Emacs Backup Files Persist Despite Setting | Generated by AI

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Question: Why does Emacs still create backup files like init.el~ even though I set (setq make-backup-files nil) in my init.el?

Answer:

Your setting (setq make-backup-files nil) is correct and works, but it only takes effect after your init.el has been loaded. Emacs creates the backup file before it evaluates your init file — that’s why you still see init.el~.

Why this happens (most common cases)

  1. You edited init.el with Emacs itself
    • When Emacs opens and saves init.el, it creates init.el~ right then
    • Only afterwards (next time you start Emacs) does (setq make-backup-files nil) actually get evaluated
    • → the backup was already created in the previous session
  2. make-backup-files was set too late
    • The variable make-backup-files is checked when the file is saved
    • If you only set it inside init.el, it doesn’t protect init.el itself during the very first save

Solutions (pick one)

Best & cleanest solution (prevents backup of init.el forever)

Put this very early — preferably before anything else:

;; Prevent backup files from ever being created — even for init.el
(setq make-backup-files nil)
(setq backup-inhibited t)          ; even stronger — recommended

Or even more aggressive (many people use this combination):

(setq make-backup-files nil
      backup-inhibited t
      auto-save-default nil        ; also disables #auto-save# files if you want
      create-lockfiles nil)

Quick fix right now (remove existing backup + prevent new ones)

# Remove the existing backup
rm -f ~/.emacs.d/init.el~

# Make sure Emacs doesn't create new ones from now on
# (add this at the VERY TOP of your init.el)

Then add to the top of your init.el:

;; Disable backups globally - must be very early
(setq make-backup-files nil)
(setq backup-inhibited t)

If you ever change your mind and want to keep backups but don’t want to see them:

(setq backup-directory-alist
      `(("." . "~/.emacs.d/backups/")))

This puts all ~ files into ~/.emacs.d/backups/ instead of next to the original file.

Summary – what you should do

  1. Delete the existing backup: 
    rm -f ~/.emacs.d/init.el~

  2. Put at the very top of your init.el:

    (setq make-backup-files nil)
(setq backup-inhibited t)
  3. Restart Emacs or re-evaluate the buffer (M-x eval-buffer)

After this, Emacs should never create init.el~ (or any other ~ files) again.

Let me know if you still see backup files after making this change!

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