switching between autocompletion and character-by-character entry in an ido path

Question

I use ido in Emacs. Sometimes, when I have a path open in the minibuffer (for example, when I've executed C-x C-f), I'd like to edit the path by removing only the last character of a directory whose name I've partially completed. However, the backspace key always backs up a full directory level. I can use an additional C-f (provided that my path is specified only up to the boundary between one directory and another) to switch over to character-by-character entry, which will let me either back up or type additional characters. However, at this point, I have lost the ability to see the contents of the directory that begin with the sequence I've typed. Is there a way, once I've typed a partial path in "C-f mode", to switch back into autocompletion mode so that I can see all the possibilities that begin with my partial path?

Answer 1

You can edit the input with C-e then switch back with RET.