Most Emacs users are familiar with the “common” help functions
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| 【f】 | Describe function |
| 【v】 | Describe variable |
| 【k】 | Describe key sequence |
| 【a】 | Apropos |
| 【i】 | Info |
and perhaps a few others such as 【Ctrl+a】 to display the Emacs start page.
It turns out, though, that there are 37 help commands. Some of these, like 【Ctrl+a】, you’ll rarely use and others, like 【Ctrl+m】 (How to order printed manuals) and 【Ctrl+c】 (Display GPL), you’ll probably never use. That still leaves many useful help commands that you may not know about.
You can get a list of the all the options with 【Ctrl+h ?】 but here are some of the more useful ones
| key | Function |
|---|---|
| 【b】 | Display all key bindings |
| 【c】 SEQ | Show the name of the command that SEQ runs |
| 【d】 TOPIC | Display commands & variables whose documentation matches TOPIC |
| 【e】 | Display the *Messages* buffer |
| 【l】 | Display your last 300 keystrokes |
| 【m】 | Display documentation of current major mode |
| 【p】 | Find packages by topic keyword |
| 【r】 | Display Emacs manual in Info |
| 【s】 | Display current syntax table |
| 【w】 CMD | Show which keys run command CMD |
| 【C】 | Describe current coding system |
| 【F】 CMD | Goto Info node documenting CMD |
| 【I】 | Describe input method |
| 【K】 SEQ | Goto Info node documenting command run by SEQ |
| 【L】 | Describe language environment |
As I said, there are others that may be just what you’re looking for so be sure to check the documentation.