`easy-escape-minor-mode' uses syntax highlighting and composition to make ELisp regular expressions more readable. More precisely, it hides double backslashes preceding regexp specials (`()|'), composes other double backslashes into single ones, and applies a special face to each. The underlying buffer text is not modified. For example, `easy-escape` prettifies this: "\\(?:\\_<\\\\newcommand\\_>\\s-*\\)?" into this (`^' indicates a different color): "(?:\_<\\newcommand\_>\s-*)?". ^ ^ The default is to use a single \ character instead of two, and to hide backslashes preceding parentheses or `|'. The escape character and its color can be customized using `easy-escape-face' and `easy-escape-character' (which see), and backslashes before ()| can be shown by disabling `easy-escape-hide-escapes-before-delimiters'. Suggested setup: (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook 'easy-escape-minor-mode) NOTE: If you find the distinction between the fontified double-slash and the single slash too subtle, try the following: * Adjust the foreground of `easy-escape-face' * Set `easy-escape-character' to a different character.