Keyboard variations between Windows and Macs – Unsung
Over the years, I realized about many gotchas and unusual variations between keyboard dealing with on Mac and Windows – pertinent particularly to internet apps, which use the identical codebase to cater to each. I assumed it is perhaps useful to somebody if I compile them multi functional place.
This submit is supposed to be a reference, and there aren’t any cute or riveting tales hiding inside – if this appears boring to you, be happy to skip to the subsequent one!
Different names for keys
What Windows calls Backspace, Mac calls Delete. What Windows calls Delete, Macs name Forward Delete. (This means saying “Delete” with out specifying the platform may truly be complicated.)
What Windows calls ⏎ Enter, Mac calls ⏎ Return. However, Macs even have an ⌤ Enter, though solely on a numeric keypad (beforehand, it was even there on laptops!). On keyboards with out the bodily Enter key, you possibly can simulate it through Fn+Return.
In most Mac software program, Enter and Return do the identical factor. There are a couple of exceptions – for instance, Photoshop enters a brand new line on Return however commits on Enter, and a few traditional professional apps like Cubase or Pro Tools do various things, too – however it appears to be a dying custom. (If you might be curious in regards to the historical past of Return and Enter, I wrote about it once.)
Windows usually calls the secondary key Numpad Enter. I don’t imagine Fn+Enter works to simulate it.
Generally, third-party keyboards use Windows verbiage – so, Backspace and Enter. If a keyboard provides Mac conventions in any respect, they normally solely lengthen to modifier keys.
Modifier keys
⌃ Control on Windows is the equal to ⌘ Command on a Mac. (Paste, for instance, is ⌃V on Windows and ⌘V on a Mac.) But, confusingly, Apple gadgets nonetheless have a Control key, too. This was initially meant for terminal functions, however as of late many GUI apps use it as an additional modifier key.
This signifies that for apps, Windows gadgets provide Ctrl, Alt, and Shift – and Macs provide ⌘ Command, ⌥ Option, ⌃ Control, and ⇧ Shift. That’s yet one more modifier key, and thus more room to breathe. (We’re not counting the Windows key or the 🌐 Globe/Fn key since these are technically reserved by the working system.)
Some keyboards provide further key caps you possibly can swap to match the platform, for instance:
Others cowl all of the bases on fastened key caps, in an ungainly method:
Many keep on with Windows-only legends.
Words vs. symbols
Apple gadgets rely extra on symbols on their keys and of their menus, though they don’t achieve this constantly. Here are all of them:
- ⇧ Shift
- ⌃ Control
- ⌥ Option
- ⌘ Command
- ⏎ Return
- ⌤ Enter
- 🌐 Globe/Fn
- ⇥ Tab
- ⎋ Esc (not printed on keyboards, for some motive)
- ⌫ Delete
- ⌦ Forward Delete
- ⌧ Clear
- ≣ Contextual Menu (solely on full-size keyboards)
- ⇞ Page Up (solely on full-size keyboards)
- ⇟ Page Down (solely on full-size keyboards)
- ↖ Home (solely on full-size keyboards)
- ↘ End (solely on full-size keyboards)
Actually, I lied in regards to the final 4. On trendy Apple keyboards, they’re:
- ↑ Page Up
- ↓ Page Down
- ⤒ Home
- ⤓ End
Reusing the common arrows for Page Up and Down is one of some perplexing choices from Apple’s keyboard designers. The arrow key symbols appear like this – ◀▶▲▼ – however solely on Apple keyboards. Here is an older and a more moderen Apple keyboard displaying what occurred:
(Luckily, the complicated twin arrow key state of affairs solely occurs on much less fashionable, full-size keyboards.)
Historically, Apple keyboards used symbols extra on non-US keyboards, however beginning with the 2026 fashions, they unified after they present symbols and after they present symbols and legends, throughout all keyboards. (The solely key with only a textual content legend is Esc, making the looks of ⎋ in menus further puzzling.)
Windows keyboards sometimes use phrases – for this reason in tight quarters you typically see shortenings like Ctrl, Bkspc, PrtSc, Del, PgUp, Win, and so forth. (I don’t suppose Apple ever abbreviates their legends aside from Esc for Escape.) In some nations, the legends are translated – for example, in Germany, Ctrl typically seems as Strg.
