SPECIAL KEYS/ SYMBOLS IN KEYBOARD

How the keys are organized

The keys on your keyboard can be divided into several groups based on function:

 Typing (alphanumeric) keys. These keys include the same letter, number,
punctuation, and symbol keys found on a traditional typewriter.
 Control keys. These keys are used alone or in combination with other keys to
perform certain actions. The most frequently used control keys are Ctrl, Alt, the
Windows logo key  , and Esc.
 Function keys. The function keys are used to perform specific tasks. They are
labeled as F1, F2, F3, and so on, up to F12. The functionality of these keys differs
from program to program.
 Navigation keys. These keys are used for moving around in documents or
webpages and editing text. They include the arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, Page
Down, Delete, and Insert.
 Numeric keypad. The numeric keypad is handy for entering numbers quickly.
The keys are grouped together in a block like a conventional calculator or adding
machine.
The following illustration shows how these keys are arranged on a typical keyboard. Your
keyboard layout might be different.

Key/symbol Explanation
Windows PC keyboards have a Windows key that looks
like a four-pane, wavy window.
Command Apple Mac computers have a command key.
 Menu PC keyboards also have a Menu key that looks
like a cursor pointing to a menu.
Esc Esc (escape) key.
F1 - F12 What are the F1 through F12 keys?
F13 - F24 Information about the F13 through F24 keyboard
keys.
Tab Tab key.
Caps lock Caps lock key.
Shift Shift key.
Ctrl Control key.
Fn Function key.
Alt Alternate key (PC only; Mac users have
an Option key).
Spacebar Spacebar key.
Arrows Up, down, left, right Arrow keys.
Back Space Back space (or Backspace) key.
Delete Delete or Del key.
Enter Enter key.
Prt Scrn Print Screen key.
Scroll Lock Scroll Lock key.
Pause Pause key.
Break Break key.
Insert Insert key.
Home Home key.
Page up Page up or pg up key.
Page down Page down or pg dn key.
End End key.
Num Lock Num Lock key.
~ Tilde.
` Acute, back quote, grave, grave accent, left
quote, open quote, or a push.
! Exclamation mark, exclamation point, or bang.
@ Ampersat, arobase, asperand, at, or at symbol.
# Octothorpe, number, pound, sharp, or hash.
£ Pound Sterling or Pound symbol.
€ Euro.
$ Dollar sign or generic currency.
¢ Cent sign.
¥ Chinese/Japenese Yuan.
§ Micro or section.
% Percent.
° Degree.
^ Caret or circumflex.
& Ampersand, epershand, or and symbol.
* Asterisk, mathematical multiplication symbol,
and sometimes referred to as star.
( Open or left parenthesis.
) Close or right parenthesis.
- Hyphen, minus, or dash.
_ Underscore.
+ Plus.
= Equal.
{ Open brace, squiggly brackets, or curly bracket.
} Close brace, squiggly brackets, or curly bracket.
[ Open bracket.
] Closed bracket.
| Pipe, or, or vertical bar.
\ Backslash or reverse solidus.
/ Forward slash, solidus, virgule, whack, and
mathematical division symbol.
: Colon.
; Semicolon.
" Quote, quotation mark, or inverted commas.
' Apostrophe or single quote.
< Less than or angle brackets.
> Greater than or angle brackets.
, Comma.
. Period, dot or full stop.
 ? Question mark.
Key name, How to use it
Shift

Press Shift in combination with a letter to type an uppercase letter. Press Shift in combination
with another key to type the symbol shown on the upper part of that key.

Caps Lock
Press Caps Lock once to type all letters as uppercase. Press Caps Lock again to turn this
function off. Your keyboard might have a light indicating whether Caps Lock is on.

Tab

Press Tab to move the cursor several spaces forward. You can also press Tab to move to the
next text box on a form.

Enter

Press Enter to move the cursor to the beginning of the next line. In a dialog box, press Enter
to select the highlighted button.

Spacebar

Press the Spacebar to move the cursor one space forward.

Backspace

Press Backspace to delete the character before the cursor, or the selected text.

Useful shortcuts

The following table lists some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts. For a more detailed list,
see Keyboard shortcuts.

Press this To do this

Windows logo key  Open the Start menu

Alt + Tab Switch between open programs or windows

Alt + F4 Close the active item, or exit the active program

Ctrl + S Save the current file or document (works in most programs)

Ctrl + C Copy the selected item

Ctrl + X Cut the selected item

Ctrl + V Paste the selected item

Ctrl + Z Undo an action

Ctrl + A Select all items in a document or window

F1 Display Help for a program or Windows

Windows logo key 

Display Windows Help and Support

 + F1

Esc Cancel the current task

Open a menu of commands related to a selection in a program. Equivalent to

The navigation keys allow you to move the cursor, move around in documents and webpages, and edit
text. The following table lists some common functions of these keys.

Press this To do this

Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Move the cursor or selection one space or line in the direction of the
Arrow, or Down Arrow arrow, or scroll a webpage in the direction of the arrow

Home Move the cursor to the end of a line or move to the top of a webpage

Move the cursor to the end of a line or move to the bottom of a

Ctrl + Home Move to the top of a document

Ctrl + End Move to the bottom of a document

Page Up Move the cursor or page up one screen

Page Down Move the cursor or page down one screen

Delete Delete the character after the cursor, or the selected text; in Windows, delete
the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin

Turn Insert mode off or on. When Insert mode is on, text that you type is
Insert inserted at the cursor. When Insert mode is off, text that you type replaces
existing characters.

Using the numeric keypad

The numeric keypad arranges the numerals 0 though 9, the arithmetic operators + (addition), -
(subtraction), * (multiplication), and / (division), and the decimal point as they would appear on a
calculator or adding machine. These characters are duplicated elsewhere on the keyboard, of course,
but the keypad arrangement allows you to rapidly enter numerical data or mathematical operations
with one hand.

 
Numeric Keyboard

To use the numeric keypad to enter numbers, press Num Lock. Most keyboards have a light that
indicates whether Num Lock is on or off. When Num Lock is off, the numeric keypad functions as a
second set of navigation keys (these functions are printed on the keys next to the numerals or
symbols).

Three odd keys

So far, we've discussed almost every key you're likely to use. But for the truly inquisitive,
let's explore the three most mysterious keys on the keyboard: PrtScn, Scroll Lock, and
Pause/Break.

PrtScn (or Print Screen)

A long time ago, this key actually did what it says—it sent the current screen of text to
your printer. Nowadays, pressing PrtScn captures an image of your entire screen (a
"screen shot") and copies it to the Clipboard in your computer's memory. From there you
can paste it (Ctrl + V) into Microsoft Paint or another program and, if you want, print it
from that program.
More obscure is SYS RQ, which shares the key with PrtScn on some keyboards.
Historically, SYS RQ was designed to be a "system request," but this command is not
enabled in Windows.

Tip
Press Alt + PrtScn to capture an image of just the active window, instead of the entire screen.

ScrLk (or Scroll Lock)

In most programs, pressing Scroll Lock has no effect. In a few programs, pressing Scroll
Lock changes the behavior of the arrow keys and the Page Up and Page Down keys;
pressing these keys causes the document to scroll without changing the position of the
cursor or selection. Your keyboard might have a light indicating whether Scroll Lock is
on.

Pause/Break

This key is rarely used. In some older programs, pressing this key pauses the program or,
in combination with Ctrl, stops it from running.