That can be achieved by changing the `lisp-indent-function` for emacs-lisp mode: <!-- language: lang-el --> (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook (lambda () (setq-local lisp-indent-function 'common-lisp-indent-function))) From `lisp-mode.el` in emacs source, <!-- language: lang-el --> (defcustom lisp-indent-function 'lisp-indent-function "A function to be called by `calculate-lisp-indent'. It indents the arguments of a Lisp function call. This function should accept two arguments: the indent-point, and the `parse-partial-sexp' state at that position. One option for this function is `common-lisp-indent-function'." :type 'function :group 'lisp)