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Asked: 2026-05-10T16:01:25+00:00

Suppose I want to open a file in an existing Emacs session using su

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Suppose I want to open a file in an existing Emacs session using su or sudo, without dropping down to a shell and doing sudoedit or sudo emacs. One way to do this is

C-x C-f /sudo::/path/to/file

but this requires an expensive round-trip through SSH. Is there a more direct way?

[EDIT] @JBB is right. I want to be able to invoke su/sudo to save as well as open. It would be OK (but not ideal) to re-authorize when saving. What I’m looking for is variations of find-file and save-buffer that can be ‘piped’ through su/sudo.

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  1. The nice thing about Tramp is that you only pay for that round-trip to SSH when you open the first file. Sudo then caches your credentials, and Emacs saves a handle, so that subsequent sudo-opened files take much less time.

    I haven’t found the extra time it takes to save burdening, either. It’s fast enough, IMO.

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