1EMACS(1) GNU EMACS(1)
2
6 emacs - GNU project Emacs editor
7
9 emacs [ command-line switches ] [ files ... ]
10
12 GNU Emacs is a version of Emacs, written by the author of the original
13 (PDP-10) Emacs, Richard Stallman. The user functionality of GNU Emacs
14 encompasses everything other editors do, and it is easily extensible
15 since its editing commands are written in Lisp.
16 The primary documentation of GNU Emacs is in the GNU Emacs Manual,
18 which you can read using Info, either from Emacs or as a standalone
19 program. Please look there for complete and up-to-date documentation.
20 This man page is updated only when someone volunteers to do so.
21 Emacs has an extensive interactive help facility, but the facility as‐
23 sumes that you know how to manipulate Emacs windows and buffers. CTRL-
24 h or F1 enters the Help facility. Help Tutorial (CTRL-h t) starts an
25 interactive tutorial to quickly teach beginners the fundamentals of
26 Emacs. Help Apropos (CTRL-h a) helps you find a command with a name
27 matching a given pattern, Help Key (CTRL-h k) describes a given key se‐
28 quence, and Help Function (CTRL-h f) describes a given Lisp function.
29 GNU Emacs's many special packages handle mail reading (RMail) and send‐
31 ing (Mail), outline editing (Outline), compiling (Compile), running
32 subshells within Emacs windows (Shell), running a Lisp read-eval-print
33 loop (Lisp-Interaction-Mode), automated psychotherapy (Doctor), and
34 much more.
35 Emacs Options
37 The following options are of general interest:
38 file Edit file.
40 --file=file, --find-file=file, --visit=file
42 The same as specifying file directly as an argument.
43 +number Go to the line specified by number (do not insert a
45 space between the "+" sign and the number). This ap‐
46 plies only to the next file specified.
47 +line:column
49 Go to the specified line and column.
50 --chdir=directory
52 Change to directory.
53 -q, --no-init-file
55 Do not load an init file.
56 -nl, --no-shared-memory
58 Do not use shared memory.
59 --no-site-file
61 Do not load the site-wide startup file.
62 -nsl, --no-site-lisp
64 Do not add site-lisp directories to load-path.
65 --no-desktop
67 Do not load a saved desktop.
68 -Q, --quick
70 Similar to "-q --no-site-file --no-splash". Also, avoid
71 processing X resources.
72 --no-splash
74 Do not display a splash screen during start-up.
75 --debug-init
77 Enable Emacs Lisp debugger during the processing of the
78 user init file ~/.emacs. This is useful for debugging
79 problems in the init file.
80 -u user, --user=user
82 Load user's init file.
83 -t file, --terminal=file
85 Use specified file as the terminal instead of using
86 stdin/stdout. This must be the first argument specified
87 in the command line.
88 --daemon[=name], --bg-daemon[=name]
90 Start Emacs as a daemon, enabling the Emacs server and
91 disconnecting from the terminal. You can then use the
92 emacsclient (see emacsclient(1)) command to connect to
93 the server (with optional name).
94 --fg-daemon[=name]
96 Like "--bg-daemon", but don't disconnect from the termi‐
97 nal.
98 --version
100 Display Emacs version information and exit.
101 --help Display this help and exit.
103 The following options are Lisp-oriented (these options are processed in
105 the order encountered):
106 -f function, --funcall=function
108 Execute the lisp function function.
109 -l file, --load=file
111 Load the lisp code in the file file.
112 --eval=expr, --execute=expr
114 Evaluate the Lisp expression expr.
115 The following options are useful when running Emacs as a batch editor:
117 --batch Edit in batch mode. The editor will send messages to
119 stderr. You must use -l and -f options to specify files
120 to execute and functions to call.
121 --script file
123 Run file as an Emacs Lisp script.
124 --insert=file
126 Insert contents of file into the current buffer.
127 --kill Exit Emacs while in batch mode.
129 -L dir, --directory=dir
131 Add dir to the list of directories Emacs searches for
132 Lisp files.
133 Using Emacs with X
135 Emacs has been tailored to work well with the X Window System. If you
136 run Emacs from under X windows, it will create its own X window to dis‐
137 play in. You will probably want to start the editor as a background
138 process so that you can continue using your original window.
139 Emacs can be started with the following X switches:
141 --name=name
143 Specify the name which should be assigned to the initial
144 Emacs window. This controls looking up X resources as
145 well as the window title.
146 --no-x-resources
148 Do not load X resources.
149 -T name, --title=name
151 Specify the title for the initial X window.
152 -r, -rv, --reverse-video
154 Display the Emacs window in reverse video.
155 -fn font, --font=font
157 Set the Emacs window's font to that specified by font.
158 You will find the various X fonts in the
159 /usr/lib/X11/fonts directory. Note that Emacs will only
160 accept fixed width fonts. Under the X11 Release 4 font-
161 naming conventions, any font with the value "m" or "c"
162 in the eleventh field of the font name is a fixed width
163 font. Furthermore, fonts whose name are of the form
164 widthxheight are generally fixed width, as is the font
165 fixed. See xlsfonts(1) for more information.
