Emacs Beginner Guide

By csode ยท 10/11/2025

This is a quick guide on how to set emacs for a daily use if you are a beginner. Hopefully advanced users could also learn a thing or two. Guide is made with artix linux for the packages. But it will work the exact same on other distribution.

Overview

Basic Emacs

Requirments

For this guide we will:

  • Use Iosevka Nerd Font.

  • Our Colorscheme will be gruber darker.

Package Setup

Install the following programs.

sudo pacman -S ttf-iosevka-nerd

You can use what ever font.

Configuration

For ease of use we will be mostly on a one file configuration. Create a .emacs file in your home folder and open emacs and use C-x C-f.

Evaluation

Since emacs operates on modes will be focusing on major modes and doing basic changes.

(tool-bar-mode 0)

You can go to the end of the file and do C-x C-e. To temporarily load it useful so it is easier to test.

Base Configuration

This is the bare bones setup I think people should have.

;; Basic Settings
(tool-bar-mode 0)
(scroll-bar-mode 0)
(menu-bar-mode 0)

;; Completion for M-x
(ido-mode 1)
(ido-everywhere 1)

;; Line Number
(column-number-mode 1)
(global-display-line-numbers-mode 1)

Packages

For package manager I used tsoding that will autoload them for you after cloning them.

Save this as rc.el in your home directory.

;; -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
(add-to-list 'package-archives
             '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/") t)
;; (add-to-list 'package-archives
;;              '("melpa-stable" . "https://stable.melpa.org/packages/") t)

(defvar rc/package-contents-refreshed nil)

(defun rc/package-refresh-contents-once ()
  (when (not rc/package-contents-refreshed)
    (setq rc/package-contents-refreshed t)
    (package-refresh-contents)))

(defun rc/require-one-package (package)
  (when (not (package-installed-p package))
    (rc/package-refresh-contents-once)
    (package-install package)))

(defun rc/require (&rest packages)
  (dolist (package packages)
    (rc/require-one-package package)))

(defun rc/require-theme (theme)
  (let ((theme-package (->> theme
                            (symbol-name)
                            (funcall (-flip #'concat) "-theme")
                            (intern))))
    (rc/require theme-package)
    (load-theme theme t)))

(rc/require 'dash)
(require 'dash)

(rc/require 'dash-functional)
(require 'dash-functional)

To load this file to our .emacs add the following

(load-file "~/rc.el")

Themeing and Fonts

Theme

To use gruber-darker Add this to your .emacs file.

(rc/require-theme 'gruber-darker)

Be sure to add the following before your basic setting.

(package-initialize)
(setq package-install-upgrade-built-in t)

Font

To change your font add the following to your .emacs

(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist `(font . "IosevkaNerdFont-18"))

Useful Emacs Packages

These are some of the useful emacs packages I really recommend as a new user.

Smex

This will add more autocompletion for your M-x.

(rc/require 'smex)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-x") 'smex)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-c M-x") 'execute-extended-command)

Multiple Cursor

This is one of the greatest emacs package that will let u have multiple cursor.

(rc/require 'multiple-cursors)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-S-c C-S-c") 'mc/edit-lines)
(global-set-key (kbd "C->")         'mc/mark-next-like-this)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-<")         'mc/mark-previous-like-this)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-<")     'mc/mark-all-like-this)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-\"")        'mc/skip-to-next-like-this)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-:")         'mc/skip-to-previous-like-this)

Magit

This is a git client for emacs. By Far the most superior git client out there.

(require 'seq)
(rc/require 'magit)
(setq magit-display-buffer-function
      #'magit-display-buffer-fullframe-status-v1)

Company

This is a buffer autocompletion plugin

(rc/require 'company)
(global-company-mode)