The symbols that crossed over to Windows facet are:
- ⇧ for Shift
- ⇪ or 🔒 or the same image for Caps Lock (on non-US keyboards)
- ⏎ for Enter – word the identical arrow as Mac’s ⏎ Return
- ← for Backspace – word a unique arrow than Mac’s ⌫ Delete
- ⇥ for Tab (you may as well typically see ⭾, which is an emblem representing Tab and Reverse Tab collectively; Reverse Tab was once a separate key on some Nineteen Seventies terminals)
- ⊞ for Windows key – the model of the emblem will likely be completely different relying on the age of the keyboard, roughly matching the Windows emblem on the time; some keyboards additionally use a extra summary form, or name the important thing Start or System as an alternative of Windows
- ≣ for contextual menu key (a.ok.a. Application Key) – simply as Apple added that key on its massive keyboards, Microsoft began eradicating it in favor of emoji key, Office key, after which Copilot key
- ⌃ for Control (particularly in nerdy contexts)
I’ve not seen some other fashionable symbols on the Windows facet of the aisle, and I’m not even certain if the above can be extensively understood. But right here’s an instance:
(I wrote a bit more about Mac symbols before, and likewise about the rare Canadian symbols.)
How to indicate shortcuts
In menus and different locations, Windows joins the important thing mixtures/shortcuts with a plus, however Apple simply glues them collectively:
- Windows: Shift+A, Ctrl+Shift+G, Ctrl+F11, Alt+Enter
- Mac: ⇧A, ⌃⇧G, ⌘F11, ⌥⏎
Here is similar Chrome menu on Windows and on macOS:
(In different phrases, you’d by no means say “⌃V is Paste on Windows” like I did above.)
Function keys
Both Windows and Macs have operate keys.
On Windows, historically these had been claimed by the working system or the apps as shortcuts. Here are some examples of well-known operate key assignments:
- Alt+F4 – shut the app
- F1 – assist
- F11 – maximize window
- F12 – dev instruments in browsers
On Macs, historically the apps didn’t attain for operate keys, as these had been reserved solely for the customers to do stuff with. (However, some mixture of ⌃ and performance keys are utilized by the working system for accessibility choices, and I often see apps use operate keys as of late.)
Windows keyboards high off at F12, however some Mac keyboards reuse the three particular PC keys, and even take over the pointless Num Lock/Caps Lock/Scroll Lock island, and find yourself going as much as F19:
Access to further characters
In textual content fields, Apple has a system the place urgent ⌥ with printing keys outputs extra characters, for instance ⌥Q outputs œ, and ⌥7 outputs a ¶ pilcrow. Additionally, ⇧ works on this context, so for instance ⌥⇧Q outputs Œ, and ⌥⇧7 outputs a ‡ double dagger.
Note that not solely letters, however principally all printing keys have secret ⌥ and ⌥⇧ assignments.
Also, ⌥ assignments range per location! The above was U.S. English, right here’s Polish with quite a lot of variations:
This means it’s finest to keep away from ⌥-based shortcuts in textual content fields, since they may confrontation with some vital character.
By the best way, whereas the above two are simply mock-ups, on some bodily keyboards (right here: British English), among the vital ⌥ invocations are literally printed on keys:
Windows doesn’t have the above function. However, Windows has another function the place typing Alt+numpad keys permits to enter any character by its code. (For instance, Alt+0128 outputs €. Num Lock must be enabled. I don’t suppose it’s doable to do it and not using a numeric keypad current.)
Mac has a model of this function, however it requires including Unicode Hex Input keyboard and switching to it beforehand. Then, urgent ⌥20AC outputs €.
Right Alt key on Windows
While Mac modifier keys are utterly symmetrical, Windows makes an exception for Alt. On many non-US keyboards, proper Alt is often known as AltGr, and does one thing just like ⌥ on a Mac: it outputs letters when pressed together with printing keys.
For instance, on Polish keyboards AltGr+A = ą, AltGr+C = ć, AltGr+Shift+A = Ą, and so forth with 15 extra mixtures. Many different keyboards do comparable issues.
The method it differs from ⌥ on a Mac is that these are normally reserved for core letters and punctuation essential for every language, relatively than the typographical smorgasbord that Apple offers.
For legacy causes, and likewise for keyboards that do not need a bodily AltGr key, you may as well invoke all these utilizing Ctrl+Alt mixtures as an alternative (so, Ctrl+Alt+A = ą). This signifies that simply as it’s important to watch out about ⌥-based shortcuts in textual content fields on a Mac, so you need to be of Ctrl+Alt-based shortcuts on Windows.
Just like on Macs, on some keyboards, chosen AltGr choices will likely be printed within the corners or fronts of keys:
Text fields
Text fields in Mac OS apps and internet browsers/web sites use among the normal Unix/Linux shortcuts based mostly on the ⌃ Control key:
- ⌃A – transfer to the start of the road
- ⌃E – transfer to the top of the road
- ⌃F – transfer to the proper, or forwards (maintain ⌥ to leap by way of phrases)
- ⌃B – transfer to the left, or backwards (maintain ⌥ to leap by way of phrases)
- ⌃N – transfer down or to the subsequent command
- ⌃P – transfer up or to the earlier command
- ⌃L – scroll the window in order that the textual content cursor is within the vertical center
- ⌃H – delete (backspace)
- ⌃D – ahead delete
- ⌃Ok – delete (kill) to the top of the road
- ⌃T – swap (transpose) the adjoining characters
- ⌃O – insert new line, however (opposite to Return) don’t transfer the cursor there
You can mix lots of the above with holding ⇧ to increase the choice.