166 When you specify a font, be sure to put a space between
168 the switch and the font name.
169 --xrm=resources
171 Set additional X resources.
172 --color, --color=mode
174 Override color mode for character terminals; mode de‐
175 faults to "auto", and can also be "never", "auto", "al‐
176 ways", or a mode name like "ansi8".
177 -bw pixels, --border-width=pixels
179 Set the Emacs window's border width to the number of
180 pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one pixel on
181 each side of the window.
182 -ib pixels, --internal-border=pixels
184 Set the window's internal border width to the number of
185 pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one pixel of
186 padding on each side of the window.
187 -g geometry, --geometry=geometry
189 Set the Emacs window's width, height, and position as
190 specified. The geometry specification is in the stan‐
191 dard X format; see X(7) for more information. The width
192 and height are specified in characters; the default for
193 GUI frames is a width of 80 and a height between 35 and
194 40, depending on the OS and the window manager. See the
195 Emacs manual, section "Options for Window Size and Posi‐
196 tion", for information on how window sizes interact with
197 selecting or deselecting the tool bar, tab bar and menu
198 bar.
199 -lsp pixels, --line-spacing=pixels
201 Additional space to put between lines.
202 -vb, --vertical-scroll-bars
204 Enable vertical scrollbars.
205 -fh, --fullheight
207 Make the first frame as high as the screen.
208 -fs, --fullscreen
210 Make the first frame fullscreen.
211 -fw, --fullwidth
213 Make the first frame as wide as the screen.
214 -mm, --maximized
216 Maximize the first frame, like "-fw -fh".
217 -fg color, --foreground-color=color
219 On color displays, set the color of the text.
220 Use the command M-x list-colors-display for a list of
222 valid color names.
223 -bg color, --background-color=color
225 On color displays, set the color of the window's back‐
226 ground.
227 -bd color, --border-color=color
229 On color displays, set the color of the window's border.
230 -cr color, --cursor-color=color
232 On color displays, set the color of the window's text
233 cursor.
234 -ms color, --mouse-color=color
236 On color displays, set the color of the window's mouse
237 cursor.
238 -d displayname, --display=displayname
240 Create the Emacs window on the display specified by dis‐
241 playname. Must be the first option specified in the
242 command line.
243 -nbi, --no-bitmap-icon
245 Do not use picture of gnu for Emacs icon.
246 --iconic
248 Start Emacs in iconified state.
249 -nbc, --no-blinking-cursor
251 Disable blinking cursor.
252 --parent-id=xid
254 Set parent window.
255 -nw, --no-window-system
257 Tell Emacs not to create a graphical frame. If you use
258 this switch when invoking Emacs from an xterm(1) window,
259 display is done in that window.
260 -D, --basic-display
262 This option disables many display features; use it for
263 debugging Emacs.
264 You can set X default values for your Emacs windows in your .Xresources
266 file (see xrdb(1)). Use the following format:
267 emacs.keyword:value
269 where value specifies the default value of keyword. Emacs lets you set
271 default values for the following keywords:
272 background (class Background)
274 For color displays, sets the window's background color.
275 bitmapIcon (class BitmapIcon)
277 If bitmapIcon's value is set to on, the window will
278 iconify into the "kitchen sink."
279 borderColor (class BorderColor)
281 For color displays, sets the color of the window's bor‐
282 der.
283 borderWidth (class BorderWidth)
285 Sets the window's border width in pixels.
286 cursorColor (class Foreground)
288 For color displays, sets the color of the window's text
289 cursor.
290 cursorBlink (class CursorBlink)
292 Specifies whether to make the cursor blink. The default
293 is on. Use off or false to turn cursor blinking off.
294 font (class Font)
296 Sets the window's text font.
297 foreground (class Foreground)
299 For color displays, sets the window's text color.
300 fullscreen (class Fullscreen)
302 The desired fullscreen size. The value can be one of
303 fullboth, maximized, fullwidth, or fullheight, which
304 correspond to the command-line options "-fs", "-mm",
305 "-fw", and "-fh", respectively. Note that this applies
306 to the initial frame only.
307 geometry (class Geometry)
309 Sets the geometry of the Emacs window (as described
310 above).
311 iconName (class Title)
313 Sets the icon name for the Emacs window icon.
314 internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
316 Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.
317 lineSpacing (class LineSpacing)
319 Additional space ("leading") between lines, in pixels.
320 menuBar (class MenuBar)
322 Gives frames menu bars if on; don't have menu bars if
323 off. See the Emacs manual, sections "Lucid Resources"
324 and "Motif Resources", for how to control the appearance
325 of the menu bar if you have one.
326 minibuffer (class Minibuffer)
328 If none, don't make a minibuffer in this frame. It will
329 use a separate minibuffer frame instead.
330 paneFont (class Font)
332 Font name for menu pane titles, in non-toolkit versions
333 of Emacs.
334 pointerColor (class Foreground)
336 For color displays, sets the color of the window's mouse
337 cursor.
338 privateColormap (class PrivateColormap)
340 If on, use a private color map, in the case where the
341 "default visual" of class PseudoColor and Emacs is using
342 it.
