This location is called point . Other commands move point through the text, so that you can edit at different places in it. It is used to display small amounts of text for several purposes. If a command cannot be executed, it may print an error message in the echo area. Error messages are accompanied by a beep.
Some commands print informative messages in the echo area.
These messages look much like error messages, but they are not announced with a beep. The echo area is also used to display the minibuffer , a window that is used for reading arguments to commands, such as the name of a file to be edited. When the minibuffer is in use, the echo area begins with a prompt string that usually ends with a colon and the cursor appears in that line. You can always get out of the minibuffer by typing C-g . Though all emacs commands can be run from the keyboard, the menu bar at the top of the screen can be a handy shortcut.