# CTRL functions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612 "2003-08-25T22:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/1 "2003-08-25T22:09:20Z")
Do the CTRL functions on a keyboard (e.g. CTRL+ F for “find”, CTRL+N for “new page”, etc.) only work on Windows based systems or are they also applicable to Macs? (I’m writing a “how to” list for a friend who just bought his first computer [a Mac] and didn’t want to give him false advice.) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/2 "2003-08-25T22:42:41Z")
Most Mac shortcuts use the “Command” key, which can be recognized by the Apple and/or a symbol that looks like a small square with a single loop on each corner. Shortcuts are similar besides that one difference, and I suspect that the control key may have been descended from the Apple command key. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Wolfrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfrick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/3 "2003-08-25T23:41:53Z")
The control key (CTRL) existed on mainframes and terminals long before Steve and Steve built the first Apple. A key modified by CTRL signified that the input was to be interpreted as a system ConTRoL message, not data. I believe there was even a CTRL key on the old Teletype machines. Anyone around old enough to have used Teletype? I remember the one in my Dad’s office in Lebanon, but I never used it myself. ~Wolfrick ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/4 "2003-08-26T00:16:36Z")
Years ago, I had a Teletype, and yes, it had a Control key. About the one thing that would have any noticeable effect (we’re talking about a machine not connected to anything) was Control-G, which would make the bell ring. Ctrl-G lived on in PCs as the beep. G = Get attention? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/5 "2003-08-26T02:51:53Z")
Of course other control codes were used by the old Teletypes. Control-M was and still is carriage return. Furthermore, most of the control codes actually did what they were supposed to do! You could get all sorts of fun effects knowing which control code to throw at a teletype at the other end. Yellow paper instead of a screen, waxy punch tape, all upper case letters. Ah, the good old days. Sniff. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/6 "2003-08-26T09:55:52Z")
In fact, the only thing the [CTRL] key does(did) was to strip the leading bits of the character. e.g. [CTRL]-[A] generates code ‘1’, instead of 0x41 (or 0x61 for ‘a’). Ahhh, those were the days… ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-functions/197612/7 "2003-08-26T10:09:52Z")
I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that **Phage** meant the Ctrl key _functions_ in Windows were descended from the Mac. Most are exact copies. I’m not pulling the “stealing” card but saying this is a good thing for standardization. Ctrl-/Command-X for cut. Ctrl-/Command-V for paste. Heck, it frustrates me seeing people use the menus at work for these simple functions. The old teletype commands still work for a lot of text-mode printers, and in a lot of shells in Linux/Mac OS X. They’re part of the standard ASCII character set. Even on the Mac these are defined as Control characters and are accessed with the Control key (my Mac keyboard says the useful “Control” rather than “Ctrl”). Many times you’ll see the effects of these on text files: the differences between \, \\, and \ are evident across Unix/Linux, Windows, and GUI Mac OS X.