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windowsemacstext-editorportabilityportable-applications

How can I have a portable Emacs?


Is there a way run Emacs from a USB drive? I am a Windows user and I would like to be able use it on any PC without an Emacs install.


Solution

  • Yes, the "normal" Emacs distribution for Windows is precompiled and just runs without having to do any install. Just get one of the *.zip files from the usual place, unpack it onto a USB disk, and you can use it directly. (The actual binary is inside the "bin/" directory.)

    The only thing you may want to do is set it up to look for ".emacs" always on the USB disk instead of on your hard drive; see

     (info "(emacs) Windows HOME")
    

    on how to do that.