Quickstart (require 'browse-url-dwim) (browse-url-dwim-mode 1) place the cursor on a URL press "C-c b" select some text press "C-c g" ;; to turn off confirmations (setq browse-url-dwim-always-confirm-extraction nil) Explanation This small library for calling external browsers combines some of the functionality of `browse-url' and `thingatpt'. Three interactive commands are provided: `browse-url-dwim' `browse-url-dwim-search' `browse-url-dwim-guess' each of which tries to extract URLs or meaningful terms from context in the current buffer, and prompts for input when unable to do so. The context-sensitive matching of `browse-url-dwim' tries to do _less_ overall than the default behavior of `thingatpt', on the theory that `thingatpt' matches too liberally. However, `browse-url-dwim' does recognize some URLs that the default `browse-url' ignores, such as "www.yahoo.com" without the leading "http://". To use `browse-url-dwim', add the following to your ~/.emacs file (require 'browse-url-dwim) ; load library (browse-url-dwim-mode 1) ; install aliases and keybindings Then place the cursor on a URL and press C-c b ; b for browse or select some text and press C-c g ; g for Google or (equivalently) M-x browse RET M-x google RET Outside the USA If you are outside the USA, you will want to customize `browse-url-dwim-permitted-tlds' so that your favorite top-level domains will be recognized in context. You may also wish to customize `browse-url-dwim-search-url' to point at an appropriate search engine. See Also M-x customize-group RET browse-url-dwim RET M-x customize-group RET browse-url RET Notes To control which browser is invoked, see the underlying library `browse-url'. By default, the minor mode binds and aliases `browse-url-dwim-guess' for Internet search, but the user might prefer to bind `browse-url-dwim-search', which has less DWIM: (define-key browse-url-dwim-map (kbd "C-c g") 'browse-url-dwim-search) Compatibility and Requirements GNU Emacs version 24.4-devel : yes, at the time of writing GNU Emacs version 24.3 : yes GNU Emacs version 23.3 : yes GNU Emacs version 22.2 : yes, with some limitations GNU Emacs version 21.x and lower : unknown Uses if present: string-utils.el Bugs `thing-at-point-short-url-regexp' requires at least two dots in the hostname, so "domain.com" cannot be detected at point, whereas the following will be: "www.domain.com" or "http://domain.com" `url-normalize-url' doesn't do much. Multiple slashes should be removed for a start. TODO Support thing-nearest-point, with fallback. Test various schemes, esp "file:", "mailto:", and "ssh:". Extract multiple URLs from region and browse to all. ; License Simplified BSD License Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. This software is provided by Roland Walker "AS IS" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall Roland Walker or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of Roland Walker.