The Org Manual

Table of Contents

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The Org Manual

This manual is for Org version 9.5.

Copyright © 2004–2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”

(a) The FSF’s Back-Cover Text is: “You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.”

• Introduction  Getting started.
• Document Structure  A tree works like your brain.
• Tables  Pure magic for quick formatting.
• Hyperlinks  Notes in context.
• TODO Items  Every tree branch can be a TODO item.
• Tags  Tagging headlines and matching sets of tags.
• Properties and Columns  Storing information about an entry.
• Dates and Times  Making items useful for planning.
• Refiling and Archiving  Moving and copying information with ease.
• Capture and Attachments  Dealing with external data.
• Agenda Views  Collecting information into views.
• Markup for Rich Contents  Compose beautiful documents.
• Exporting  Sharing and publishing notes.
• Publishing  Create a web site of linked Org files.
• Working with Source Code  Export, evaluate, and tangle code blocks.
• Miscellaneous  All the rest which did not fit elsewhere.
• Hacking  How to hack your way around.
• History and Acknowledgments  How Org came into being.
• GNU Free Documentation License  The license for this documentation.
• Main Index  An index of Org’s concepts and features.
• Key Index  Key bindings and where they are described.
• Command and Function Index  Command names and some internal functions.
• Variable Index  Variables mentioned in the manual. 


— The Detailed Node Listing —

Introduction
• Summary  Brief summary of what Org does.
• Installation  Installing Org.
• Activation  How to activate Org for certain buffers.
• Feedback  Bug reports, ideas, patches, etc.
• Conventions  Typesetting conventions used in this manual. 

Document Structure
• Headlines  How to typeset Org tree headlines.
• Visibility Cycling  Show and hide, much simplified.
• Motion  Jumping to other headlines.
• Structure Editing  Changing sequence and level of headlines.
• Sparse Trees  Matches embedded in context.
• Plain Lists  Additional structure within an entry.
• Drawers  Tucking stuff away.
• Blocks  Folding blocks. 

Visibility Cycling
• Global and local cycling  Cycling through various visibility states.
• Initial visibility  Setting the initial visibility state.
• Catching invisible edits  Preventing mistakes when editing invisible parts. 

Tables
• Built-in Table Editor  Simple tables.
• Column Width and Alignment  Overrule the automatic settings.
• Column Groups  Grouping to trigger vertical lines.
• Orgtbl Mode  The table editor as minor mode.
• The Spreadsheet  The table editor has spreadsheet capabilities.
• Org Plot  Plotting from Org tables. 

The Spreadsheet
• References  How to refer to another field or range.
• Formula syntax for Calc  Using Calc to compute stuff.
• Formula syntax for Lisp  Writing formulas in Emacs Lisp.
• Durations and time values  How to compute durations and time values.
• Field and range formulas  Formula for specific (ranges of) fields.
• Column formulas  Formulas valid for an entire column.
• Lookup functions  Lookup functions for searching tables.
• Editing and debugging formulas  Fixing formulas.
• Updating the table  Recomputing all dependent fields.
• Advanced features  Field and column names, automatic recalculation... 

Hyperlinks
• Link Format  How links in Org are formatted.
• Internal Links  Links to other places in the current file.
• Radio Targets  Make targets trigger links in plain text.
• External Links  URL-like links to the world.
• Handling Links  Creating, inserting and following.
• Using Links Outside Org  Linking from my C source code?
• Link Abbreviations  Shortcuts for writing complex links.
• Search Options  Linking to a specific location.
• Custom Searches  When the default search is not enough. 

TODO Items
• TODO Basics  Marking and displaying TODO entries.
• TODO Extensions  Workflow and assignments.
• Progress Logging  Dates and notes for progress.
• Priorities  Some things are more important than others.
• Breaking Down Tasks  Splitting a task into manageable pieces.
• Checkboxes  Tick-off lists. 

TODO Extensions
• Workflow states  From TODO to DONE in steps.
• TODO types  I do this, Fred does the rest.
• Multiple sets in one file  Mixing it all, still finding your way.
• Fast access to TODO states  Single letter selection of state.
• Per-file keywords  Different files, different requirements.
• Faces for TODO keywords  Highlighting states.
• TODO dependencies  When one task needs to wait for others. 

