# Which keyboard keys have you never used? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815 "2017-01-10T15:28:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/41 "2017-01-11T14:23:43Z")
I’m using a Mac laptop, and so don’t have a lot of the standard “useless keys”. That said, though: I never intentionally use Caps Lock, which never does anything but cause trouble. I use the lower-numbered F# keys sometimes for games and the like, and some of the higher ones have hardware controls like volume on them, but I don’t think I ever use F9, and F7 only very rarely. I _would_ use all of the numpad keys, if I had a numpad. And folks might be gratified to learn that chromebooks don’t have a Caps Lock key at all. Leave it to Google to finally remove the “screw everything up” key. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/42 "2017-01-11T14:49:21Z")
Since I both work and play on my PC, I generally use all the keys, including the Function ones. However, I can probably count the times I’ve had to use scroll lock. So that’s my pick. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/43 "2017-01-11T15:09:53Z")
About half of them. The entire top row of the main/left hand section (all the Fs and stuff), the top of the center section (F13 through page down), and the whole right side/calculator section. Basically I use the typewriter equal keys and the four arrows and nothing else. (older Mac mini) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/44 "2017-01-11T17:03:11Z")
There are no keys I don’t use at least now and then. Probably the least used key is the Insert/Help key. For awhile I had a macro in several programs that would override it and make it do nothing, to prevent invoking the slow and annoying Help from popping up if I bumped the key by accident. But every rare now and then there’s some oddball program that actually uses the key, and uses it to do something that I would invoke on purpose. The row of F-keys doesn’t get much action but I do assign macros to them, and the built-in one on my laptop doubles as hardware controllers (screen lighten or darken, volume louder or softer, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/45 "2017-01-11T17:14:52Z")
I’ve never used any of the F keys, nor have I used the key in the upper left that makes these 2 symbols `~ ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/46 "2017-01-11T19:18:51Z")
I can’t recall ever using Shift+6 or scroll lock, but everything else has been used multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/47 "2017-01-11T20:49:02Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > . . . I never touch any of the Fn keys . . . F1 is a very common short-cut to help menus. In MS Office, I hit F1 all the doggone time! > [@Balthisar](#): > > The “Clear” key is (on a Mac) where the “Insert” key is on a DOS keyboard. You’ll need a Mac to disable the “Caps Lock” key in System Preferences, though! Ah! Thanks! Explains my ignorance; I’ve never had the joy of working on a Mac. > [@](#): > > It’s not too bad. Microsoft and application vendors bury a _lot_ of useful functionality in the Registry. It’s really just a big list of preferences and defaults. I know, in the abstract, that the Registry can be edited manually, to good effect. But in my mind, it’s too much like “machine language.” It’s at a level I don’t really grok. I depend on interfaces. (I took one assembly language class in college…and while it was informative, it clearly convinced me to stick with the higher level applications!) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/48 "2017-01-11T21:24:22Z")
Work iMacs have Clear in the place of _NumLock_. Insert is replaced by Fn. > [@G0sp3l](#): > > I can’t recall ever using Shift+6 or scroll lock, but everything else has been used multiple times. Caret. It’s shorthand for the exponential, so I use it a lot in Excel. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/49 "2017-01-11T21:52:17Z")
I think the only keys I don’t use regularly are the Insert key and the Scroll Lock key. They only get hit by accident. The tilde/accent key (to the left of the 1 key) is my go-to reassign- if I want quick access to a command/function in a game, that is usually the key I assign. I use the right CTRL and ALT keys for the one-handed three-finger salute (index on ALT, thumb on CTRL, pinky on DELETE). I use the right Windows key to access Windows 10 settings (WIN + I). I use the context menu key whenever my mouse battery dies and I want to finish what I am working on before I go find batteries. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/50 "2017-01-11T22:17:18Z")
The pause/break key is never one I’ve found particularly useful. I’d simply use _| more_ in DOS or _| less_ in Linux whenever I wanted one screen at a time, or use _\> file.txt_ if the output was larger and I didn’t want to read through it all right then and there. My default keyboard layout is US-International, so I can correctly and easily type in words of foreign origin (such as _Montréal, Québec_, ) as well as some useful symbols (such as µ, °, ¢, ©, ®, §, ¼, ½, ¾, ×, & ÷). FYI, Microsoft actually [has a utility](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/keyboardlayouts.aspx) that lets you create your own custom keyboard layouts. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/51 "2017-01-11T23:38:13Z")
