Emacs: Info-mode Keys, and Adding Web Browser Keys to Info

, 2010-12-20, …, 2014-01-19

This page shows you the keyboard shortcuts for navigating emacs's “Info-mode”, and how to set web browser keys for it.

Emacs has extensive documentation, in a format called Texinfo. It is a tree structure, very similar to how you browse a website. To view the complete documentation index, call info 【F1 i】. Once you are in the Info doc, you can use the mouse or keyboard to navigate.

Here's the most important navigation keys:

emacs info keys
Purpose	Emacs Key	Similar Key in Web Browser
Back (last node)	`l`	`⌫ Backspace` or 【`Alt`+`←`】
Forward	`r`	【`⇧ Shift`+`⌫ Backspace`】 or 【`Alt`+`→`】
Focus on Next Link	`Tab ↹`	`Tab ↹`
Visit Link	`Enter ↵`	`Enter ↵`
search	`s`	【`Ctrl`+`f`】
quit	`q`	【`Ctrl`+`q`】

Other important keys:

emacs info keys for navigation
Purpose	Emacs Key
parent node (up)	`u`
previous node	`p`
next node	`n`

emacs info nav keys
Purpose	Emacs Key
view help	`h`
list keys	【`F1` `m`】

Setting Emacs Info to Use Web Browser Keys

Web browsers on Windows ＆ Mac use the ⌫ Backspace for moving to last viewed page.

Here's how to add the backspace key to emacs. Put the following in your emacs init file.

(defun browser-nav-keys ()
  "Add some browser styled nav keys for Info-mode.
  The following keys are added:
 【Backspace】 for `Info-history-back'
 【Shift+Backspace】 for `Info-history-forward'."
  (progn
    (local-set-key (kbd "<backspace>") 'Info-history-back)
    (local-set-key (kbd "<S-backspace>") 'Info-history-forward)
    ;; (local-set-key (kbd "<mouse-8>") 'Info-history-back) 5-button mouse. the mouse numbering depends on your OS and mouse. Call “describe-key” then press mouse button to find out
    )
  ;; note: on Linux Firefox, you have to turn on Backspace key for previous page. In the preference. That key isn't supported in Mac's Safari neither until i think 2008 or so.
  )

(add-hook 'Info-mode-hook 'browser-nav-keys)

5 Buttons Mouse, Setting Forward/Backward Thumb Buttons for Info

if you have 5-buttons mouse, you can also make the 4th button do “previous page”. The button syntax is different depending on your mouse and whether you are on {Linux, Mac, Microsoft Windows}. Here's how.

① call describe-key 【F1 k】, then press the mouse button. Emacs might say:

<mouse-8> … undefined

② add the following in your info key function given above.

(local-set-key (kbd "<mouse-8>") 'Info-history-back)

I recommend you get a 5-buttons mouse, because the extra buttons lets you do lots of things. You do use mouse a lot, because 50% of time you spend in browser even for coding, and in browser the mouse is most efficient.

See: