Return Key

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What is the "Return Key" in the Computer?

Return key is the name of a key of the computer keyboard, it's the Enter key found in the alphanumeric area. Normally, this key is simply called the "enter key." The term "return key" is used to differentiate this enter key from the other "enter key" which found in the numpad. That other "enter key" is never called "return key." Only the one in the alphanumeric area is the "return key."

Pressing the Return key while typing a text breaks the current line (inserts a new line character). The Return key activates buttons that have keyboard focus, and behaves opens files that are selected in a file manager (behaves like a double click).

A blue key, on it written in white: "Enter," and an arrow that goes down then left.
The Return key. Photo by Raysonho on Wikimedia (license: CC0 1.0).
A black Lenovo keyboard with a short enter key and a USB cable.
A black computer keyboard featuring ANSI layout, observe that it has two "Enter" keys in accented in blue color, one in the alphanumeric area (left) and one in the numpad (right). Photo by Raysonho on Wikimedia (license: CC0 1.0).
A black keyboard with English and Cyrillic letters on its keys.
A Cyrillic keyboard featuring the ISO keyboard layout. Observe that in this keyboard layout the return key is taller. Photo by Thomas Vogt on Flickr (license: CC BY 2.0).
A white IBM keyboard.
A Brazilian Portuguese keyboard featuring the ABNT2 layout. Observe that in this particular keyboard the return key doesn't have a label, instead there's only an arrow that goes down then left. Photo by Rsjsouza on Wikimedia. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Written by Noel Santos.

About the Author

I'm a self-taught Brazilian programmer graduated in IT from a FATEC. In a world of increasingly complex and essential computers, I decided to use my technical expertise in hardware, desktop applications, and web technologies to create an informative resource to make PC's easier to understand.

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