Keyboard Layout

Alphanumeric Keys

• Laid out in the QWERTY pattern, originally designed for manual typewriters
• Capital letters are produced by using the Shift and Caps Lock keys

Numbers

• Located in the top row of the main keyboard

Symbols

• Common ones have their own lower case key (comma, period, semi-colon)
• Less common ones require the use of the Shift key

Special Keys

• Move to the next window during data entry

Caps Lock Key

• Generates continuous capital letters
• A "toggle" key – press on, press off
• The Caps Lock light lights when in the ON state

Shift Keys

• Generates capital letters or symbols
• Hold down while pressing an alphanumeric key

Control Keys

• Works like the shift key
• Hold down while pressing another key
• Used for special functions (see Cursor Control section)

• Available on newer keyboards
• Activates the Windows Start menu

Alt Keys

• Works like the shift key
• Hold down while pressing another key
• Used in conjunction with another key

Space Bar

• Inserts a space during text entry

Windows Key

• Available on newer keyboards
• Activates a task-specific pop-up menu
• The same effect as a right-click of the mouse

Enter Key

• Activates a selection
  Starts a new line (in text applications)

Backspace Key

• Erases characters to the LEFT of the insertion point

Cursor Control Group

• Allows text to be over-written in some text applications
• A "toggle" key – the application will display whether the key is active
• May be hit by mistake when using the Delete key below it

Delete Key

• Erases characters to the RIGHT of the "insertion point"

Page Up – Page Down Keys

• Scroll the cursor one "screen" up or down
• Useful when scrolling through long documents

Home Key

• Jump to the start of the current line in text applications
• Control-Home: Jump to the top of the document in text applications

End Key

• Jump to the end of the line in text applications
• Control-End: jump to the end of the document in text applications

Arrow Keys

• Scroll the cursor one character left or right
• Scroll the cursor one line up or down

Upper Row

• Stops the current task in some programs

Function Keys

• Twelve keys in the top row
• Not used much in modern Windows programs
• The "F1" key often displays a program's Help functions

Print Screen

• Used to copy a "picture" of the current screen to the Windows Clipboard
• The picture can then be pasted into a graphics program 

• No known function in Windows

Pause/Break

• No current function in Windows

Numeric Keypad

• Laid out in the same pattern as an adding machine
• Activated when "NumLock" is ON

Cursor Control Keypad

• Alternate cursor control keys
• Activated when "NumLock" is OFF

NumLock Key

• A toggle key – press ON, press OFF
• When on, the NumLock light is lit