Progress Logging
• Closing items  When was this entry marked as done?
• Tracking TODO state changes  When did the status change?
• Tracking your habits  How consistent have you been? 

Tags
• Tag Inheritance  Tags use the tree structure of an outline.
• Setting Tags  How to assign tags to a headline.
• Tag Hierarchy  Create a hierarchy of tags.
• Tag Searches  Searching for combinations of tags. 

Properties and Columns
• Property Syntax  How properties are spelled out.
• Special Properties  Access to other Org mode features.
• Property Searches  Matching property values.
• Property Inheritance  Passing values down a tree.
• Column View  Tabular viewing and editing. 

Column View
• Defining columns  The COLUMNS format property.
• Using column view  How to create and use column view.
• Capturing column view  A dynamic block for column view. 

Defining columns
• Scope of column definitions  Where defined, where valid?
• Column attributes  Appearance and content of a column. 

Dates and Times
• Timestamps  Assigning a time to a tree entry.
• Creating Timestamps  Commands to insert timestamps.
• Deadlines and Scheduling  Planning your work.
• Clocking Work Time  Tracking how long you spend on a task.
• Effort Estimates  Planning work effort in advance.
• Timers  Notes with a running timer. 

Creating Timestamps
• The date/time prompt  How Org mode helps you enter dates and times.
• Custom time format  Making dates look different. 

Deadlines and Scheduling
• Inserting deadline/schedule  Planning items.
• Repeated tasks  Items that show up again and again. 

Clocking Work Time
• Clocking commands  Starting and stopping a clock.
• The clock table  Detailed reports.
• Resolving idle time  Resolving time when you’ve been idle. 

Refiling and Archiving
• Refile and Copy  Moving/copying a tree from one place to another.
• Archiving  What to do with finished products. 

Archiving
• Moving subtrees  Moving a tree to an archive file.
• Internal archiving  Switch off a tree but keep it in the file. 

Capture and Attachments
• Capture  Capturing new stuff.
• Attachments  Attach files to outlines.
• RSS Feeds  Getting input from RSS feeds. 

Capture
• Setting up capture  Where notes will be stored.
• Using capture  Commands to invoke and terminate capture.
• Capture templates  Define the outline of different note types. 

Capture templates
• Template elements  What is needed for a complete template entry.
• Template expansion  Filling in information about time and context.
• Templates in contexts  Only show a template in a specific context. 

Attachments
• Attachment defaults and dispatcher  How to access attachment commands
• Attachment options  Configuring the attachment system
• Attachment links  Hyperlink access to attachments
• Automatic version-control with Git  Everything safely stored away
• Attach from Dired  Using dired to select an attachment 

Agenda Views
• Agenda Files  Files being searched for agenda information.
• Agenda Dispatcher  Keyboard access to agenda views.
• Built-in Agenda Views  What is available out of the box?
• Presentation and Sorting  How agenda items are prepared for display.
• Agenda Commands  Remote editing of Org trees.
• Custom Agenda Views  Defining special searches and views.
• Exporting Agenda Views  Writing a view to a file.
• Agenda Column View  Using column view for collected entries. 

Built-in Agenda Views
• Weekly/daily agenda  The calendar page with current tasks.
• Global TODO list  All unfinished action items.
• Matching tags and properties  Structured information with fine-tuned search.
• Search view  Find entries by searching for text.
• Stuck projects  Find projects you need to review. 

Presentation and Sorting
• Categories  Not all tasks are equal.
• Time-of-day specifications  How the agenda knows the time.
• Sorting of agenda items  The order of things.
• Filtering/limiting agenda items  Dynamically narrow the agenda. 

Custom Agenda Views
• Storing searches  Type once, use often.
• Block agenda  All the stuff you need in a single buffer.
• Setting options  Changing the rules. 

Markup for Rich Contents
• Paragraphs  The basic unit of text.
• Emphasis and Monospace  Bold, italic, etc.
• Subscripts and Superscripts  Simple syntax for raising/lowering text.
• Special Symbols  Greek letters and other symbols.
• Embedded LaTeX  LaTeX can be freely used inside Org documents.
• Literal Examples  Source code examples with special formatting.
• Images  Display an image.
• Captions  Describe tables, images...
• Horizontal Rules  Make a line.
• Creating Footnotes  Edit and read footnotes. 

