Emacs: Info-mode Keys

, 2010-12-20, …, 2013-06-11

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 to navigate, or keyboard.

Here's the most important navigation keys:

Emacs Texinfo 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	Similar Key in Web Browser
parent node (up)	`u`	◇
previous node	`p`	◇
next node	`n`	◇

Emacs info Nav Keys
Purpose	Emacs Key	Similar Key in Web Browser
view help	`h`	◇
list keys	【`F1` `m`】	◇

Setting Emacs Info to Use Web Browser Keys

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

Here's how to add web browser keys to emacs. Put the following in your emacs init file.

(defun browser-nav-keys ()
  "Key settings for `Info-mode-hook'.
Add some browser styled nav keys.
  The following keys and mouse buttons are added:
 【Backspace】 and <mouse-4> for `Info-history-back'
 【Shift+Backspace】 and <mouse-5> for `Info-history-forward'."
 (local-set-key (kbd "<backspace>") 'Info-history-back)
 (local-set-key (kbd "<S-backspace>") 'Info-history-forward)
  )

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