keyboard key explanations

Computer keyboard key explanations

When talking to tech support or to other people about keyboard commands, web pages, and command line commands, you may hear such things as forward slash,backward slash / backslash, and caret. Many times this can be confusing for users unfamiliar with each of the symbols found on a keyboard. Below is a chart that can be used to quickly identify keyboard keys. Keep in mind that your keyboard may not have every key listed in this chart.

Symbol	Explanation
Windows	PC keyboards have a Windows key represented by a flag.
Command	Apple Mac computers have a command key.
F1 - F12	Information about the F1 through F12 keyboard keys.
Tab	Tab key
Caps lock	Caps lock key
Shift	Shift key
Ctrl	Ctrl key
Alt	Alt key (PC Only; Mac users have Option key)
Back Space	Back space 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 pgup key
Page down	Page down or pgdn 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
@	At or At symbol
#	Octothorpe, Number, Pound, sharp, or Hash
£	Pounds Sterling or Pound symbol
€	Euro
$	Dollar sign
¢	Cent sign
¥	Japanese Yen
$	Generic currency
§	Micro
%	Percent
°	Degree
^	Caret or Circumflex
&	Ampersand or And
*	Asterisk and sometimes referred to as star.
(	Open parenthesis
)	Close parenthesis
-	Hyphen, Minus or Dash
_	Underscore
+	Plus
=	Equals
{	Open Brace
}	Close Brace
[	Open bracket
]	Close bracket
|	Pipe, Or, or Vertical bar
\	Backslash or Reverse Solidus
/	Forward slash, Solidus, Virgule, or Whack
§	Section
:	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