Embedded LaTeX
• LaTeX fragments  Complex formulas made easy.
• Previewing LaTeX fragments  What will this snippet look like?
• CDLaTeX mode  Speed up entering of formulas. 

Exporting
• The Export Dispatcher  The main interface.
• Export Settings  Common export settings.
• Table of Contents  The if and where of the table of contents.
• Include Files  Include additional files into a document.
• Macro Replacement  Use macros to create templates.
• Comment Lines  What will not be exported.
• ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export  Exporting to flat files with encoding.
• Beamer Export  Producing presentations and slides.
• HTML Export  Exporting to HTML.
• LaTeX Export  Exporting to LaTeX and processing to PDF.
• Markdown Export  Exporting to Markdown.
• OpenDocument Text Export  Exporting to OpenDocument Text.
• Org Export  Exporting to Org.
• Texinfo Export  Exporting to Texinfo.
• iCalendar Export  Exporting to iCalendar.
• Other Built-in Back-ends  Exporting to a man page.
• Advanced Export Configuration  Fine-tuning the export output.
• Export in Foreign Buffers  Author tables and lists in Org syntax. 

Beamer Export
• Beamer export commands  For creating Beamer documents.
• Beamer specific export settings  For customizing Beamer export.
• Frames and Blocks in Beamer  For composing Beamer slides.
• Beamer specific syntax  For using in Org documents.
• Editing support  Editing support.
• A Beamer example  A complete presentation. 

HTML Export
• HTML export commands  Invoking HTML export.
• HTML specific export settings  Settings for HTML export.
• HTML doctypes  Exporting various (X)HTML flavors.
• HTML preamble and postamble  Inserting preamble and postamble.
• Quoting HTML tags  Using direct HTML in Org files.
• Headlines in HTML export  Formatting headlines.
• Links in HTML export  Inserting and formatting links.
• Tables in HTML export  How to modify the formatting of tables.
• Images in HTML export  How to insert figures into HTML output.
• Math formatting in HTML export  Beautiful math also on the web.
• Text areas in HTML export  An alternate way to show an example.
• CSS support  Changing the appearance of the output.
• JavaScript support  Info and folding in a web browser. 

LaTeX Export
• LaTeX/PDF export commands  For producing LaTeX and PDF documents.
• LaTeX specific export settings  Unique to this LaTeX back-end.
• LaTeX header and sectioning  Setting up the export file structure.
• Quoting LaTeX code  Incorporating literal LaTeX code.
• Tables in LaTeX export  Options for exporting tables to LaTeX.
• Images in LaTeX export  How to insert figures into LaTeX output.
• Plain lists in LaTeX export  Attributes specific to lists.
• Source blocks in LaTeX export  Attributes specific to source code blocks.
• Example blocks in LaTeX export  Attributes specific to example blocks.
• Special blocks in LaTeX export  Attributes specific to special blocks.
• Horizontal rules in LaTeX export  Attributes specific to horizontal rules. 

OpenDocument Text Export
• Pre-requisites for ODT export  Required packages.
• ODT export commands  Invoking export.
• ODT specific export settings  Configuration options.
• Extending ODT export  Producing DOC, PDF files.
• Applying custom styles  Styling the output.
• Links in ODT export  Handling and formatting links.
• Tables in ODT export  Org tables conversions.
• Images in ODT export  Inserting images.
• Math formatting in ODT export  Formatting LaTeX fragments.
• Labels and captions in ODT export  Rendering objects.
• Literal examples in ODT export  For source code and example blocks.
• Advanced topics in ODT export  For power users. 

Math formatting in ODT export
• LaTeX math snippets  Embedding in LaTeX format.
• MathML and OpenDocument formula files  Embedding in native format. 

Texinfo Export
• Texinfo export commands  Invoking commands.
• Texinfo specific export settings  Setting the environment.
• Texinfo file header  Generating the header.
• Texinfo title and copyright page  Creating preamble pages.
• Info directory file  Installing a manual in Info file hierarchy.
• Headings and sectioning structure  Building document structure.
• Indices  Creating indices.
• Quoting Texinfo code  Incorporating literal Texinfo code.
• Plain lists in Texinfo export  List attributes.
• Tables in Texinfo export  Table attributes.
• Images in Texinfo export  Image attributes.
• Quotations in Texinfo export  Quote block attributes.
• Special blocks in Texinfo export  Special block attributes.
• A Texinfo example  Processing Org to Texinfo. 

