Emacs: Unicode Tutorial
for a intro of Unicode, see Unicode: Character Set, Encoding, UTF-8, Codepoint

Set default file encoding
Insert a Unicode Character by Name
Alt+x insert-char
, then the name of the Unicode. For example, try to insert →. Its name is RIGHTWARDS ARROW.
Note: insert-char
was ucs-insert
in emacs 24.3 or before.
[see Emacs 24 (Released 2012-06)]
Insert a Unicode Char by Char ID in Hexadecimal
Alt+x insert-char
, then the hexadecimal of the Unicode.
For example, try to insert →. Its hexadecimal value is 2192.
Insert a Unicode Char by Char ID in Decimal
Alt+x insert-char
, then type #10r
followed by the decimal codepoint.
e.g. #10r8594
For example, try to insert →. Its coidpoint in decimal is 8594.
Find a Character's Name and Codepoint
For a mode to make this easier, see xub Unicode Browser mode for Emacs.
Use Abbrev to Insert Unicode Char
Use Abbrev with Completion to Insert Unicode Char
Set a Key to Insert Unicode Char
Insert letter with accent marks é
- é → Ctrl+x 8 ' e
- à → Ctrl+x 8 ` a
- î → Ctrl+x 8 ^ i
- ñ → Ctrl+x 8 ~ n
- ü → Ctrl+x 8 " u
To see all characters you can type this way, press Ctrl+x 8 Ctrl+h. Example: ¿ ¡ ¢ £ ¥ ¤ § ¶ ® © ª «» × ÷ ¬ ° ± µ ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆ Ç ÈÉÊË ÌÍÎÏ ÐÑ ÒÓÔÕÖ ØÙÚÛÜÝÞß àáâãäåæç èéêë ìíîï ðñòóôõö øùúûüýþÿ.
If you need to type these chars often,
Alt+x set-input-method
then type “latin-9-prefix”. That will allow you to type these chars without typing Ctrl+x 8 first.
(Emacs's “latin-9-prefix” corresponds to the char set ISO 8859-9)
list-input-methods
- List all input methods. There about 263 builtin in emacs.
Find out current input method
- current-input-method
- Variable. Value is buffer's input method. [see Emacs: Show Variable Value, List Variables]
Emacs and Unicode
- Emacs: Unicode Tutorial
- Emacs: Insert Emoji
- Emacs: describe-char, Char Name, Cursor Position
- Emacs Init: Update Unicode Data