49.3 Customizing Key Bindings

This section describes key bindings, which map keys to commands, and keymaps, which record key bindings. It also explains how to customize key bindings, which is done by editing your init file (see Init Rebinding).

Since most modes define their own key bindings, activating a mode might override your custom key bindings. A small number of keys are reserved for user-defined bindings, and should not be used by modes, so key bindings using those keys are safer in this regard. The reserved key sequences are those consisting of C-c followed by a letter (either upper or lower case), and function keys F5 through F9 without modifiers (see Modifier Keys).

• Keymaps		Generalities. The global keymap.
• Prefix Keymaps		Keymaps for prefix keys.
• Local Keymaps		Major and minor modes have their own keymaps.
• Minibuffer Maps		The minibuffer uses its own local keymaps.
• Rebinding		How to redefine one key’s meaning conveniently.
• Init Rebinding		Rebinding keys with your initialization file.
• Modifier Keys		Using modifier keys.
• Function Keys		Rebinding terminal function keys.
• Named ASCII Chars		Distinguishing TAB from C-i, and so on.
• Mouse Buttons		Rebinding mouse buttons in Emacs.
• Disabling		Disabling a command means confirmation is required before it can be executed. This is done to protect beginners from surprises.