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(emacs)Deletion

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Deletion
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   Deletion means erasing text and not saving it in the kill ring.  For
the most part, the Emacs commands that delete text are those that erase
just one character or only whitespace.

`C-d'
`<Delete>'
     Delete next character (`delete-char').  If your keyboard has a
     <Delete> function key (usually located in the edit keypad), Emacs
     binds it to `delete-char' as well.

`<DEL>'
`<BS>'
     Delete previous character (`delete-backward-char').  Some keyboards
     refer to this key as a "backspace key" and label it with a left
     arrow.

`M-\'
     Delete spaces and tabs around point (`delete-horizontal-space').

`M-<SPC>'
     Delete spaces and tabs around point, leaving one space
     (`just-one-space').

`C-x C-o'
     Delete blank lines around the current line (`delete-blank-lines').

`M-^'
     Join two lines by deleting the intervening newline, along with any
     indentation following it (`delete-indentation').

   The most basic delete commands are `C-d' (`delete-char') and <DEL>
(`delete-backward-char').  `C-d' deletes the character after point, the
one the cursor is "on top of."  This doesn't move point.  <DEL> deletes
the character before the cursor, and moves point back.  You can delete
newlines like any other characters in the buffer; deleting a newline
joins two lines.  Actually, `C-d' and <DEL> aren't always delete
commands; when given arguments, they kill instead, since they can erase
more than one character this way.

   Every keyboard has a large key, labeled <DEL>, <BACKSPACE>, <BS> or
<DELETE>, which is a short distance above the <RET> or <ENTER> key and
is normally used for erasing what you have typed.  Regardless of the
actual name on the key, in Emacs it is equivalent to <DEL>--or it
should be.

   Many keyboards (including standard PC keyboards) have a <BACKSPACE>
key a short ways above <RET> or <ENTER>, and a <DELETE> key elsewhere.
In that case, the <BACKSPACE> key is <DEL>, and the <DELETE> key is
equivalent to `C-d'--or it should be.

   Why do we say "or it should be"?  When Emacs starts up using a
window system, it determines automatically which key or keys should be
equivalent to <DEL>.  As a result, <BACKSPACE> and/or <DELETE> keys
normally do the right things.  But in some unusual cases Emacs gets the
wrong information from the system.  If these keys don't do what they
ought to do, you need to tell Emacs which key to use for <DEL>.  Note:
DEL Does Not Delete, for how to do this.

   On most text-only terminals, Emacs cannot tell which keys the
keyboard really has, so it follows a uniform plan which may or may not
fit your keyboard.  The uniform plan is that the ASCII <DEL> character
deletes, and the ASCII <BS> (backspace) character asks for help (it is
the same as `C-h').  If this is not right for your keyboard, such as if
you find that the key which ought to delete backwards enters Help
instead, see Note: DEL Does Not Delete.

   The other delete commands are those which delete only whitespace
characters: spaces, tabs and newlines.  `M-\'
(`delete-horizontal-space') deletes all the spaces and tab characters
before and after point.  `M-<SPC>' (`just-one-space') does likewise but
leaves a single space after point, regardless of the number of spaces
that existed previously (even if there were none before).

   `C-x C-o' (`delete-blank-lines') deletes all blank lines after the
current line.  If the current line is blank, it deletes all blank lines
preceding the current line as well (leaving one blank line, the current
line).

   `M-^' (`delete-indentation') joins the current line and the previous
line, by deleting a newline and all surrounding spaces, usually leaving
a single space.  Note: M-^.