Editing Backspace key

{{stub}}
{{infobox dkeyboardkey
| name       = Backspace
| names      = Backspace, Back Space, Delete, Del, Backarrow
| symbol     = ←
| iso symbol = ⌫
| ascii      = 0x08 <BS>
| usb        = Keyboard DELETE (Backspace)
}}
==Usage==
In modern programs, the Backspace key deletes the character to the left of the cursor and move the cursor to that position.

Some older programs only moved the cursor, especially in ''overwrite mode''.
Originally, on typewriters, the Backspace key only moved to the previous character - you had to erase it using corrective tape or fluid. On some typewriters with erasing-tape there were separate Backspace and Delete keys.

The key was called Delete on many 8-bit machines and still is on Apple Macintosh. Different regional Macintosh keyboards have different legends: either "delete" or one of the two arrow symbols.
[[DEC]] labelled it with the ISO symbol and called it the "Backarrow key".

==Layout==
Like most keys, the size of Backspace varies widely. The most common two sizes in modern keyboards are 1 [[unit]] and 2 unit. Modern [[ANSI]] and [[ISO]] keyboards typically use a 2 unit Backspace. Japanese keyboards widely use a 1 unit Backspace.

Older mechanical keyboards made in East Asia tended to have a [[return key|"Big-ass" Enter]] key and a 1 unit Backspace, for example the well-known [[Chicony KB-5181]]/5182. The small Backspace key makes room for one of the keys displaced by the size of the Enter key. The combination of big-ass enter and 2 unit Backspace exists, for example the [[Tulip ATK 030244]] and [[Monterey K104]]; in such cases, the displaced keys tend to be moved between the [[control key|Control]] and [[alt key|Alt]] keys.

Some vintage keyboards that have the Enter/Return key further to the right than the norm typically place the Backspace key at the same position as a 1 unit key but extend its size towards the right to 1.25 or 1.5 units. 
Examples from Japan of such non-standard sizes include the [[Sony NEWS NWP-411A]] and a [[Topre JDL]] keyboard. The [[Atari ST]] has a 1.5 unit backspace and 1 unit keys below it to the right of a [[Return key|Return]] that is ''not'' displaced further right than standard.

<gallery widths=250 heights=187>
File:ISO return and 2u backspace.jpg|[[ISO]] return and 2u backspace
File:Big-ass return and 1u backspace.jpg|Big-ass enter and 1u backspace
File:ANSI Backspace.jpg|ANSI enter and 2u backspace
File:Japan_Backspace.jpg|JIS enter and 1u backspace
</gallery>

==Erase-Eaze==
Erase-Eaze™ is a feature found in several brands of keyboard including [[Lexmark]], [[NMB]] and [[BTC]] where the [[space bar]] is split and one side of the space bar functions as backspace. In some cases (e.g. NMB) either side of the space bar can be configured as an extra Backspace key.{{citation needed}} In the case of Lexmark and BTC keyboards, the left side of the split space bar is marked with the editorial symbol for deletion, being a loop in a diagonal line.

<gallery widths=250 heights=187>
File:BTC 8120 -- keycap detail.jpg | [[BTC 8120]] with Erase-Eaze key
</gallery>

Erase-Eaze is a trademark of [[Keyboard Advancements|Keyboard Advancements, Inc.]] and is covered in US patent [http://www.google.com/patents/US5711624 5711624] filed in 1996. The US trademark (serial number 74368270, registration number 1827290) was filed on 1993-03-15.

The [[USB]] HID tables does include support for an "Erase-Eaze" key (as "Keyboard Alternate Erase") but no keyboard or operating system is known to use it.

See: [[:Category:Keyboards with Erase-Eaze|Keyboards with Erase-Eaze]]

==External links==
*Wikipedia — [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backspace Backspace]

[[Category:Keyboard keys]]