(xemacs.info)Auto Save Control

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14.5.2 Controlling Auto-Saving
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Each time you visit a file, auto-saving is turned on for that file's
buffer if the variable `auto-save-default' is non-`nil' (but not in
batch mode; Note: Entering Emacs).  The default for this variable is
`t', so Emacs auto-saves buffers that visit files by default.  You can
use the command `M-x auto-save-mode' to turn auto-saving for a buffer
on or off.  Like other minor mode commands, `M-x auto-save-mode' turns
auto-saving on with a positive argument, off with a zero or negative
argument; with no argument, it toggles.

   Emacs performs auto-saving periodically based on counting how many
characters you have typed since the last time auto-saving happened.  The
variable `auto-save-interval' specifies the number of characters
between auto-saves.  By default, it is 300.  Emacs also auto-saves
whenever you call the function `do-auto-save'.

   Emacs also does auto-saving whenever it gets a fatal error.  This
includes killing the Emacs job with a shell command such as `kill
-emacs', or disconnecting a phone line or network connection.

   You can set the number of seconds of idle time before an auto-save is
done. Setting the value of the variable `auto-save-timeout' to zero or
`nil' will  disable auto-saving due to idleness.

   The actual amount of idle time between auto-saves is logarithmically
related to the size of the current buffer.  This variable is the number
of seconds after which an auto-save will happen when the current buffer
is 50k or less; the timeout will be 2 1/4 times this in a 200k buffer, 3
3/4 times this in a 1000k buffer, and 4 1/2 times this in a 2000k
buffer.

   For this variable to have any effect, you must do `(require 'timer)'.