I wish someone had taught me about PrtScr a lot earlier. I actually stumbled onto it by myself, and now it’s one of the most valuable functions my computer offers me! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/52 "2017-01-12T01:01:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > The only other thing that Scroll Lock is “useful” for is in Excel, where it changes the scrolling behavior of the arrow keys. Instead of moving your “cell selection” cursor, (i.e., selects the next cell over in the direction of the arrow movement), it moves the window of cells displayed on-screen without moving the cell selection. That has never been useful to me in my 15 years of nearly-daily interaction with Excel, and I have no idea what problem that was invented to solve. I’ve only ever pressed Scroll Lock by accident and each time it left me wondering why my Excel spreadsheet was broken. Finally I got so sick of it that I just popped the key off of my work keyboard. Problem solved! ---
**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:** [January 12, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/53 "2017-01-12T03:10:03Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Probably the least used key is the Insert/Help key. You’ve got an old keyboard. I think that’s the _fn_ key on modern keyboards (full size). What version of Mac OS are you running? I’m just curious whether or not it actually works as Help, or works as fn? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/54 "2017-01-12T04:47:02Z")
My primary computer is a laptop, so I use a number of the Function keys for various uses, but I don’t recall the last time I used the F3 or F9 keys. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever purposely used the ‘right-click menu’ key (between the right Alt and Ctrl keys on my keyboard): Shift-F10 performs the same function whenever I need it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/55 "2017-01-12T08:46:20Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I’ve never used any of the F keys, nor have I used the key in the upper left that makes these 2 symbols `~ In Thailand, the little-used `or ~ are the signals to toggle between Thai and English keyboards. At least 99% of users don't miss the ability to type a` or ~, but the latter key is used in the C programming language and in an important Unix/Cygwin command-line short-cut. And the backquote ` is part of a Unix command-line feature almost amazing in its power! Changing this is one of the fixes needed whenever I start operating with a new computer. Mention that I never touch the Fn keys has revealed the secret that I’m not up to speed on Microsoft Office. I use programs like _awk_ and _a.out_ for my spreadsheet needs. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/56 "2017-01-12T10:31:07Z")
My laptop has an f12 button with what looks like an airplane image on it. I’ve never touched that. Please hold, I’m going to press it right now. …(button pressing music). I just tuned on airplane mode, according to the messege that popped up. Pressing it again turns it off. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/57 "2017-01-12T10:49:56Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > In Thailand, the little-used ` or ~ are the signals to toggle between Thai and English keyboards. The have a hard time pressing Alt+Shift there? ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/58 "2017-01-12T16:41:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I pried my Insert key out with a screwdriver several years ago, _pour encourager les autres_. I’ve done the same with the F6 key at my work desk. Someone in their infinite wisdom decided that the F6 key should be the disconnect key for our clinical systems. As I have some of the same software installed (I support that system), I all to often was hitting the F6 key when trying to hit F5 to refresh a page. As for keys I never use; Insert ~` Scroll Lock PrtScn/SysRq (I use a screen capture application for screen shots) Pause/Break Some of the F keys. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/59 "2017-01-12T16:55:15Z")
I have, at some point, used every key on every keyboard I’ve ever owned - mostly because I’m the kind of person who cannot resist the “I wonder what this button does?” impulse. It makes me a great software tester, though! I can break things in ways many programmers never dreamed of… ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815/60 "2017-01-12T18:58:10Z")
I use every key all the time. Every function key has an assigned function in my text editor. The mathematical formatter tex uses {}\_^ extensively; my diagram maker uses `;\<\>as being the least likely to come up in math expressions (but there is a way to deal with it if they do). The scroll lock would be used, if I had one, to keep the editor focused on the middle line of the display and insert, if this Surface had one, would be used to toggle between overstrike (which I use occasionally) and insert. Indeed, I use them all and could us more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-keyboard-keys-have-you-never-used/776815.md?page=4)