# What's the most useless key on the keyboard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717 "2006-05-07T01:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/21 "2006-05-07T04:00:28Z")
Programmers generally get a good bit of use out of Pause/Break. (Used to halt program execution in many programming environments.) Likewise most of the more esoteric characters are used in some programming languages. (E.g., I do use ~, although I can’t recall ever needing `.) To see the use of PrintScreen in Windows, press it and then open Paint and select Edit…Paste. Scroll Lock is one that I never use. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/22 "2006-05-07T05:12:25Z")
I can’t believe all you people use the Insert key for something besides accidentally hitting it while reaching for delete, and then losing an entire paragraph of your term paper because you’re so into typing. Thank heavens for undo. Or maybe that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/23 "2006-05-07T05:17:34Z")
But… If there was no "`/~" key, you couldn't refer to your home directory in Unix pathnames, use the backquote facility in Lisp macros, and you'd have to use $( cmd ) ala Bash instead of `cmd` in shell scripts! `/~ is a good key! I nominate “Num Lock”. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/24 "2006-05-07T05:56:29Z")
I’ve never used the vertical bar: ||||||| Now that you’ve brought it to my attention though, I’m going to find a way to use it, by God, if it’s the last thing I do. Wish me luck. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/25 "2006-05-07T06:11:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Now that you’ve brought it to my attention though, I’m going to find a way to use it, by God, if it’s the last thing I do. Wish me luck. It’s necessary in many programming languages, and also for piping the output of one command into the input of another in UNIX or DOS-derived command line interfaces. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/26 "2006-05-07T06:16:10Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > It’s necessary in many programming languages, and also for piping the output of one command into the input of another in UNIX or DOS-derived command line interfaces. Hmm, unfortunately I am lacking in both programming knowledge as well as UNIX or DOS-derived command line interfaces. I’ll just make pretty pictures with it. {|||(-(\<|\>)-)|||} ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/27 "2006-05-07T06:58:02Z")
> [@Miss Purl McKnittington](#): > > I can’t believe all you people use the Insert key for something besides accidentally hitting it while reaching for delete, and then losing an entire paragraph of your term paper because you’re so into typing. Thank heavens for undo. > > Or maybe that’s just me. I come from the way-old school of copy, cut, and paste shortcuts. I got used to them on OS/2, so for me, Cut is Shift-Del and Paste is Shift-Insert. And at work in the aforementioned 3270 emulator, overwrite is the default mode, so if you want to insert, you have to hit Insert first. **Metacom** , I use NumLock all the time right now, and occasionally at other times – my mouse took a dive, so while I’m waiting for my replacement to ship, I’m using MouseKeys (an accessibility feature built into Windows). The toggle to turn them off or on is NumLock. Other times, even when the mouse is working, they can be handy to nudge something around a single pixel at a time. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/28 "2006-05-07T07:52:50Z")
` and ^ are both useful for inputting characters with diacritical marks. E.g. in Word: Ctrl +` followed by A gives à Ctrl + ^ followed by A gives â Similar things can be done with other charaters: Ctrl + & folowed by O gives œ Ctrl + : followed by O gives ö Ctrl + ~ followed by N gives ñ Ctrl + / followed by C gives ¢ Ctrl + @ followed by A gives å ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/29 "2006-05-07T08:55:39Z")
Over the years, what with mainframe and Unix terminal emulations I have used every key except Pause Break (Scroll Lock was something useful with the mainframe - maybe screen print to printer). Looking at my home keyboard ther are 26 keys that I have never struck and probably never will. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/30 "2006-05-07T10:39:09Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ` and ^ are both useful for inputting characters with diacritical marks. E.g. in Word: > > Ctrl +` followed by A gives à > > Ctrl + ^ followed by A gives â Exactly. When you want to write in french, this becomes a must. I’ve used the PrtScr button for desktop threads (pasting into MSPaint, as mentioned). I’ve also used some of the function buttons (my favorite is ctrl+F4, closes down whatever application you’re currently using). I don’t think I’ve ever used Pause/Break. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/31 "2006-05-07T10:47:25Z")
My laptop has a numlock key but there’s no 10-key pad. I guess that would make it nearly 100% useless. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/32 "2006-05-07T12:15:44Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I’ve never used the vertical bar: ||||||| > > Now that you’ve brought it to my attention though, I’m going to find a way to use it, by God, if it’s the last thing I do. Wish me luck. I use it in writing Sanskrit poetry. One vertical bar for the end of a couplet. Two for the end of a stanza. Traditionally it’s the only punctuation mark used in Sanskrit. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/33 "2006-05-07T12:30:40Z")
