Info: (emacs) Init File

emacs: Init File

 
 51.4 The Emacs Initialization File
 ==================================
 
 When Emacs is started, it normally tries to load a Lisp program from an
 “initialization file”, or “init file” for short.  This file, if it
 exists, specifies how to initialize Emacs for you.  Emacs looks for your
 init file using the filenames ‘~/.emacs’, ‘~/.emacs.el’, or
 ‘~/.emacs.d/init.el’; you can choose to use any one of these three names
 (Find Init).  Here, ‘~/’ stands for your home directory.
 
    You can use the command line switch ‘-q’ to prevent loading your init
 file, and ‘-u’ (or ‘--user’) to specify a different user’s init file
 (Initial Options).
 
    There can also be a “default init file”, which is the library named
 ‘default.el’, found via the standard search path for libraries.  The
 Emacs distribution contains no such library; your site may create one
 for local customizations.  If this library exists, it is loaded whenever
 you start Emacs (except when you specify ‘-q’).  But your init file, if
 any, is loaded first; if it sets ‘inhibit-default-init’ non-‘nil’, then
 ‘default’ is not loaded.
 
    Your site may also have a “site startup file”; this is named
 ‘site-start.el’, if it exists.  Like ‘default.el’, Emacs finds this file
 via the standard search path for Lisp libraries.  Emacs loads this
 library before it loads your init file.  To inhibit loading of this
 library, use the option ‘--no-site-file’.  Initial Options.  We
 recommend against using ‘site-start.el’ for changes that some users may
 not like.  It is better to put them in ‘default.el’, so that users can
 more easily override them.
 
    You can place ‘default.el’ and ‘site-start.el’ in any of the
 directories which Emacs searches for Lisp libraries.  The variable
 ‘load-path’ (Lisp Libraries) specifies these directories.  Many
 sites put these files in a subdirectory named ‘site-lisp’ in the Emacs
 installation directory, such as ‘/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp’.
 
    Byte-compiling your init file is not recommended (Byte
 Compilation (elisp)Byte Compilation.).  It generally does not speed up
 startup very much, and often leads to problems when you forget to
 recompile the file.  A better solution is to use the Emacs server to
 reduce the number of times you have to start Emacs (Emacs
 Server).  If your init file defines many functions, consider moving
 them to a separate (byte-compiled) file that you load in your init file.
 
    If you are going to write actual Emacs Lisp programs that go beyond
 minor customization, you should read the ‘Emacs Lisp Reference Manual’.
 Emacs Lisp (elisp)Top.

 
· Init Syntax         Syntax of constants in Emacs Lisp.
· Init Examples       How to do some things with an init file.
· Terminal Init       Each terminal type can have an init file.
· Find Init           How Emacs finds the init file.
· Init Non-ASCII      Using non-ASCII characters in an init file.

Info Catalog

emacs: Key Bindings

emacs: Customization

emacs: Init File

Menu