Export in Foreign Buffers
• Bare HTML  Exporting HTML without CSS, Javascript, etc. 

Publishing
• Configuration  Defining projects.
• Uploading Files  How to get files up on the server.
• Sample Configuration  Example projects.
• Triggering Publication  Publication commands. 

Configuration
• Project alist  The central configuration variable.
• Sources and destinations  From here to there.
• Selecting files  What files are part of the project?
• Publishing action  Setting the function doing the publishing.
• Publishing options  Tweaking HTML/LaTeX export.
• Publishing links  Which links keep working after publishing?
• Site map  Generating a list of all pages.
• Generating an index  An index that reaches across pages. 

Sample Configuration
• Simple example  One-component publishing.
• Complex example  A multi-component publishing example. 

Working with Source Code
• Features Overview  Enjoy the versatility of source blocks.
• Structure of Code Blocks  Code block syntax described.
• Using Header Arguments  Different ways to set header arguments.
• Environment of a Code Block  Arguments, sessions, working directory...
• Evaluating Code Blocks  Place results of evaluation in the Org buffer.
• Results of Evaluation  Choosing a results type, post-processing...
• Exporting Code Blocks  Export contents and/or results.
• Extracting Source Code  Create pure source code files.
• Languages  List of supported code block languages.
• Editing Source Code  Language major-mode editing.
• Noweb Reference Syntax  Literate programming in Org mode.
• Library of Babel  Use and contribute to a library of useful code blocks.
• Key bindings and Useful Functions  Work quickly with code blocks.
• Batch Execution  Call functions from the command line. 

Miscellaneous
• Completion  M-TAB guesses completions.
• Structure Templates  Quick insertion of structural elements.
• Speed Keys  Electric commands at the beginning of a headline.
• Clean View  Getting rid of leading stars in the outline.
• Execute commands in the active region  Execute commands on multiple items in Org or agenda view.
• Dynamic Headline Numbering  Display and update outline numbering.
• The Very Busy C-c C-c Key  When in doubt, press C-c C-c.
• In-buffer Settings  Overview of keywords.
• Org Syntax  Formal description of Org’s syntax.
• Documentation Access  Read documentation about current syntax.
• Escape Character  Prevent Org from interpreting your writing.
• Code Evaluation Security  Org files evaluate in-line code.
• Interaction  With other Emacs packages.
• TTY Keys  Using Org on a tty.
• Protocols  External access to Emacs and Org.
• Org Crypt  Encrypting Org files.
• Org Mobile  Viewing and capture on a mobile device. 

Clean View
• Org Indent Mode  
• Hard indentation   

Interaction
• Cooperation  Packages Org cooperates with.
• Conflicts  Packages that lead to conflicts. 

Protocols
• The store-link protocol  Store a link, push URL to kill-ring.
• The capture protocol  Fill a buffer with external information.
• The open-source protocol  Edit published contents. 

Org Mobile
• Setting up the staging area  For the mobile device.
• Pushing to the mobile application  Uploading Org files and agendas.
• Pulling from the mobile application  Integrating captured and flagged items. 

Hacking
• Hooks  How to reach into Org’s internals.
• Add-on Packages  Available extensions.
• Adding Hyperlink Types  New custom link types.
• Adding Export Back-ends  How to write new export back-ends.
• Tables in Arbitrary Syntax  Orgtbl for LaTeX and other programs.
• Dynamic Blocks  Automatically filled blocks.
• Special Agenda Views  Customized views.
• Speeding Up Your Agendas  Tips on how to speed up your agendas.
• Extracting Agenda Information  Post-processing agenda information.
• Using the Property API  Writing programs that use entry properties.
• Using the Mapping API  Mapping over all or selected entries. 

Tables in Arbitrary Syntax
• Radio tables  Sending and receiving radio tables.
• A LaTeX example  Step by step, almost a tutorial.
• Translator functions  Copy and modify.

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