Moving the Cursor without the mouse in emacs
If you're logged into a workstation, you can use the arrow keys (though not the numeric keypad arrows) to move the cursor around your window. Additionally, emacs has another set of control characters for movement:
To move forward one character, type | CTRL-f |
To move backward one character, type | CTRL-b |
To move to the next line, type | CTRL-n |
To move to the previous line, type | CTRL-p |
To move to the end of a line | CTRL-e |
To move to the beginning of a line | CTRL-a |
There are also some useful commands that use the Meta key. Additionally, the ESC key can be used in place of Alt/Meta. The table below provides both versions of the key combination.
(Note that you must hold down Alt and then press the next key; ESC can be pressed and released before hitting the next key).
To move forward one word | ESC f M-f |
To move backwards one word | ESC b M-b |
To move to the end of a sentence | ESC e M-e |
To move to the beginning of a sentence | ESC a M-a |
To move to the end of the buffer | ESC > M-> |
To move to the beginning of the buffer | ESC < M-< |
Notice how most of the commands are mnemonic.