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If I paste text from, for example, the browser into emacs, the emacs cursor is often already at the position where I want to paste the text. If I would use emacs in console mode, I could just move the mouse over the text and press the middle button (if I had gpm disabled). But when using emacs in X (window) mode, I have to move the mouse cursor at the exact position where I want to past the text.

Is there a way to tell emacs to use the current emacs cursor position for pasting, instead of the mouse cursor position?

I hope you get my problem. :-)

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  • Good question, I noticed I lacked this functionality in certain scenarios. But looking back I would say I prefer standard behavior in about half the cases. Would be nice to have both modes quickly accessible at all times.
    – Alexander Shcheblikin
    Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 2:03
  • I only wish I could upvote this more. I'm baffled by the fact that the default is to paste where the mouse is located!
    – jrennie
    Commented Aug 25, 2020 at 13:08

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Try this setting:

(setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
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  • Great, although this settings doesn't show up on M-x mouse-yank... auto-complete, it works when I put this in my .emacs :-)
    – Flow
    Commented Sep 1, 2011 at 19:44
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    That's because it's a variable, not a function. You could use M-x set-variable RET mouse-yank-at-point (and completion should work here)
    – Antoine Pelisse
    Commented Sep 2, 2011 at 11:39
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    This should be the default setting IMHO.
    – sjas
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 16:48
  • Extra clarity: use the middle mouse button to paste your text at point, otherwise, you'll reset the position of point and you'll still paste at the mouse's position.
    – mistige
    Commented Dec 16, 2019 at 15:23

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