343 reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
345 If reverseVideo's value is set to on, the window will be
346 displayed in reverse video.
347 screenGamma (class ScreenGamma)
349 Gamma correction for colors, equivalent to the frame pa‐
350 rameter "screen-gamma".
351 scrollBarWidth (class ScrollBarWidth)
353 The scroll bar width in pixels, equivalent to the frame
354 parameter "scroll-bar-width".
355 selectionFont (class SelectionFont)
357 Font name for pop-up menu items, in non-toolkit versions
358 of Emacs. (For toolkit versions, see the Emacs manual,
359 sections "Lucid Resources" and "Motif Resources".)
360 selectionTimeout (class SelectionTimeout)
362 Number of milliseconds to wait for a selection reply. A
363 value of 0 means wait as long as necessary.
364 synchronous (class Synchronous)
366 Run Emacs in synchronous mode if on. Synchronous mode
367 is useful for debugging X problems.
368 title (class Title)
370 Sets the title of the Emacs window.
371 toolBar (class ToolBar)
373 Number of lines to reserve for the tool bar.
374 tabBar (class TabBar)
376 Number of lines to reserve for the tab bar.
377 useXIM (class UseXIM)
379 Turns off use of X input methods (XIM) if false or off.
380 verticalScrollBars (class ScrollBars)
382 Gives frames scroll bars if on; suppresses scroll bars
383 if off.
384 visualClass (class VisualClass)
386 Specify the "visual" that X should use. This tells X
387 how to handle colors. The value should start with one
388 of TrueColor, PseudoColor, DirectColor, StaticColor,
389 GrayScale, and StaticGray, followed by -depth, where
390 depth is the number of color planes.
391
393 You can order printed copies of the GNU Emacs Manual from the Free
394 Software Foundation, which develops GNU software. See the online store
395 at <https://shop.fsf.org/>.
396 Your local administrator might also have copies available. As with all
397 software and publications from FSF, everyone is permitted to make and
398 distribute copies of the Emacs manual. The Texinfo source to the man‐
399 ual is also included in the Emacs source distribution.
400
402 /usr/local/share/info — files for the Info documentation browser. The
403 complete text of the Emacs reference manual is included in a convenient
404 tree structured form. This includes the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual,
405 useful to anyone wishing to write programs in the Emacs Lisp extension
406 language, and the Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp.
407 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/lisp — Lisp source files and compiled
409 files that define most editing commands. Some are preloaded; others
410 are autoloaded from this directory when used.
411 /usr/local/libexec/emacs/$VERSION/$ARCH — various programs that are
413 used with GNU Emacs.
414 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc — various files of information.
416 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/DOC.* — contains the documentation
418 strings for the Lisp primitives and preloaded Lisp functions of GNU
419 Emacs. They are stored here to reduce the size of Emacs proper.
420
423 There is a mailing list, bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, for reporting Emacs
424 bugs and fixes. But before reporting something as a bug, please try to
425 be sure that it really is a bug, not a misunderstanding or a deliberate
426 feature. We ask you to read the section "Reporting Bugs" in the Emacs
427 manual for hints on how and when to report bugs. Also, include the
428 version number of the Emacs you are running in every bug report that
429 you send in. Bugs tend actually to be fixed if they can be isolated,
430 so it is in your interest to report them in such a way that they can be
431 easily reproduced.
432 Do not expect a personal answer to a bug report. The purpose of re‐
434 porting bugs is to get them fixed for everyone in the next release, if
435 possible. For personal assistance, consult the service directory at
436 <https://www.fsf.org/resources/service/> for a list of people who offer
437 it.
438 Please do not send anything but bug reports to this mailing list. For
440 other Emacs lists, see <https://savannah.gnu.org/mail/?group=emacs>.
441
443 Emacs is free; anyone may redistribute copies of Emacs to anyone under
444 the terms stated in the GNU General Public License, a copy of which ac‐
445 companies each copy of Emacs and which also appears in the reference
446 manual.
447 Copies of Emacs may sometimes be received packaged with distributions
449 of Unix systems, but it is never included in the scope of any license
450 covering those systems. Such inclusion violates the terms on which
451 distribution is permitted. In fact, the primary purpose of the GNU
452 General Public License is to prohibit anyone from attaching any other
453 restrictions to redistribution of Emacs.
454 Richard Stallman encourages you to improve and extend Emacs, and urges
456 that you contribute your extensions to the GNU library. Eventually GNU
457 (Gnu's Not Unix) will be a complete replacement for Unix. Everyone
458 will be free to use, copy, study and change the GNU system.
459
461 emacsclient(1), etags(1), X(7), xlsfonts(1), xterm(1), xrdb(1)
462
464 Emacs was written by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation.
465 For detailed credits and acknowledgments, see the GNU Emacs manual.
466
468 Copyright 1995, 1999-2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
469 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
471 document provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
472 preserved on all copies.
473 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
475 document under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
476 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a per‐
477 mission notice identical to this one.
478 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this docu‐
480 ment into another language, under the above conditions for modified
481 versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a trans‐
482 lation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
483GNU Emacs 28.1 2021-09-28 EMACS(1)