Emacs: icomplete vs ido mode

Note: this page is about emacs 28 (released on 2022-04 [see Emacs Version History] ). For emacs 27 or before, see Emacs: icomplete vs ido mode, emacs 27.

icomplete and fido

icomplete-mode and its variations: fido-mode, icomplete-vertical-mode , fido-vertical-mode are all part of the icomplete-mode. They all turn on icomplete-mode. The different is their user interface. They have different matching methods for completion. For detail of their differences, see Emacs: icomplete mode, fido mode

Icomplete for All Prompts, Ido for File/Buffer Commands Only

icomplete does name completion for any command that prompts for a list of choices in minibufer. They include:

• execute-extended-command 【Alt + x】
• describe-function 【Ctrl + h f】
• find-file 【Ctrl + x Ctrl + f】
• switch-to-buffer 【Ctrl + x b】
• dired 【Ctrl + x d】

ido mode only supports name completion for opening file or switch buffer commands:

• find-file
• switch-to-buffer

There is no config you can set to make other commands use ido completion.

For emacs 28 or later, you should just use icomplete or fido. ido mode is now history.

• 
  Buy Xah Emacs Tutorial