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I want my autosave files and backup files, e.g. #filename.org# and filename.org~ files, not to clutter the directory in my code repo that is in TypeScript.

I have popped into a way to place inside another directory and it worked. However, after that I have seen another file popping up with .#filename.org.

What is this file for? How can I make Emacs put them into another directory too?

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    It's a lockfile to prevent another emacs from overwriting your changes. There's no provision for putting them somewhere else (but you can turn them off by setting create-lockfiles to nil)
    – rpluim
    Jan 14, 2021 at 14:53
  • If teh file is saved the lock file is destroyed, that means in my specific case I actually do not need to have a way to make emacs create them in another dirctory. I did not want the emacs specific files to clutter my other editors direcotry view. Also one can add a gitignore file to ignore tracking those files, there are comprehensie ready made gitignore files for emacs and many things.
    – sçuçu
    Jan 14, 2021 at 20:59

1 Answer 1

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emacs-28, which has just been released, comes with lock-file-name-transforms, which lets you place those lockfiles somewhere other than in the same directory.

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  • If you are not accessing shared files, then turning off lock-files altogether is probably fine. If you /are/ accessing files shared with other emacs users, then the locks are only useful if everyone agrees on lock-file-name-transforms....
    – glucas
    May 5, 2022 at 15:24
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    There's also the case where the other Emacs user is yourself with another instance of Emacs. I run into that surprisingly often.
    – rpluim
    May 9, 2022 at 13:49
  • Could you show how to use this?
    – Mike H-R
    Sep 5, 2023 at 12:31
  • C-h v lock-file-name-transforms explains how to use it.
    – rpluim
    Sep 6, 2023 at 7:59

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