Next: Using Customize, Up: Common requests

### 5.1 How do I set up a `.emacs` file properly?

see Init File.

In general, new Emacs users should not be provided with `.emacs` files, because this can cause confusing non-standard behavior. Then they send questions to help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org asking why Emacs isn't behaving as documented.

Emacs includes the Customize facility (see Using Customize). This allows users who are unfamiliar with Emacs Lisp to modify their `.emacs` files in a relatively straightforward way, using menus rather than Lisp code.

While Customize might indeed make it easier to configure Emacs, consider taking a bit of time to learn Emacs Lisp and modifying your `.emacs` directly. Simple configuration options are described rather completely in see Init File, for users interested in performing frequently requested, basic tasks.

Sometimes users are unsure as to where their `.emacs` file should be found. Visiting the file as `~/.emacs` from Emacs will find the correct file.