Delete key

Not to be confused with delete character.

Delete key on PC keyboard

When struck on a computer keyboard during text or command editing, the delete key (Delete or Del, known less ambiguously as forward delete) discards the character ahead of the cursor's position, moving all following characters one position "back" towards the freed letterspace. The key appears on IBM-compatible PC keyboards labeled as Delete or Del. On some Mac keyboards, the key that performs the forward delete function is labeled del, or with a special right arrow glyph enclosing an "x" with the word del or delete above or to the left of it, since the full word delete by itself is reserved for labelling the key known on other keyboards as Backspace.

Background

On Unix-like systems, the delete key is usually mapped to ESC [3 ~ which is the VT220 escape code for the "delete character" key,

On many notebook computer keyboards the key labeled Delete (sometimes Delete and Backspace are printed on the same key) serves the same purpose as a Backspace key. Othertimes, the Delete Key is in its original IBM notebook position of above and to the right of the Backspace key. Many laptops add rows of smaller keys above the Function Key line to add keys on a non-standard size keyboard. On this row of smaller keys the Delete Key is often the third key in from the right. On Apple Inc.'s line of laptops (e.g. the MacBook and MacBook Pro), the forward delete function can be achieved using the Fn+delete (backspace) key combination.

Sometimes this desired effect is replaced by inserting Control-H (or, less frequently, Control-?) instead. This is related to ASCII control characters for BS and DEL.

Also, the delete key often works as a generic command to remove a selected object, such as an image embedded in a document (on Macs both the forward delete key and the delete (backspace) key have the same effect when pressed while an object is selected).

The delete key, on many modern motherboards, also functions to open the BIOS setup screen when pressed after starting the computer.

See also

• Control-Alt-Delete

References

IBM PC keyboard (Windows, ANSI US layout)
Esc		F1	F2	F3	F4		F5	F6	F7	F8		F9	F10	F11	F12		PrtScn/ SysRq	Scroll Lock	Pause/ Break
																	Insert	Home	PgUp		Num Lock	∕	∗	−
																	Delete	End	PgDn		7	8	9	+
																					4	5	6
																		↑			1	2	3	Enter
																	←	↓	→		0    Ins		.  Del