Since the ~ and ` symbols are rarely used elsewhere, I find them handy when I need a single character to serve as a shorthand for something I can find and replace later with a longer piece of text, or if I need a simple placeholder. I could do without the Scroll Lock. Excel is the only application I know of or use that supports it, and I find it annoying as hell. When I am moving through a spreadsheet and the screen doesn’t move the way I want it to move, it’s because I’ve pressed that damn Scroll Lock key by mistake. One of the applications we use at work uses the Pause key. I don’t think I use it much at home. Back in the days of DOS games, it was often used for this purpose. For those who may not know, originally the “Print Screen” would send whatever text was on the screen directly to the printer (usually dot matrix), back in the pre-Windows DOS days. I think the “SysRq” is some holdover from a purpose that has long since become obsolete. I don’t have time to research it at the moment, though. I use the windows key a lot. In addition to bringing up the Start menu, it can be used in conjunction with other keys (like CTRL and ALT). Here are the things I use it for: [ul] [li]Windows+M: minimize all (useful for those of you who surf a work who shouldn’t and the boss suddenly pops into your cubicle).[/li][li]Windows+F: Brings up the “Find” window when looking for files.[/li][li]Windows+R: Brings up the “Run…” bos, which I use on occasion.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/34 "2006-05-07T12:59:45Z")
I did find one good use for the tilde–it makes a good push-to-talk key for voice-chat applications, since I’m unlikely to push it for any other reason. It’s also handily next to the wasd keys. The -| key gets my vote for most useless (unless you’re |\_337 :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/35 "2006-05-07T13:21:51Z")
> [@Phantom Dennis](#): > > My laptop has a numlock key but there’s no 10-key pad. I guess that would make it nearly 100% useless. Doesn’t it turn part of the keyboard into a numeric keypad? That’s how it works on most laptops. Usually the JKL/UIO/789 keys. I can’t say I’ve ever used it on my laptop though. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/36 "2006-05-07T13:41:22Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > ThatDamnSpaceBar,WhatIsThatAllAbout? don’tyoumean;‘thosedamnspacebarandshiftkeys,whataretheyallabout/’ ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/37 "2006-05-07T14:24:14Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > I think the “SysRq” is some holdover from a purpose that has long since become obsolete. I don’t have time to research it at the moment, though. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SysRq), “Introduced by IBM with the PC/AT, it was intended to be available as a special key to directly invoke low-level operating system functions with no possibility of conflicting with any existing software.” Also, “Under DOS, malfunctioning foreground software could make the entire computer unresponsive. Third-party TSRs existed that used SysRq to provide a form of “panic button” to terminate the program and return you to the DOS command prompt.” However, as you point out, it’s currently obsolete. Seeing as how it actually doesn’t do anything, were it not for the fact that it shares the sometimes useful ‘Print Scrn’ button (which it didn’t always), ‘SysRq’ would certainly qualify as the most useless key on the keyboard. As it stands, I still vote for ‘Scroll Lock’. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/38 "2006-05-07T14:49:21Z")
Life would be difficul without the ~ in Japanese. Rather than abandon a perfectly good key, just move to a different country. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/39 "2006-05-07T14:49:28Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Doesn’t it turn part of the keyboard into a numeric keypad? That’s how it works on most laptops. Usually the JKL/UIO/789 keys. I can’t say I’ve ever used it on my laptop though. Nah, you have to us the “fn” key to get those. As far as I can tell, the numlock does absolutely nothing on this laptop, aside from existing. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717/40 "2006-05-07T16:02:15Z")
The | can be used in simple web pages as a design thing: Home | Archive | Current | Contact | Pictures | Blog | 🙂 Print screen–you can paste the screenshot into Word as well as any graphics program; I find it quicker just to paste into a new Word doc and print if I need a capture, since I almost always have a Word doc open somewhere. I vaguely recall Pause/Break from DOS, when something would scroll rapidly to the end and reading it without the Pause was impossible. But maybe my memory’s kind of dusty. Control+ variations, I use a lot. Word and Windows has taught me to control-S to save anything open after about every paragraph. And in working on long documents that need reformatting, the ^ key comes in very handy with advanced Find & Replace in Word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useless-key-on-the-keyboard/355717.md?page=3)