Also see delete-selection-mode. If you have: (delete-selection-mode 1) (transient-mark-mode 1) ; enabled by default in emacs 23+ you can mark a region

Also see delete-selection-mode. If you have: (delete-selection-mode 1) (transient-mark-mode 1) ; enabled by default in emacs 23+ you can mark a region and press delete or backspace (or start typing replacement text) to delete the region without affecting the kill ring.