Help

A great way to get to know what does what in emacs is to use the help

Command Description Key Sequence
View Help OptionsCtrl-h, ?
View the Emacs manualCtrl-h, i
View the documentation of the current Major ModeCtrl-h, m
View current key bindingsCtrl-h, b

File

Command Description Key Sequence
OpenCtrl-x, Ctrl-f
SaveCtrk-x, Ctrl-s
Save AsCtrl-x, Ctrl-w

Point Movement

In emacs what in other software might be called the caret, or the cursor, is called the 'point'.

Moving the point to specified locations

Command Description Key Sequence
Go to lineMeta-g, g
Save the point position in a registerCtrl-x, r, Space, #register_number
Jump to a point position saved in a registerCtrl-x, r, j, #register_number
Go to top of BufferMeta-<
Go to end of BufferMeta->

Moving the point relative to current location

Distance Direction Key Sequence
WordForwardMeta-f
BackwardMeta-b
LineStartCtrl-a
EndCtrl-e
ParagraphForwardMeta-{
BackwardMeta-}
PageForwardCtrl-V
BackwardMeta-V

Windows & Buffers

Command Description Key Sequence
CloseCtrl-x, k
Offer each buffer in turn to be closedMeta-x kill-some-buffers
Select bufferCtrl-x, b buffer_name
Move to next bufferCtrl-x, o
Move to next bufferCtrl-x, Right Arrow
Move to previous bufferCtrl-x, Left Arrow
Vertically split window & select from buffersCtrl-x, Ctrl-b
Maximise windowCtrl-x, 1
Split window horizontallyCtrl-x, 2
Split window verticallyCtrl-x, 3
List available buffers for selectionCtrl-x, Ctrl-b
Insert text from bufferMeta-x insert-buffer

Registers

Command Description Key Sequence
Copy selection to registerCtrl-x r s #register_number
Copy selection from registerCtrl-x r i #register_number

Edit

Command Description Key Sequence
UndoCtrl-x, u
Begin Selection (set mark)Ctrl-Space
Exchange point and markCtrl-x, Ctrl-x
Cancel SelectionCtrl-g
Cut SelectionCtrl-w
Cut LineCtrl-k
Paste (Yank)Ctrl-y
Copy selection to registerCtrl-x, r, s, #register_number
Paste (insert) from registerCtrl-x, r, i, #register_number
Delete (forward delete)Ctrl-d
Delete Current or Previous WordMeta-BackSpace
Delete Current or Next WordMeta-d
Search and ReplaceMeta-%