To enable viper
using customize
, you will need to do something like this.
Enable viper-mode
for new buffers
- Load customize with
M-x customize
- Search for
package
- Then search for
package load list
- Press
<RET>
to expand the arrow next to Package Load List
- After the last entry, press
<RET>
on the INS
button to insert a new line.
- Press
<RET> 1
on the Value Menu
button on the second line to insert a specific package.
- Delete
nil
and put viper
.
- Press the
Apply and Save
button at the top. At the prompt type yes
.

These steps will not enable viper
for the splash screen or the default *scratch*
buffer. To do those, we will need to do more...
Change the default *scratch*
mode to viper-mode
- From the main
M-x customize
menu, search for Initial Major Mode
- Press
<RET>
on the arrow next to Initial Major Mode
to expand it.
- Replace
list-interaction-mode
with viper-mode
- Press
<RET>
on the Apply and Save
button at the top and then type yes

Disable the splash screen
I'm not sure how to set the default mode for the splash screen using customize
, so let's just disable it:
- From the main
M-x customize
menu, search for startup
- Press
<RET>
on the arrow next to Inhibit Startup Screen
to expand it
- Press
<RET>
on the Toggle
button
- Press
<RET>
on the Apply and Save
button at the top and type yes

At some point in this process, or when you reload Emacs, you will be presented with the viper
startup screen which asks whether you want to "Viperize". Follow the prompts accordingly.
I ran into lots of problems with the settings persisting while trying this out. Hopefully everything works for you!
In my opinion, while it is a noble effort to make Emacs more accessible to newcomers, the utility of customize
is limited. You will get a far greater return on investment learning some basic Emacs Lisp. To start, I recommend reading the excellent documentation about init.el
and An Introduction to Programming Emacs Lisp.
That said, here's how to do what you want using Emacs Lisp:
- Create a file named
init.el
in the ~/.emacs.d/
directory.
In it, put
(viper-mode)
The next time you start Emacs, viper-mode
will be enabled.
~/.emacs
or~/.emacs.d/init.el
), there is no need to use customize. – adl Feb 11 at 6:21M-x
viper-mode
RET – caisah Feb 11 at 18:08evil-mode
? – Jesse Feb 13 at 10:38