Keyboard

ALT (Alternate) Key

Doesn't do anything by itself. But if you hold it down while pressing another key, the effect of that key may be different from usual. Exactly what will happen will depend on what program is running at the time.

Function keys

Becoming more standardized as to what they do. For example, F1 is most often used to access the Help file for a program.

The vertical bar |

Called a pipe

ESC (Escape) Key

Cancels actions in progress before they finish. Also closes certain dialogs.

CTRL (Control) key

Does nothing all by itself. It must be pressed in combination with other keys. When used in combination, the key changes the normal effect of a key.

Page Up

Navigation key. Moves the cursor up the displayed area one screen's worth. It does not usually move a literal page at a time. That would depend on the height of a page.

Function Keys

Numbered F1, F2, F3,....F12. These are programmable keys. Programs can assign actions to these keys. So the same key might produce different results in different programs.

Location of the two Enter Keys

One by the middle row of alphabet letters and one on the numeric keypad.

Alphabet Keys

Where the alphabet letters and some punctuation marks are in three rows.

Typewriter

Where the layout of the keys are borrowed

Disk Operating System

DOS

Delete

Erases the character just to the right of the cursor. Any text beyond the erased character is moved to the left.

Backspace

Erases the character on the left of the cursor and moves the cursor that direction, too.

Laptop computers

Have fewer keys but have an additional Fn key that can be combined with other keys to replace the missing keys.

Page Down

Navigation key. Drops the displayed area down the page one screen's worth. It doesn't necessarily move a whole literal page at a time. That would depend on the height of a page.

Enter Keys

In word processing, it acts like the Return key on a typewriter by starting a new line. It is also used in place of a mouse click with buttons and drop-down menus. In a spreadsheet, the key usually registers the value you just typed in a cell and moves the focus to a different cell.

pipe | symbol

Included on the Backslash key

Fn - Function

Laptops and keyboards for other languages often have an additional key for combining with other keys, this key is usually on the left or right side of the left side CTRL key and its label is usually in a different color. It is sometimes at the top left of a very small keyboard.

Tab Key

Moves the cursor over to the right to a pre-set point. This is especially used in word processing to line up text vertically.

Home

Navigation key. Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

End

Navigation key. Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.

The Windows key

Opens the Windows Start menu. It can be combined with other keys, like Win + M minimizes all windows.

Context Menu key

Opens the right-click context menu for whatever you have selected.

Computer control keys

Power Off, Sleep, Wake Up.

Shift Key

Press this with a numeric/symbol key to produce the character at the top of the key.

Toggle key

Repeatedly pressing it will alternate between two effects.

Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break

Screen control keys

Favorites, Back, Forward, Refresh

Special keys on a Web Browsing keyboard

Volume control, Play, Stop, Pause, Rewind

Special keys on a multimidedia keyboard

Other buttons on the numeric keypad

Symbols for arithmetic operations, + add, - subtract, * multiply, / divide and a decimal point. The ENTER key behaves like the ENTER key beside the alphabet keys.

DOS

The first widely-installed operating system for personal computers. It is a non-graphical line-oriented command- or menu-driven operating system, with a relatively simple interface but not overly "friendly" user interface. Its prompt to enter a command looks like this: C:>

Keyboard

The most often used input device

Print Screen key

The only one of these three screen control keys that is widely used these days.

NumLock, Caps Lock, Scroll Lock

The three different Status lights

Overtype & Insert Mode

The two modes created by toggling the Insert Key

Arrow keys

These four keys are used to move the cursor on the screen. In a text document, the up and down arrows move the cursor up or down one line. The left and right arrows move the cursor one character sideways. In a spreadsheet, the arrow keys move the cursor up or down a row, left or right a column. In other programs, there might be other actions.

QWERTY

This arrangement of the letters was inherited from the typewriter. The name comes from the order of the letters on the first (TOP) row of alphabet characters. It is not the most efficient layout. With the first typewriters, the typists had trouble with the mechanical keys jamming each other because the typists could strike the keys faster than the keys could get out of each others' way. So the letters were arranged to slow down the typists' speed. Computer keyboards do not have mechanical keys, so a more efficient layout could be used. But so many people are familiar and skilled with the old way that it does not seem likely that the layout will change.

Caps Lock

Turn this on when you want a lot of captial letters to save holding the Shift key down for a long time.

Number Row

Two characters are on each key, one at the top of the key and one at the bottom. The upper character is a symbol and is accessed by holding the SHIFT key down while pressing the key.

Overtype Mode

Types over characters already there.

Insert Mode

Typing inserts characters in between the characters that are already there. Moves characters to the right.

Shift

Used in combination with the alphabetic keys to get upper case letters, one at a time, or with number keys to get the upper symbol on the key.

Spacebar

Used to enter blank spaces in text. Sometimes it can also be used instead of a mouse click on buttons.

TAB key

Used to move the focus on the computer screen through a series of buttons or text boxes or other objects.

Navigation Keys

When Num lock is off, the number keys are navigation keys can act as this.

NumLock

When it is off, the Numeric Keypad responds as navigation keys using the alternate markings on the keys.

Caps Lock Key

When it is on, pressing any alphabetic key will result in an upper case (capital) letter. The number and symbol keys are not affected, however. Watch out - this is different from typewriters.

NumLock

When it is on, the Numeric Keypad responds with numbers.

Caps Lock Key

When on, pressing any alphabetic key will result in an upper case (capital) letter. The number and symbol keys are not affected, however.

Number Row or Numeric Keypad

Where numbers can also be typed from

Numeric Keypad

With NumLock is on, the number keys on the numeric keypad respond as numbers.