Dired

Created: Feb 11 2025, 17:44 UTC
Last modified: Feb 11 2025, 20:24 UTC

An Emacs mode for manipulating directories and files.

C-x d to start it, will show a listing of the directory contents. dired-listing-switches to configure the initial listing.

Visiting/Viewing Files

  • RET to go and visit the file
  • v to view the file (can press q to quit the buffer, a bit like a stack)
  • C-o to open file in another buffer but don’t focus it.

Marking

Basic mark is m, and u to unmark, with a U to unmark everything like a reset.

You can mark a subset of files like:

  • * . means to mark by extension
  • * / to mark directories
  • * * to mark executables

You use t to invert the marks, so I guess you could use it to select all non-directories by doing a * / t