Editing Keyboard shortcut

A '''keyboard shortcut''' is a key or combination of keys that are pressed to invoke a command on a computer. Specifically, keyboard shortcuts are generally related to graphical user interface commands. For example, under [[OS X]], programs are closed by selecting the "Quit" command from the application menu. The shortcut for this is [[command key|command]]+Q, in other words, hold down the command key and press Q.

Keyboard shortcuts in most cases are differentiated from typographic keystrokes by way of [[modifier key]]s. By holding down one or more specific modifier keys, the following keystroke invokes a command instead of typing a character. Common examples include [[alt key|alt]]+F4 (close window in [[Microsoft Windows]]) and [[control key|control]]+P or command+P for print.

Keyboard shortcuts can use as many as three or more simultaneous modifier keys in addition to a typographic key. Keyboards with [[Rollover, blocking and ghosting|two-key rollover]] must ensure that the [[keyboard matrix]] has dedicated lines to the modifier keys so that all the modifier keys on one side of the keyboard can be held at once; older PC keyboards that predate widespread use of graphical operating systems, such as the [[Tulip ATK 030244]], block many three-key shortcut combinations as part of the standard blocking approach.

Command line interfaces also make heavy use of invocations involving the control key, but as these are generally only two-key combinations (for example control+C to cancel a running program), they do not present the same challenge to matrix wiring as the complex shortcuts used in graphical desktops.

[[Category:Keyboard terms]]