GNU Emacs Manual - Kill Errors

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## Killing Your Mistakes

``DEL``
  Delete last character (`delete-backward-char`).
`M-`DEL``
  Kill last word (`backward-kill-word`).
`C-x `DEL``
  Kill to beginning of sentence (`backward-kill-sentence`).

The `DEL` character (`delete-backward-char`) is the most important correction command. It deletes the character before point. When `DEL` follows a self-inserting character command, you can think of it as canceling that command. However, avoid the mistake of thinking of `DEL` as a general way to cancel a command!

When your mistake is longer than a couple of characters, it might be more convenient to use `M-`DEL`` or `C-x `DEL``. `M-`DEL`` kills back to the start of the last word, and `C-x `DEL`` kills back to the start of the last sentence. `C-x `DEL`` is particularly useful when you change your mind about the phrasing of the text you are writing. `M-`DEL`` and `C-x `DEL`` save the killed text for `C-y` and `M-y` to retrieve. See section Yanking.

`M-`DEL`` is often useful even when you have typed only a few characters wrong, if you know you are confused in your typing and aren't sure exactly what you typed. At such a time, you cannot correct with `DEL` except by looking at the screen to see what you did. Often it requires less thought to kill the whole word and start again.

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