The Computer Keyboard
The Typewriter Area
Character Keys
The keys are marked with letters,
numbers, and symbols.
Shift Key
Like the typewriter , pressing any letter
and holding down the shift key
simultaneously will give you capital
letters. You can also use the shift key
to type the symbol indicated at the
upper portion of the key.
The Typewriter Area
Caps Lock Key
The caps lock key is just above the left
shift key. It acts as an on-off switch.
Pressing it once will capitalize all the
letters you type.
Tab Key
Pressing this key usually causes the
cursor to move more columns to the
right
The Typewriter Area
Enter Key
It tells the computer you are done
entering the command or have
completed a line of text.
Space Bar
Press the space bar to enter a blank
space on the screen instead of a
character.
The Typewriter Area
Ctrl and Alt Key
These keys appear on your keyboard
but don’t appear on a typewriter. Note
location of these keys on your
keyboard. You will use these keys in
combination with the other keys.
Backspace Key
The backspace key deletes the
character to the left of the cursor.
The Function Keys
• Your keyboard will have keys
labeled F1 through F12 called
function keys. As you will learn,
each type of software assigns
unique functions to these keys.
The Numeric Keypad
• The numeric keypad (which is on the
right side of the keyboard) is like a
calculator but to enter numbers from
the keypad, you must press the
numlock key once. The keypad exists
to simplify your entry of numbers when
you enter data into a spreadsheet or
some other applications that requires
the entry of many numbers.
The Arrow Keys
• The arrow keys, or cursor control
keys are used primarily by
applications to let you move the
cursor around the screen.
The Computer Keys
• Print Screen Key
– Pressing this key will give you an exact
copy of the information displayed on
the screen
• Scroll Lock Key
– This key locks scrolling of the
“electronic page”.
• Insert Key
– This key allows you to insert characters
to the left key of the cursor.
The Computer Keys
• Delete Key
– Press the delete key to delete a
character at the cursor position.
• Home & End Keys
– It can cause the cursor to move to the
top (Home) or to the bottom (End) of
the screen.
The Computer Keys
• Page Up & Page Down Keys
– Pressing one usually causes the
screen display to be entirely replaced.
• Pause Key
– Pressing this key will temporarily stop
the scrolling of screen display
• Esc Key
– It is normally used to go back to a
previous screen, to clear or to reset a
command