How to create a new, unnamed file in emacs? - emacs

Question

This is a very simple request: I want to create a new, blank file without giving it a name (yet). I can use the scratch buffer but there's only one. I can C-x C-f and open a new file, but then I have to give it a name and path. If I'm just writing notes to myself or sketching out ideas, I don't want to have to give it a name. How do I create a new, empty, unnamed file?

Answer 1

You can create a new buffer with: C-xb and type in the buffer name and it will create a new buffer with a name that you choose.
If you want to save that buffer, just hit C-x w to create the file with its contents to a desired location.
My recommendation is that you give org-mode a try. It will do what want among a million other things.

Answer 2

Give it a name. Just don't save it.
Not what you wanted to hear, but this is the Emacs way.
Use C-x C-f, giving the (to-be-file-visiting) buffer a name. Edit the text. Do not use C-x C-s to save the buffer to the file (i.e., to disk).
Note that you can first put yourself in a directory whose contents you don't care about, so that if you accidentally do save the buffer there then you can easily find, recognize and toss the file. To change directories, you can use M-x cd. Or just do it by editing the directory part when you first use C-x C-f. Or use C-x d to put yourself in a Dired buffer for the directory.
If you don't want to take the chance of accidentally hitting C-x C-s and thus saving your edits, then use C-x b instead of C-x C-f. You are (even here) prompted for the buffer name. Giving it a new name (not the name of an existing buffer) creates a new buffer. In this case, if you use C-x C-s then Emacs prompts you for the file location to save the buffer in.
Why would you want to use C-x C-f instead of C-x b, if you might not want to save the buffer? Providing a file extension in the file name you give automatically puts the buffer in the proper major mode (typically). Otherwise (for C-x b) you need to put the buffer in the mode you want.
Buffer *scratch* is by default in Lisp-Interaction mode, which is similar to Emacs-Lisp mode (but not the same).

Answer 3

In every other text editor or word processor the intuition is to create a “new file” or a “new buffer”, not to switch to idiosyncratic *scratch* buffer. For example, you write quick notes or thoughts in several different buffers to keep trace of them—later you decide if you throw them away or save them. Or you manipulate a snippet of text or code, but you don't want to change the original buffer, so you just copypaste it to a new temporary buffer.
*scratch* is set to Lisp Interaction mode, but if I want to quickly evaluate some Elisp code, I could eval it running eval-expression (Alt+:) or in Elisp interpreter IELM (Alt+x Enter ielm). Also, if you close *scratch* buffer, it doesn't ask you to save it, so you can accidentally lose all your work. Drew's traditional solution seems too sub-optimal. And I don't buy the argument that “this is how you do it in Emacs”. Emacs is a customizable editor, so you can and should create whatever workflow is comfortable for you.
That's how ErgoEmacs solves it, buy creating a new-empty-buffer command. You can implemented like this:
(defun new-empty-buffer ()
"Opens a new empty buffer."
(interactive)
(switch-to-buffer (generate-new-buffer "untitled"))
(funcall initial-major-mode)
(put 'buffer-offer-save 'permanent-local t)
(setq buffer-offer-save t))
The variable buffer-offer-save resets every time you change a major mode, therefore you need to annotate it with permanent-local. It also prompts only when you exit Emacs. I think it is intuitive for it to also ask, when you close a modified untitled buffer, therefore see my solution on how to upgrade kill-buffer to prompt before closing a modified buffer.
ErgoEmacs revamps the default keybindings completely and has new-empty-buffer bound to Ctrl+N, like in almost all software. Change variable initial-major-mode if you want the new buffer to have another mode on start.
See also:
Emacs: Problems of the Scratch Buffer # Xah Lee
Emacs: New Empty Buffer # Xah Lee

