A quick way to do find-file in Emacs?

Question

Every time I use find-file in Aquamacs or Emacs, it auto shows the previous directory, for example ~/Work/abc/cdf. However, if I want to open something from the ~ directory, I have to press Delete all the ways down to the first character. Is there any quick way to replace all the string with just one or two keys?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

No, you don't (have to press Delete). Just type ~ and emacs will ignore everything before it. Same with /.

Answer 2

Yes, while still in the mini buffer press Ctrl-A to go to the start of the file name path, and Ctrl-K to delete it to the end of the line, now your file path is empty and you can just type "~"