Key Binding and Function to Jump to Emacs Completions Buffer

Updated with a second solution. Both are useful. The new one is simpler.

I have recently disabled Ivy/Counsel/Swiper in my Emacs setup¹.

One of the first things that I experienced, after disabling Ivy & friends, was a new interaction mode with completions.

When trying to complete something in the minibuffer, completion candidates are displayed in the *Completions* buffer which is conveniently displayed right above the minibuffer.

What confused me about this behavior was the need to use the mouse to move to this buffer. Using other-window (C-x o) wasn’t working as it moved the point to the top buffer.

First reaction was: “This is Emacs. There’s a function for everything. I can create my own binding”

I have found the pop-to-buffer function which takes a buffer or buffer name. Problem solved!

But then, the second reaction was: “This is Emacs. There is a function for everything. There must be a function for jumping to completions as this is such a core behavior”.

And, not surprisingly, there’s both such a function and binding: M-v, bound to switch-to-completions, moves the point from the minibuffer to the first completion in the *Completions* buffer.

Now this really solved my question.

Update: thanks to éric, I have learned about an even better option!

There is a variable completion-auto-select which when set to non-nil value, make the point automatically move to the *Completions* buffer when hitting TAB. The variable defaults to nil, so you’ll need to update it.

• Onthisday:207
• Emacs