A command may ask for a file, a buffer, a search term or another value. Emacs reads that answer in the minibuffer, a temporary input area separate from your document. While the prompt is active, ordinary typing answers the prompt; it does not add words to the document. Emacsvox speaks prompts and completion feedback according to your settings.
For example, M-x asks for a command name. Type describe-mode, including
its hyphen, then press RET to run it. Do not type the prompt label or the
letters M-x. A command may then ask another question: after choosing eww,
for example, its next prompt asks for a web address or search words. Answer
one prompt at a time rather than pasting the whole printed instruction.
Completion helps you enter an existing name. Type a distinctive beginning, then press TAB. Emacs may extend the text or offer several candidates. With several matches, type more of the name; you can always type the complete name and press RET. Completion interfaces differ between configurations, so the guides do not assume that Down Arrow accepts the first suggestion. Opening a new file permits a name that does not yet exist; selecting an installed command normally requires a recognised name.
RET submits the current answer, including any text already in the prompt.
An empty answer may accept a displayed default. Read that default before
accepting it. For a yes/no question, use the response requested: some prompts
accept y or n, while others require yes or no followed by RET.
Use C-g to abandon an unfinished ordinary prompt. If you have already submitted it and the command has acted, cancellation does not undo the result. Likewise, quitting a settings menu does not undo an adjustment made there. Follow the recovery instructions for the operation you actually performed.
After the prompt finishes, notice which buffer has been selected. An open-file command selects a document; Help may appear in another window; a save normally leaves you in the document. Press C-e m to identify the current buffer and mode before editing. Finish or cancel an active prompt before switching buffers with C-x b; otherwise its answer is still unfinished. See Using Online Help for entering and leaving a Help window.