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8 The Minibuffer

The minibuffer is where Emacs commands read complicated arguments, such as file names, buffer names, Emacs command names, or Lisp expressions. We call it the “minibuffer" because it’s a special-purpose buffer with a small amount of screen space. You can use the usual Emacs editing commands in the minibuffer to edit the argument text.

Basic Minibuffer  Basic usage of the minibuffer.
Minibuffer File  Entering file names with the minibuffer.
Minibuffer Edit  How to edit in the minibuffer.
Completion  An abbreviation facility for minibuffer input.
Minibuffer History  Reusing recent minibuffer arguments.
Repetition  Re-executing commands that used the minibuffer.
Passwords  Entering passwords in the echo area.
Yes or No Prompts  Replying yes or no in the echo area.