1.4 The Menu Bar

Each Emacs frame normally has a menu bar at the top which you can use to perform certain common operations. There's no need to list them here, as you can more easily see for yourself.

When you are using a window system, you can use the mouse to choose a command from the menu bar. An arrow pointing right, after the menu item, indicates that the item leads to a subsidiary menu; ‘...’ at the end means that the command will read arguments (further input from you) before it actually does anything.

To view the full command name and documentation for a menu item, type C-h k, and then select the menu bar with the mouse in the usual way (see Key Help).

On text-only terminals with no mouse, you can use the menu bar by typing M-` or <F10> (these run the command tmm-menubar). This command enters a mode in which you can select a menu item from the keyboard. A provisional choice appears in the echo area. You can use the up and down arrow keys to move through the menu to different choices. When you have found the choice you want, type <RET> to select it.

Each menu item also has an assigned letter or digit which designates that item; it is usually the initial of some word in the item's name. This letter or digit is separated from the item name by ‘=>’. You can type the item's letter or digit to select the item.

Some of the commands in the menu bar have ordinary key bindings as well; if so, the menu lists one equivalent key binding in parentheses after the item itself.