A small group of vocal customers love these.
Windows nonetheless helps Ctrl+Insert for copy and Shift+Insert for paste. I’m not certain if these are getting used.
On a Mac, in easy enter fields, ↑ and ↓ jumps to the start and finish (similar as ⌘←→). This usually conflicts with command line historical past, autocomplete pop-ups, and so forth.
Windows doesn’t have this conference, and Home and End serve this goal as an alternative.
Macs help the iPhone-inspired conference of holding a key to indicate associated accented characters, as an alternative of triggering auto-repeat. Windows doesn’t have this function.
Differing shortcut conventions price figuring out about
On a Mac, redo is usually ⌘⇧Z. On Windows, it’s sometimes Ctrl+Y.
On a Mac, refresh (in browsers, and so forth.) is usually ⌘R. On Windows, it’s sometimes F5, though some browsers now help Ctrl+R, too, presumably since operate keys are more durable to entry than they was once.
Reserved keys
Windows’s eponymous ⊞ Windows secret’s reserved solely for using the working system, and so is Mac’s 🌐 Fn/Globe key. (Although I’m not 100% certain of that as I discovered one place you possibly can create 🌐 shortcuts as a person – I’m simply not sure if it’s intentional.)
However, every platform additionally has quite a lot of shortcut mixtures which might be successfully unavailable, for instance ⌘⇥ and ⌘M on a Mac, or Alt+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Escape on Windows.
These official lists may also help:
If you’re an internet app, you’ll compete for shortcuts with the working system (like several app would), but in addition with the browser itself. You can sometimes take over shortcuts like ⌘S or ⌘P, however relying on the browser or the platform, some is perhaps sacred and unavailable. No Mac browser will permit a web site to assert ⌘Q, ⌘W, or ⌘T. Safari gained’t permit an internet app to override ⌘R. Arc browser gained’t permit to override ⌘⇧C. (This just isn’t a whole record.)
Jumping round
Tabbing and Shift tabbing is usually used to leap between UI parts, however it behaves barely in a different way in native apps.
On Windows, tabbing jumps by way of all parts:
On Mac, Tab jumps solely to parts that require keyboard to function (similar to enter fields). You can toggle a System Settings desire and ask macOS to imitate Windows behaviour – see the final toggle under – however it’s not supported effectively all over the place.
PgUp and PgDn work in a different way:
- On Windows, they transfer the textual content cursor a display up or down.
- On a Mac, they scroll the view up and down, however they don’t transfer the textual content cursor if it’s current (so, they’re extra an equal of clicking on the scrollbar chute).
Similarly, Home and End work in a different way:
- On Windows, they scroll the contents (and transfer the cursor if current) to the highest or the underside of a view, or transfer the cursor to the start or the top of an enter discipline.
- On a Mac, in views they scroll to the start or finish with out shifting the cursor. In enter fields, Home/End do nothing, however you should use ⌘←→ to perform the identical.
On each platforms, Fn+↑↓ does PgUp/PgDn, and Fn+←→ does Home/End. (Do you see how complicated it’s to say that provided that ↑↓ already imply PgUp/Dn on a Mac?)
Windows has a practice of enabling entry to menus and visual controls by urgent Alt and letter keys. This has evolved over time and isn’t as constant because it was once, however it is perhaps price figuring out about.
Less fashionable keys
On a 100-plus-key keyboard, Windows may need:
- Insert – nonetheless utilized in some contexts for overtyping
- Print Screen – as we speak taken over by screenshotting
- Num Lock and Scroll Lock
- Pause/Break
Macs have:
- Help – not often used, and now deserted in favor of…
- ≣ Contextual Menu – reveals the identical menu as proper click on would
- ⌧ Clear – a deterministic backspace, as of late seldomly completely different than the precise Delete key
Macs by no means had arrow keys on a numeric keypad nor a Num Lock key to allow it. (I’m breaking my promise! Here’s a fun bug story about Num Lock.)
In a wierd accident, it’s not solely third-party keyboards that favor Windows legends. Some of Apple’s keyboards in between Eighties and 2000s confirmed PC legends, too! (This was to courtroom PC compatibility of then-beleaguered Macs.) Here’s the traditional Apple Extended Keyboard, displaying legends for Insert, Delete (naming it Del to keep away from confusion with its personal), Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause, Num Lock, and Alt:
Did I miss something or make a mistake? Let me know!
