlN`
Move to the previous line	`CtrlP`	`CtrlP`	`CtrlP`
Move to the beginning of the line	`CtrlA`	`CtrlA`	`CtrlA`
Move to the end of the line	`CtrlE`	`CtrlE`	`CtrlE`
Move forward one word	`AltF`	`OptionF`	`AltF`
Move backward one word	`AltB`	`OptionB`	`AltB`
Move to the previous sentence	`AltA`	`OptionA`	`AltA`
Move to the next sentence	`AltE`	`OptionE`	`AltE`
Scroll forward one screen	`CtrlV`	`CtrlV`	`CtrlV`
Scroll backward one screen	`AltV`	`OptionV`	`AltV`
Move to the beginning of the buffer	`Alt<`	`Option<`	`Alt<`
Move to the end of the buffer	`Alt>`	`Option>`	`Alt>`
Go to a line	`AltGthenG`	`OptionGthenG`	`AltGthenG`

Kill commands remove text into the kill ring, while yank commands put it back.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Delete the character at point	`CtrlD`	`CtrlD`	`CtrlD`
Delete the character before pointGNU documents this as DEL, which is commonly the Backspace key on a modern keyboard.	`DEL`	`DEL`	`DEL`
Kill to the end of the line	`CtrlK`	`CtrlK`	`CtrlK`
Kill the next word	`AltD`	`OptionD`	`AltD`
Kill the previous word	`AltBackspace`	`OptionBackspace`	`AltBackspace`
Kill the active region	`CtrlW`	`CtrlW`	`CtrlW`
Copy the active region to the kill ring	`AltW`	`OptionW`	`AltW`
Yank the most recent kill	`CtrlY`	`CtrlY`	`CtrlY`
Replace the last yank with the previous kill	`AltY`	`OptionY`	`AltY`
Set the mark	`CtrlSpace`	`CtrlSpace`	`CtrlSpace`
Exchange point and mark	`CtrlXthenCtrlX`	`CtrlXthenCtrlX`	`CtrlXthenCtrlX`
Mark the entire buffer	`CtrlXthenH`	`CtrlXthenH`	`CtrlXthenH`
Undo	`Ctrl_`	`Ctrl_`	`Ctrl_`
Quit the current command	`CtrlG`	`CtrlG`	`CtrlG`

File commands visit, save, write, revert, and close buffers in the current Emacs session.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Visit a file	`CtrlXthenCtrlF`	`CtrlXthenCtrlF`	`CtrlXthenCtrlF`
Visit a file read-only	`CtrlXthenCtrlR`	`CtrlXthenCtrlR`	`CtrlXthenCtrlR`
Visit a different file in the current buffer	`CtrlXthenCtrlV`	`CtrlXthenCtrlV`	`CtrlXthenCtrlV`
Visit a file in another window	`CtrlXthen4thenF`	`CtrlXthen4thenF`	`CtrlXthen4thenF`
Visit a file in another frame	`CtrlXthen5thenF`	`CtrlXthen5thenF`	`CtrlXthen5thenF`
Save the current buffer	`CtrlXthenCtrlS`	`CtrlXthenCtrlS`	`CtrlXthenCtrlS`
Write the buffer to a new file	`CtrlXthenCtrlW`	`CtrlXthenCtrlW`	`CtrlXthenCtrlW`
Save some modified buffers	`CtrlXthenS`	`CtrlXthenS`	`CtrlXthenS`
Execute a named command	`AltX`	`OptionX`	`AltX`
Quit Emacs	`CtrlXthenCtrlC`	`CtrlXthenCtrlC`	`CtrlXthenCtrlC`

Switch buffers, split or remove windows, and move between windows with these prefix commands.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Switch to a buffer	`CtrlXthenB`	`CtrlXthenB`	`CtrlXthenB`
Switch to a buffer in another window	`CtrlXthen4thenB`	`CtrlXthen4thenB`	`CtrlXthen4thenB`
Switch to a buffer in another frame	`CtrlXthen5thenB`	`CtrlXthen5thenB`	`CtrlXthen5thenB`
Kill a buffer	`CtrlXthenK`	`CtrlXthenK`	`CtrlXthenK`
Remove the selected window	`CtrlXthen0`	`CtrlXthen0`	`CtrlXthen0`
Make the selected window the only window	`CtrlXthen1`	`CtrlXthen1`	`CtrlXthen1`
Split the selected window horizontally	`CtrlXthen2`	`CtrlXthen2`	`CtrlXthen2`
Split the selected window vertically	`CtrlXthen3`	`CtrlXthen3`	`CtrlXthen3`
Move to another window	`CtrlXthenO`	`CtrlXthenO`	`CtrlXthenO`

Incremental search starts matching as text is entered. Query replacement asks how to handle each match.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Search forward incrementally	`CtrlS`	`CtrlS`	`CtrlS`
Search backward incrementally	`CtrlR`	`CtrlR`	`CtrlR`
Search forward with a regular expression	`CtrlAltS`	`CtrlOptionS`	`CtrlAltS`
Query and replace text	`Alt%`	`Option%`	`Alt%`

The Control-H prefix opens Emacs's built-in command and manual help.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Show active key bindings	`CtrlHthenB`	`CtrlHthenB`	`CtrlHthenB`
Show the command bound to a key	`CtrlHthenC`	`CtrlHthenC`	`CtrlHthenC`
Show documentation for a key	`CtrlHthenK`	`CtrlHthenK`	`CtrlHthenK`
Show documentation for a function	`CtrlHthenF`	`CtrlHthenF`	`CtrlHthenF`
Search for commands by topic	`CtrlHthenA`	`CtrlHthenA`	`CtrlHthenA`
Open the Emacs manual	`CtrlHthenR`	`CtrlHthenR`	`CtrlHthenR`
Open the Emacs tutorial	`CtrlHthenT`	`CtrlHthenT`	`CtrlHthenT`

Record a sequence of keystrokes and replay it from the keyboard macro commands.

Action	Windows	macOS	Linux
Start recording a keyboard macro	`CtrlXthen(`	`CtrlXthen(`	`CtrlXthen(`
Stop recording a keyboard macro	`CtrlXthen)`	`CtrlXthen)`	`CtrlXthen)`
Run the last keyboard macro	`CtrlXthenE`	`CtrlXthenE`	`CtrlXthenE`