How to write letters on the keyboard. How to type “hidden” characters on the keyboard using Alt codes and HTML mnemonics

Often, when first getting acquainted with a personal computer, the user has a question about what characters are on the keyboard and how to enter them. Within the framework of this article, each group of keys will be described in detail, indicating its purpose. A method for entering non-standard characters using ASCII codes will also be outlined. This material is of greatest interest to those who work with a text editor, such as Microsoft Word or another similar application (OpenOffice Writer).

Functional set

Let's start with There are 12 of them on the keyboard. They are located in the top row. Their purpose depends on the open application at the current time. Usually a hint is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and these are the most frequently performed operations in this program (for example, creating a directory in Norton Commander is “F7”).

Keys and register

A special group of keys are keys. They control the operation mode of another part of the keyboard. The first one is "Caps Lock". It changes the case of letters. By default, lowercase characters are entered. If we press this key once, then when we press the keys, they will appear. This is the simplest and most convenient way to put characters on the keyboard with different case. The second key is "Num Lock". It is used to toggle the numeric keypad. When it is turned off, it can be used for navigation. But when turned on, it works like a regular calculator. The last key in this group is “Scroll Lock”. It is used in table processors. When it is inactive, it moves through the cells, and when it is turned on, the sheet scrolls.

Control

Separately, it is worth considering the control keys. First of all, these are arrows. They move the cursor one position left, right, up and down. There is also page navigation: “PgUp” (page up) and “PgDn” (page down). To go to the beginning of the line use “Home”, to the end - “End”. The control keys include “Shift”, “Alt” and “Ctrl”. Their combination switches the keyboard layout (this depends on the operating system settings).

While holding “Shift”, the case of the entered characters changes and it becomes possible to enter auxiliary characters. For example, let's find out how to type characters from this set on the keyboard. Let's enter "%". To do this, hold down “Shift” and “5”. The set of auxiliary characters depends on the active keyboard layout at the current time. That is, some characters are available in the English layout, and others are available in the Russian layout.

We pay attention to the symbols that are on the keyboard. Deleting a character on the left is "Backspace" and on the right is "Del". “Enter” - goes to a new line. Another special key is “Tab”. In a table, it provides a transition to the next cell, and at the end adds a new line. For text, pressing it causes an “increased” indentation between characters to appear. And in the file manager, pressing it leads to a transition to another panel.

Basic set

The main set depends on the active layout at the current time. It can be Russian or English. Switching between them is carried out using the combinations “Alt” + “Shift” on the left or “Ctrl” + “Shift”. The selected combination is determined in the operating system settings. You can find out the active combination by selection. That is, click the first of them and look at the state of the language bar (located in the lower right corner of the screen). If a language change has occurred, it means that this is the combination we need (for example, from “En” to “Ru” or vice versa). The first one is installed by default.

The alphabetic characters on the keyboard are located in its central part and are divided into three rows. The more often a symbol is used, the closer it is to the center, the less often it is used, the further away it is from it. That is, the letters are distributed not alphabetically, but according to At first, it is difficult to get used to this principle of organizing the distribution of characters, but the more you work, the more you get used to it and understand that it is really convenient. One more nuance that needs to be taken into account. For short-term switching between capital and uppercase letters, it is better to use “Shift”, and for long-term typing - “Caps Lock”.

Numeric keypad

Another required component of such input devices is a numeric keypad. It is located on the right side of it. It has two modes of operation: input and navigation. In the first case, characters are typed on the keyboard (these are numbers and basic mathematical operations). This is convenient when working with large A; in the second option, the keys for moving the cursor and page navigation are duplicated. That is, arrows for moving the marker, “PgUp”, “PgDn”, “Home” and “End” - all this is present here.

Switching between them is done using the “Num Lock” key. When it is turned off (the LED is inactive), navigation works, and when turned on, digital dialing works. If necessary, you can set the desired operating mode after booting the personal computer into the BIOS (this is best done by advanced users, since beginners may have problems with this operation).

Punctuation marks

Punctuation marks on the keyboard are concentrated mostly near the right “Shift” key. This is a period and a comma. Also in the English version of the layout, the remaining symbols (colon, question and exclamation marks) are located on the main numeric keypad, which is located immediately below the function keys. To enter them, briefly hold down “Shift” and together with it the corresponding button.

About what doesn't exist

But what about the characters that are not on the keyboard? Is there any way to get them? The answer to this question is yes. There are two ways to type such characters. The first of these involves using the Word text editor. After launching it, go to the “Insert” toolbar and select “Symbol” there. In the list that opens, select “Others”. Then a special input window will open. Here, using the navigation keys, find the desired symbol and press “Enter”.

Additional characters on the keyboard can be typed in another way - using ASCII codes. This works in all Windows applications - a major plus. The downside is that it uses a lot of code that you need to remember. First, we find out the digital code of the sign we need on the official website of Microsoft Corporation or in any other source where there is a corresponding table, and remember it. Then we go to the application we need.

