60
votes
How do I switch buffers quickly?
I've recently started using C-x <left> and C-x <right>. Those are both standard Emacs bindings—nothing to configure. Left takes you back to the previous buffer (initially the same as C-x b ...
- 701
56
votes
Accepted
How to view diff when emacs suggests to recover this file?
After running recover-this-file and accepting the autosave version, you'll have a modified buffer containing the autosave contents. At this point you can use M-x diff-buffer-with-file RET to see the ...
- 43.1k
55
votes
How do I switch buffers quickly?
There is ido mode that should help.
EDIT:
put this in your init file, to activate ido mode by default:
(ido-mode 1)
Now, C-x b will show you a list of candidates.
Put this in your init file, if ...
- 5,981
48
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between a buffer, a file, a window, and a frame?
Emacs predates contemporary window-based operating systems, so its
terminology also predates the current terms. Unfortunately, it means that new users and experienced users sometimes have trouble ...
Dan♦
- 31k
44
votes
How do I switch buffers quickly?
You could use Helm.
In my setup, I have switched C-x b for M-l. This allied with helm-buffers-list, makes the process pretty fast, at least for me.
- 1,359
43
votes
Accepted
Re-open *scratch* buffer
Just re-create the buffer by switching to it: C-x b *scratch* RET. Since Emacs 21.2, if you create a buffer called *scratch*, it's automatically put in Lisp Interaction mode.
43
votes
How do I find text across many open buffers?
Sticking to built-in Emacs commands, you can use multi-occur or multi-occur-in-matching-buffers (M-x multi-occur- TAB RET). multi-occur gives you fine control by prompting for each buffer to use, but ...
37
votes
Accepted
Close all dired buffers
You could do the following:
M-x ibuffer
* / to mark buffers in dired mode.
D to delete them.
- 486
34
votes
Accepted
How can I see the changes made to a modified buffer since the last save?
You want the command M-x diff-buffer-with-file. See the manual:
diff-buffer-with-file is an interactive autoloaded compiled Lisp function in `diff.el'.
(diff-buffer-with-file &optional BUFFER)
...
- 9,993
32
votes
Accepted
How to auto-save buffers when Emacs loses focus?
Unfortunately, this exact behavior isn't possible in Emacs <= 24.3, but you can save on window/buffer change using defadvice (as detailed on bbatsov's blog):
(defadvice switch-to-buffer (before ...
- 4,950
30
votes
Accepted
Get content of a buffer
A lot of things in Emacs operate on the current buffer. You need to change the current buffer and restore it when you're done. Use with-current-buffer for simple cases where you just need to do ...
29
votes
Accepted
How do I clear a buffer completely with elisp?
Have you tried erase-buffer?
erase-buffer is an interactive built-in function in `C source code'.
(erase-buffer)
Delete the entire contents of the current buffer.
Any narrowing restriction in ...
- 69.2k
28
votes
Accepted
How to reopen just killed buffer, like C-S-t in Firefox Browser?
Here's another, simple alternative that doesn't require recentf. Hooking the first function into kill-buffer-hook will push the filename associated with the buffer onto a list. (Note that, if you ...
Dan♦
- 31k
28
votes
Accepted
Why is (point-min) much more popular than 1?
How do you know that the buffer is not narrowed?
Unless you have widened it right before you called the function, you cannot be sure.
Moreover, "great software" is often defined as "being used in ...
- 5,427
26
votes
Accepted
How to know my buffer's visible/focused status?
window-buffer returns the buffer currently displayed by a given window.
get-buffer-window, on the contrary, returns a window currently displaying the given buffer (or nil if there is no such window; ...
- 5,707
21
votes
Accepted
How can I prevent a command from using specific windows?
I second @Nsukami's suggestion to use dedicated windows. Since it is a function, not a command, using set-window-dedicated-p directly can be cumbersome. With the following command and associated key ...
- 14.2k
20
votes
Accepted
Disable minor mode in all open buffers
This does require a custom elisp function unless the minor mode has a (global-*-mode) function attached to it.
Luckily, it is a pretty simple function:
(defun global-disable-mode (mode-fn)
"...
- 2,505
20
votes
Accepted
How to save a copy of a buffer to a file?
Just select the entire buffer (C-x h) and use write-region.
- 867
19
votes
Accepted
Set column widths in `ibuffer`
As @Sigma's answer mentions, you need to customize ibuffer-formats. The docstring gives a lot of details about how to modify it by hand, and also notes that you can use the customize machinery to ...
Dan♦
- 31k
19
votes
Accepted
How do I force a specific buffer to open in a new window?
It is possible to configure how a buffer opens (in the same frame/window or a different frame/window) using display-buffer-alist. Refer to the references below to learn more about this variable.
...
- 24.2k
19
votes
Accepted
Why use indirect buffers?
To see and edit multiple locations of the same buffer. So, you don't have to scroll a long buffer but simply switch window to visible region. Each cloned buffer also has different mark ring, narrowing ...
- 6,652
18
votes
How can I set different font sizes for buffers and for the mode-line?
Try replacing the code for setting the font size with this:
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :font "DejaVu Sans Mono-14")
(set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :font "DejaVu Sans Mono-10")
Of course, ...
- 14.2k
18
votes
How can I see the changes made to a modified buffer since the last save?
Command ediff-current-file:
ediff-current-file is an interactive autoloaded Lisp function in
`ediff.el'.
(ediff-current-file)
Start ediff between current buffer and its file on disk.
This command ...
- 69.2k
18
votes
Why is (point-min) much more popular than 1?
To complement sds's answer (with which I fully agree), despite appearances, (point-min) can be more efficient than 1. In terms of execution speed, my tests don't see any measurable difference, but in ...
- 25.2k
17
votes
Accepted
Switch window split orientation, fastest way
Here's a defun that would do what you are looking for:
(defun toggle-window-split ()
(interactive)
(if (= (count-windows) 2)
(let* ((this-win-buffer (window-buffer))
(next-win-...
- 1,344
17
votes
Accepted
Kill process buffer without confirmation?
Remove the corresponding function from the relevant variable :
(setq kill-buffer-query-functions (delq 'process-kill-buffer-query-function kill-buffer-query-functions))
How did I find this ?
kill-...
- 3,331
15
votes
Accepted
How to modify-face for a specific buffer?
As noted by @phils in the comment below, the Emacs manual suggests not modifying the face-remapping-alist directly due to possible unintended side effects: . . .to avoid trampling on remappings ...
- 17.6k
14
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of Emacs buffers having names with *earmuffs*?
By convention, those special names are used for buffers that are not associated directly to a file, but are used to provide the user with a view of some activity that happens in Emacs.
Amongst other ...
- 4,440
14
votes
How do I find text across many open buffers?
swiper-all from the swiper package provides a tool for doing this. It's even incremental, so it updates as you type.
- 6,660
14
votes
Accepted
How to check whether a buffer is visiting a file?
I'd argue that your usage is idiomatic elisp, since the buffer's name is a perfectly appropriate boolean value in its own right. Quoting from the manual:
There is an important aspect to the truth ...
- 2,313
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