David Bakhash writes: This would only work if the buffer has not changed since it has last been auto-saved. If there have been any changes since, then we need to do the real save. Also, if the `write-contents-hooks' makes modifications, then we will lose. And finally, if the auto-save file is on a different partition than the actual file, moving the auto-save file is no cheaper than doing the save itself. This last issue is realistic. I use the `auto-save' package[1], so all my autosave files are on local disk. Unfortunately, not. -- Colin Footnotes: [1] Once people find out about this package, they usually jump to it. The package puts all the autosave files in the same directory. It gives you the function `recover-all-files' for after a crash. Also, if you have a slow network, make the auto-save-directory a local directory.