Answer 4

You can try the following snippet, just add it to your .emacs
(defun new-file-tmp()
"Create a new empty file."
(interactive)
(let ((buf (generate-new-buffer "untitled")))
(switch-to-buffer buf)
(put 'buffer-offer-save 'permanent-local t)
(setq buffer-offer-save t)))
(defun tool-bar-local-item-pre (icon def key map after_item &rest props)
"Add an item to the tool bar in map MAP.
ICON names the image, DEF is the key definition and KEY is a symbol
for the fake function key in the menu keymap. Remaining arguments
PROPS are additional items to add to the menu item specification. See
Info node ‘(elisp)Tool Bar’. The item is added after AFTER_ITEM.
ICON is the base name of a file containing the image to use. The
function will first try to use low-color/ICON.xpm if ‘display-color-cells’
is less or equal to 256, then ICON.xpm, then ICON.pbm, and finally
ICON.xbm, using ‘find-image’."
(let* ((image-exp (tool-bar--image-expression icon)))
(define-key-after map (vector key)
`(menu-item ,(symbol-name key) ,def :image ,image-exp ,#props) after_item)
(force-mode-line-update)))
(when (boundp 'tool-bar-map)
(tool-bar-local-item-pre "new" 'new-file-tmp 'new-file-tmp tool-bar-map
'new-file :label "" :help "New untitled File")
(define-key tool-bar-map (vector 'new-file) nil)
;; comment the above line if you want to keep the button for the default behavior
)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-n") 'new-file-tmp)
It defines a new command which creates new empty buffers
Then the code binds it to the top left button of the toolbar, if you are in gui mode, and to the Control-n shortcut.
You can check the post on my site about it.
disclaimer: it's my site

Answer 5

A buffer and a file are not the same thing.
terminology
Regarding buffers,
The text you are editing in Emacs resides in an object called a
buffer. Each time you visit a file, a buffer is used to hold the file's text.
Regarding files,
The operating system stores data permanently in named files, so most
of the text you edit with Emacs comes from a file and is ultimately
stored in a file.
Buffers and files are related through visiting,
Visiting a file means reading its contents into an Emacs buffer so you
can edit them. Emacs makes a new buffer for each file that you visit.
answering the question
Unless I'm mistaken, technically speaking, your question, as written, can't be answered. Pedantically speaking, there's no such thing as (or little practical use for) an unnamed file. A file is a handle for something stored on disk. If you have no handle, then why make a file?
The question can then be interpreted as having two possible meanings1.
1. Making a new buffer (without regard to name)
A new buffer must have a name. An unsaved buffer can be saved to file with a given name using write-file (C-x C-w). You will be prompted for a path/name. Once written, the buffer update to be visiting the file you just wrote.
Since the name of the buffer doesn't matter (until you write it to file), here's a function which creates buffers named *scratch1*, *scratch2*, ... .
(defun create-scratch-buffer ()
"Create a new numbered scratch buffer.
Taken from URL `https://stackoverflow.com/a/21058075/5065796' "
(interactive)
(let ((n 0)
bufname)
(while (progn
(setq bufname (concat "*scratch"
(if (= n 0) "" (int-to-string n))
"*"))
(setq n (1+ n))
(get-buffer bufname)))
(switch-to-buffer (get-buffer-create bufname))
(org-mode)
(if (= n 1) initial-major-mode)))
2. Making a new file (without regard to name)
As hinted at in the new buffer solution, new files can be created with write-file.
When called interactively (M-x make-random-file), this function prompts for a directory. It then writes an empty file named something random like tmp-17388716387615.txt.
(defun make-random-file (dir)
"Make a random file in DIR."
(interactive "DDir: ")
(let* ((filename (concat "tmp-" (int-to-string (random t)) ".txt"))
(filepath (concat dir filename)))
(write-region "" nil filepath nil 'silent nil 'excl)))
As always, if the code above doesn't make sense, look at the documentation for functions and variables with C-h f and C-h v, respectively. And/or read the Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp.
1 It was the second meaning which I was searching for solutions to when I found this as the top search engine hit. Apologies if this was a bit obtuse. Figured it was better to share my solutions with y'all than not. :)