Names of the symbols and keys on the computer keyboard

Do you know the names of the symbols and keys on the computer keyboard?

Here is a diagram and some charts to assist you in naming the symbols and keys of the computer keyboard. Be aware that there are different keyboards for different languages, countries, computer manufacturers and computer models. I created these charts based on the QWERTY, United States standard English keyboard. I have included a chart of the extra keys found on the British keyboard. The charts include keys from both the Macintosh keyboard and the PC keyboard.

Diagram of the IBM Enhanced United States standard English keyboard

Cursor Keys
Key	Name
↑	Up Arrow
←	Left Arrow
→	Right Arrow
↓	Down Arrow

Cursor Keys

Key

Name

↑

Up Arrow

←

Left Arrow

→

Right Arrow

↓

Down Arrow

Function keys

The Function keys are labelled F1, F2, F3, F4 ... F10 ... F20. There may be anywhere from 10 to 20 Function keys on a typical PC keyboard. Macintosh keyboards have Function keys for compatibility with DOS/Windows software but Macintosh software does not typically use the Function keys.

Numeric Keypad

The Numeric Keypad resembles a calculator on the right side of the keyboard.

Main Alphanumeric Keyboard

The Main Alphanumeric Keyboard resembles the traditional typewriter keyboard.

QWERTY

The standard English keyboard is named QWERTY because the first six letters across the top row spell QWERTY.

Dvorak

Dvorak is an alternative arrangement of the keys of the Main Alphanumeric keyboard. A Dvorak key arrangement is designed to allow a person to type faster with less hand fatigue than a QWERTY keyboard.

Key and Symbol Charts

In the following charts I have listed the names I would recommend you use for the computer keyboard keys and symbols in black upright text. In blue italic text are words I have sometimes heard people use when referring to one of the computer keyboard keys. In red italic text are words and information that I am not familiar with but I found on other websites and in reference books.

Symbols and Keys on Keyboard
Key	Name
ESC	Escape
˜	Tilde
`	Back Quote
@	Commercial "At" Sign
#	Number Sign; Hash; (Pound key on a telephone)
$	Dollar Sign
%	Percent Sign
^	Caret
&	Ampersand
*	Asterisk; (Star key on a telephone; Computer Multiplication Sign)
/	Slash; Forward Slash; Solidus; (Computer Division Sign)
\	Backslash; Reverse Solidus
\|	Pipe; Vertical Bar; Vertical Line
¦	Broken Pipe; Vertical Bar; Vertical Line
_	Underscore
-	Hyphen; Dash; Minus Sign (subtraction)
+	Plus Sign (addition)
=	Equals Sign
<	Less Than Sign
>	Greater Than Sign
CTRL	Control key
INS	Insert key
Fn	Function key (toggles the function keys on and off on small keyboards)

Symbols and Keys on Keyboard

Key

Name

ESC

Escape

Tilde

Back Quote

Commercial "At" Sign

Number Sign; Hash; (Pound key on a telephone)

Dollar Sign

Percent Sign

Caret

Ampersand

Asterisk; (Star key on a telephone; Computer Multiplication Sign)

Slash; Forward Slash; Solidus; (Computer Division Sign)

Backslash; Reverse Solidus

Pipe; Vertical Bar; Vertical Line

Broken Pipe; Vertical Bar; Vertical Line

Underscore

Hyphen; Dash; Minus Sign (subtraction)

Plus Sign (addition)

Equals Sign

Less Than Sign

Greater Than Sign

CTRL

Control key

INS

Insert key

Function key (toggles the function keys on and off on small keyboards)

British Keyboard
Key	Name
±	Plus-Minus Sign
§	Section Sign
£	Pound Sign
¬	Not Sign
€	Euro
AltGr	Alt Graph

British Keyboard

Key

Name

Plus-Minus Sign

Section Sign

Pound Sign

Not Sign

€

Euro

AltGr

Alt Graph

Punctuation Symbols
Key	Name
.	Period (North America); Full Stop (Europe); (Dot)
,	Comma
:	Colon
;	Semicolon
?	Question Mark
!	Exclamation Mark
'	Apostrophe; Single Quotation Mark
"	Double Quotation Mark

Punctuation Symbols

Key

Name

Period (North America); Full Stop (Europe); (Dot)

Comma

Colon

;