Be sure to turn on “Num Lock”, hold down “Alt” and on the numeric keypad on the right, sequentially type the code found in the previous step. At the end, you need to release “Alt” and after that the desired symbol must appear. For example, to enter “ ”, use the combination “Alt” + “9829”. This is convenient to use for non-standard

Design of text messages in chat or pages on social networks. After all, it is much more convenient to remember a non-standard record than a regular one. And this decision just contributes to this.

Results

Within the framework of this material, all the characters on the keyboard that exist today were described. The purpose of all keys is indicated and practical examples of operation are given. It also shows a working methodology that allows you to go beyond the usual set of characters using ASCII codes. All this together will help the novice user to thoroughly understand the operation of the keyboard and understand the basic principles of the functioning of a personal computer.

The keyboard with which we type text has quite a few keys. And each of them is needed for something. In this lesson we will talk about their purpose and learn how to use them correctly.

Here is a photo of a regular computer keyboard:

Keyboard button meanings

Esc. The full name of this key is Escape (pronounced "Escape") and it means "Exit". Using it we can close some programs. This applies to a greater extent to computer games.

F1-F12. In the same row as Esc there are several buttons whose names begin with the Latin letter F. They are designed to control the computer without the help of a mouse - only with the keyboard. Thanks to them, you can open and close folders and files, change their names, copy and much more.

But knowing the meaning of each of these buttons is completely unnecessary - most people have been using computers for decades and have no idea about any of them.

Immediately below the F1-F12 keys there is a row of buttons with numbers and signs (! " " No.; % : ? *, etc.).

If you simply click on one of them, the drawn number will be printed. But to print a sign, press the Shift button along with it (bottom left or right).

If the character printed is not the one you need, try changing the language (bottom right of the screen) -

By the way, on many keyboards the numbers are also on the right side. The photo shows this part separately.

They are laid out just like on a calculator and are more convenient for many people.

But sometimes these numbers don’t work. You press the desired key, but nothing is printed. This means that the numeric portion of the keyboard is turned off. To turn it on, simply press the Num Lock button once.

The most important part of the keyboard is the keys that are used to type text. They are located in the center.

As a rule, each button has two letters - one foreign, the other Russian. To type a letter in the desired language, make sure it is selected correctly (at the bottom of the computer screen).

You can also change the language in another way - by clicking on two buttons at once: Shift And Alt or Shift And Ctrl

Win. The key that opens the Start button. Most often, it is not signed, but simply has a Windows icon on it. Located between the Ctrl and Alt buttons.

Fn. The laptop has this key - as a rule, it is not found on regular keyboards. It is designed to work with special functions - increasing/decreasing brightness, volume and others.

To turn them on, you need to press the Fn key and, while holding it, press the button with the required function. These buttons are usually located at the top - at F1-F10.

Let's say I need to increase the brightness of my laptop screen. To do this, I look for a button on the keyboard with the corresponding picture. For example, I have F6 - there is a sun drawn on it. So, I hold down the Fn key and then press F6. The screen becomes a little brighter. To increase the brightness even more, I press F6 again along with Fn.

How to print a capital letter

To print one large letter (capital), you need to hold down the Shift key and click on the desired letter together.

How to type a period and a comma

If the Russian alphabet is installed, then in order to print point, you need to press the last key in the bottom letter row (on the right). It is located in front of the Shift button.

To print comma, press the same button while holding Shift.

When the English alphabet is selected, to print a dot you need to press the key that is located before the Russian dot. The letter "Y" is usually written on it. And the comma in the English alphabet is where the Russian letter “B” is (before the English dot).

Text decoration buttons

Tab - creates an indent at the beginning of a sentence. In other words, you can use it to make a paragraph (red line).

To do this, click the mouse at the beginning of the text and press the Tab key once. If the red line is adjusted correctly, the text will move slightly to the right.

Used for printing large letters. Located under the Tab key.

Press Caps Lock once and release it. Try typing a word. All letters will be printed in capitals. To cancel this feature, press the Caps Lock key once again and release it. Letters, as before, will be printed small.

(space) - makes spaces between words. The longest button on the keyboard is located under the letter keys.

According to the design rules, there should be only one space between words (not three or even two). It is not correct to align or shift text using this key. Also, a space is placed only after a punctuation mark - there should be no space before a space sign (with the exception of a dash).

Delete button. It erases those letters that are printed in front of the flashing stick (cursor). It is located on the right side, immediately after the numbers/signs. Often there is no inscription on it at all, but simply an arrow drawn to the left.

The Backspace button is also used to raise text higher.

Enter - is intended to go to the next line.

Thanks to her, you can omit the text below. Enter is located under the delete text button.

