Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

Indenting Text

Emacs provides the ability to indent paragraphs, like a block quote in a paper. It also allows you to use a paragraph style that indents just the first line of a paragraph. This section describes indentation-related commands, including how to change the margins for the current session.

Before we start, make sure you're in text mode. Look at the mode line and, if the word Text is displayed, you are in text mode. If not, type M-x text-mode Enter to enter text mode.

Indenting Paragraphs

Let's say you're writing a paper and want to include some indented block quotes. Emacs's default behavior makes this a no-brainer.^[2] After you finish your first paragraph, use tabs or spaces to indent to the desired level and start typing the quote. Emacs automatically fills the paragraph and the quote correctly, as shown in the following screen.

Some indented text:

Emacs indents the text properly and fills it correctly in auto-fill mode.

What if an indented quote has multiple paragraphs? You could just press Enter and then Tab again at the beginning of subsequent paragraphs or you could press C-j (for newline-and-indent). Pressing C-j twice gives you a blank line between paragraphs.

Indenting the First Line of a Paragraph

Some people prefer paragraphs in which the first line is indented. Knowing about the intricacies of tabs, you might be concerned that pressing Tab to indent the ...