Semicolon

Question Mark

Exclamation Mark

Apostrophe; Single Quotation Mark

Double Quotation Mark

Brackets
Key	Name
< >	Angle Brackets
( )	Parenthesis (singular), Parentheses (plural); Round Brackets
[ ]	Square Brackets
{ }	Braces; Curly Brackets
(	Open Parenthesis; Left Parenthesis
)	Close Parenthesis; Right Parenthesis
[	Open Square Bracket; Left Square Bracket
]	Close Square Bracket; Right Square Bracket
{	Open Brace; Left Brace
}	Close Brace; Right Brace

Brackets

Key

Name

< >

Angle Brackets

( )

Parenthesis (singular), Parentheses (plural); Round Brackets

[ ]

Square Brackets

{ }

Braces; Curly Brackets

(

Open Parenthesis; Left Parenthesis

)

Close Parenthesis; Right Parenthesis

[

Open Square Bracket; Left Square Bracket

]

Close Square Bracket; Right Square Bracket

{

Open Brace; Left Brace

}

Close Brace; Right Brace

The symbols in the following chart may not appear correctly on your screen. During testing on a Macintosh computer (Mac OS 10.5.8) the symbols were displayed correctly by the following web browsers: Safari 4.0.4, Firefox 3.5.5, Camino 2.0.1, Google Chrome 4.0.249.30 and Opera 10.10 (except for the Tab symbol). On a computer running Windows XP very few - and sometimes none - of the following symbols were displayed correctly by Internet Explorer 8.0, Firefox 3.5.6, Opera 10.10 or Safari 4.0.4 web browsers.

On Canadian English keyboards the following keys are usually labelled with their names rather than symbols with the exception of the Eject, Command, Windows and Menu keys. It is in user guides and documentation that I frequently see the symbols being used.

Keys that may be labelled using their names or symbols.
Symbol	Name	Notes
↵	Enter; Return	Carriage Return (CR) key
⌘	Command	4 Loop Cloverleaf (Macintosh keyboard); Place of Interest Sign (Unicode)
⌥	Option	The Macintosh keyboard equivalent to the ALT key on the PC keyboard
⌫	Backspace; Delete	Usually deletes characters to the left of the cursor
⌦	Delete; DEL	Usually deletes characters to the right of the cursor
↹	Tab
⇧	Shift
⇪	Caps Lock	Toggles between UPPER CASE (CAPITAL LETTERS) and lower case (small letters).
⏏	Eject
	ALT	The PC keyboard equivalent to the OPTION key on the Macintosh keyboard. The name ALT was created from an abbreviation of the word "alternative".
	Win key	Windows key (PC keyboard). Symbol is the Microsoft logo.
	Menu	(PC keyboard)
	Meta; Super	Some of the free operating systems rename the Windows key on the PC keyboard as the Meta or Super key

Keys that may be labelled using their names or symbols.

Symbol

Name

Notes

↵

Enter; Return

Carriage Return (CR) key

⌘

Command

4 Loop Cloverleaf (Macintosh keyboard); Place of Interest Sign (Unicode)

⌥

Option

The Macintosh keyboard equivalent to the ALT key on the PC keyboard

⌫

Backspace; Delete

Usually deletes characters to the left of the cursor

⌦

Delete; DEL

Usually deletes characters to the right of the cursor

↹

Tab

⇧

Shift

⇪

Caps Lock

Toggles between UPPER CASE (CAPITAL LETTERS) and lower case (small letters).

⏏

Eject

ALT

The PC keyboard equivalent to the OPTION key on the Macintosh keyboard. The name ALT was created from an abbreviation of the word "alternative".

Win key

Windows key (PC keyboard). Symbol is the Microsoft logo.

Menu

(PC keyboard)

Meta; Super

Some of the free operating systems rename the Windows key on the PC keyboard as the Meta or Super key

Some common symbols not found on the keyboard
Symbol	Name
†	Dagger
‡	Double Dagger
™	Trade Mark Sign
®	Registered Trade Mark Sign
¢	Cent Sign
©	Copyright Sign
°	Degree Sign
¶	Pilcrow Sign; Paragraph
•	Bullet
÷	Division Sign

Some common symbols not found on the keyboard

Symbol

Name

†

Dagger

‡

Double Dagger

™

Trade Mark Sign

Registered Trade Mark Sign

Cent Sign

Degree Sign

Pilcrow Sign; Paragraph

•

Bullet

Division Sign

There are many symbols that you can type with a computer that do not appear on any of the keys of your keyboard. A full list of these extra symbols and the special key combinations needed to create them should be listed somewhere in the user manual or "Help" documentation for your computer.