Emacs: Org Mode Markup Cheatsheet

Emacs org-mode is a markup language, similar to Markdown, but with far more features. This page lists the most frequently used markup.

Heading

* first level heading begin with a asterisk

This is a paragraph. With no markup. Belongs under the heading above it.

** second level heading begin with 2 asterisks

*** third level heading

(Copy the above, paste into a file. Name the file “test.org”. Then open it in emacs. Or, Alt+x org-mode.)

Inline Code

* Inline Code

inline code are marked between TILDE ~3 + 4~

or with EQUALS SIGN: =3 + 4=

Code Block

* Code Block

Example markup

#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
var x = 3
x + 4
#+END_EXAMPLE

Press 【< e Tab】to insert the markup for example.

* Code Block

Source Code markup of specific language

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(+ 3 4)
#+END_SRC

#+BEGIN_SRC python
x = 3
return x + 2
#+END_SRC

To insert markup for source code, press 【< s Tab】, type first char of your language name, then press 【Ctrl+Alt+i】. Press that again to switch to next lang.

For how to eval source code, see: Emacs: Org Mode, Programing Language Code Markup

Bold, Italic, …

* Italic, Bold, …

*bold*

/italic/

_underlined_

=verbatim=

~code~

+strike-through+

List

Unordered list

- 1st item
- another item
- and 3rd item

or

+ 1st item
+ another item
+ and 3rd item

Ordered List

Start with a number, followed by a period. Like this:

1. 1st item
2. another item
3. and 3rd item

Link

Here's the link format

[[http://example.com/]]

or

[[http://example.com/][description]]

Image

[[/path/to/img.jpg]]

Export

In emacs, Alt+x org-export-dispatch 【Ctrl+c Ctrl+e】 to export. To export to HTML, the key is 【Ctrl+c Ctrl+e h h】

Org Commands

Emacs Org mode has many commands, including:

• Insert any org markup.
• View expand/collapse by headings only.
• Move headings, or level up/down.
• Evaluate embedded source code.
• Insert dates, todo, tags, ….
• Insert/compute date range, clocking time.

For a basic tutorial, see: Emacs: Writing Outline, org-mode Tutorial