Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
For reference purposes, you might find the following table useful. It explains
the location and alternative names of the Mac's various function keys.
Key
Description
COMMAND
The key immediately to the left and right of
SPACE
on most Mac
keyboards. Sometimes this is labeled with the word
Cmd
instead.
This is the Mac's primary modifier key. It features the D symbol,
and on older keyboards it also uses the M symbol. Because of
this, it's sometimes referred to in the wider world as the
Apple
key
.
The key on the second left (and second right) of
SPACE
on most
Mac keyboards, also sometimes labeled
Alt
. It features the E
symbol on older Mac keyboards.
OPTION
CONTROL
The key at the bottom left of most Mac keyboards (and sometimes
duplicated at the bottom right of the main keyboard, depending
on the model of keyboard). It's sometimes labeled
Ctrl
and indicat-
ed by the C symbol in Mac programs.
The Function key, at the bottom left of MacBook keyboards and
also the Apple wireless keyboard; at the left of the home key
FN
cluster on full-sized aluminum keyboards. It switches the hotkeys
that do things like adjust screen brightness so that they operate
like traditional F1, F2, F3, and so on, buttons. It also modifies
various other keys.
The Shift keys, on the first-from-bottom row of the keyboard, at
the left and right. The keys sometimes feature the B symbol.
SHIFT
TAB
The Tab key, located to the left of the main QWERTY row of keys.
It sometimes has the symbol A.
The Return/Enter key, used to end a line of text and begin a new
one, as well as to complete typed commands. It sometimes has
the symbol F.
RETURN
DELETE
The Delete key, used to erase a character behind the cursor and
located at the top right of the main keyboard beneath the Eject
key. On PC keyboards this is often called Backspace, but in the
world of Apple computers (and this topic) it's referred to as
DELETE
.
(This key is also different from the
forward
delete key, indicated
by Delete J, and found on full-sized Mac keyboards within the
home key cluster.)
The Eject key, located at the top right of the main keyboard on
some MacBook computers and featuring the standard eject symbol
EJECT
