How to quickly delete all text in emacs' minibuffer?
backward-kill-sentence is bound to C-x DEL by default.
Alternatively, you could type C-a C-k which I find slightly easier to type because
- you don't have to release the CTRL key before hitting the third key.
- your right hand does not have to leave the home row
This key combination first moves point (aka the cursor) to the beginning of the line, and then kills the line. So it's actually two commands, but it's the same amount of key strokes.
You don't need to delete the default filename. Just continue to enter your file
d:\emacs-23.3\bin\c:\test\a.txt
On unix-like OSes, you can type ~ or / after the file- or pathname in the prompt. Emacs then takes that as the starting point for the file path. ~ starts from your home directory, / from root.
Example: assume the prompt is Find file: /var/tmp/etc/list/foo/bar/, then simply type ~/.emacs to get the dot-emacs file in your home directory. No need to delete anything.