Additional keys

These are keys such as Insert, Home, Page Up and Page Down, arrow buttons and others. They are located between the alphabetic and numeric keyboards. Used to work with text without using the mouse.

You can use the arrows to move the blinking cursor (flashing stick) across the text.

Delete is used to delete. True, unlike the Backspace key, it deletes letters not before, but after the blinking cursor.

The Home button moves the blinking cursor to the beginning of the line, and the End button moves it to the end.

Page Up moves the blinking cursor to the beginning of the page, and Page Down (Pg Dn) moves the blinking cursor to the end of the page.

The Insert button is needed to print text over existing text. If you click on it, new text will be printed, erasing the old one. To cancel this, you need to press the Insert key again.

The Scroll Lock key is almost always completely useless - it simply doesn't work. And in theory it should serve to scroll text up and down - just like the wheel on a computer mouse does.

Pause/Break almost never works either. In general, it is designed to suspend an ongoing computer process.

All of these buttons are optional and are rarely or never used by people.

But the button can be very useful.

She takes a photo of the screen. Then this picture can be inserted into Word or Paint. In computer language, such a photograph of the screen is called a screenshot.

Keyboard buttons to remember

— if you press this button and, without releasing it, press another key with a letter, the letter will be printed in capital. In the same way, you can print a symbol instead of a number: No! () * ? « + etc.

— after pressing this button once, all letters will be printed in capital letters. You don't need to hold it for this. To return to printing in small letters, press Caps Lock again.

— indents (red line).

- space. Using this button you can add space between words.

- drops to a line below. To do this, you need to place a flashing stick (blinking cursor) at the beginning of the part of the text that you want to move down, and press the Enter button.

— deletes the character before the blinking cursor. In other words, it erases text. This button also moves the text up a line. To do this, you need to place a flashing stick (blinking cursor) at the beginning of the part of the text that you want to move to the top, and press Backspace.

All other keyboard buttons, except letters, numbers and symbols, are used extremely rarely or not at all.

Where is the multiplication sign on the keyboard, division sign, percent, minus, equal, etc. - about these buttons and other functions called by buttons, see here.
The buttons with which we place signs are circled in red. Let's look at these buttons:
" located on the button where it says “+ and =”. You only need to press this button.
Addition sign- press the same button, but first press the “Shift” button, hold it down, then “+”.
Subtraction sign located on the button located to the left of the “=” button. You only need to press this button.
Multiplication sign located on the number 8 button. This is an asterisk (*). But first press the “Shift” button, hold it down, then (*).
Division sign– this is a dash (/). This is a button on the right side of the keyboard, there are 4 lines drawn there with different slopes.
To add the desired dash, press the “Shift” button, hold it down, then “/”.
Greater-than sign (>)- click on the English keyboard layout, press the "Shift" button and, holding it down, press the ">" button. This button is located on the button of the Russian letter "Y".
Less than sign (<) - set the English layout on the keyboard, press the "Shift" button and, holding it, press the sign button "<" (это русская буква "Б").
But there is another numeric keyboard on the laptop, which turns on when you press the “Fn” button, it is circled in yellow.Then the sign buttons will be different. It’s better not to press this button to avoid confusion.This is for general information if you accidentally press the button.
To call a function, you often need to use a combination of buttons (press not one, but several - 2 or 3 buttons).
First, press the first button that is indicated in the combination, and while holding it down, press the next button. Button combinations need to be pressedon English keyboard layout. The buttons on the Russian keyboard layout are indicated in brackets.
For example, this combination of buttons: “Ctrl+C (WITH) " First, press the “Ctrl” button, hold it down, and press the button with the letter “C” (on the Russian keyboard this is also the button with the letter “C”). This is a copy function, so first you need to select the fragment that we will copy.
Copybuttons like that. First, place the cursor on the first cell of the range that we will copy. Then press the “Shift” button and move the cursor to the last cell of the range. That's it, the range is selected.
Other button combinations.
Ctrl +X (H) - cut out.
Ctrl + V (M) - insert
Ctrl +Z - cancellation
Ctrl + B – bold font
Ctrl +U – underscore
Ctrl +I – italics.
Call context menu you can press the key combination “Shift”+ F10".
Navigate through the context menu using arrows.
“Delete” button – delete.
In Excel, you can call a function by pressing a function key on your keyboard or a keyboard shortcut. Read the article about function keys "Excel Hot Keys" .
You can press several keys at the same time, then certain functions are activated. See different combinations of keyboard buttons in the article "Keyboard shortcut in Excel" .
Keyboard layout laptop, PC can be configured in several languages, except Russian and English. How to do this, see the article "Keyboard Layout".
In Word, some combinations differ from combinations in Excel, etc. The functions in Word are different. For information about keyboard shortcuts in Word, see the article "Word Keyboard Shortcuts."
How to save a table, read the article "