Entering special characters from the keyboard. How do I enter a custom supplementary character? Entering special characters using the keyboard

The main device for manual input of information, commands and data. This article covers the keyboard structure, layout, key assignments, symbols and signs.

Computer keyboard: principle of operation

The basic functions of the keyboard do not need any special software. The drivers necessary for its operation are already available in the BIOS ROM. Therefore, the computer responds to commands from the main keyboard keys immediately after switching on.

How the keyboard works:

1. After pressing a key, the keyboard chip generates a scan code.
2. The scan code is sent to a port integrated into the motherboard.
3. The keyboard port reports a fixed interrupt to the processor.
4. Having received a fixed interrupt number, the processor turns to special. RAM area containing the interrupt vector - a list of data. Each entry in the data list contains the address of the interrupt service program that matches the entry number.
5. Having determined the program record, the processor proceeds to its execution.
6. Then the interrupt handler program directs the processor to the keyboard port, where it finds the scan code. Further, under the control of the processor, the processor determines which of the characters corresponds to the given scan code.
7. The handler sends the code to the keyboard buffer, notifying the processor about it, then terminates its work.
8. The processor goes to the pending task.
9. The entered character is stored in the keyboard buffer until it is retrieved by the program for which it is intended, for example, the text editor Microsoft Word.

Photo of a computer keyboard and key assignments

The standard keyboard has over 100 keys, divided into functional groups. Below is the picture - photo of computer keyboard with a description of key groups.

Alphanumeric keys

Alphanumeric keys are used to enter information and commands, typed by letters. Each of the keys can work in different registers, as well as designate several characters.

Case switching (input of lowercase and uppercase characters) is carried out by holding down the Shift key. Caps Lock is used for hard (permanent) case switching.

If the computer keyboard is used to enter text data, press Enter to close the paragraph. Further, data entry starts on a new line. When the keyboard is used to enter commands, Enter completes the input and begins executing it.

Function keys

The function keys are located at the top of the keyboard and consist of 12 buttons F1 - F12. Their functions and properties depend on the running program, and in some cases the operating system.

A common function in many programs is the F1 key, which invokes help, where you can find out the functions of other buttons.

Special keys

Special keys are located next to the alphanumeric button group. Due to the fact that users often resort to using them, they have an increased size. These include:

1. Shift and Enter, discussed earlier.
2. Alt and Ctrl - used in combination with other keyboard keys to form special commands.
3. Tab serves for tabulation when typing.
4. Win - Opens the Start Menu.
5. Esc - refusal to use the started operation.
6. BACKSPACE - deletes the characters just entered.
7. Print Screen - prints the current screen or saves its screenshot to the clipboard.
8. Scroll Lock - switches the mode of operation in some programs.
9. Pause / Break - pause / interrupt the current process.

Cursor keys

The cursor keys are to the right of the alphanumeric pad. Cursor is an on-screen element that indicates where information is entered. The arrow keys move the cursor in the direction of the arrows.

Additional keys:

1. Page Up / Page Down - move the cursor one page up / down.
2. Home and End - move the cursor to the beginning or end of the current line.
3. Insert - traditionally switches the data input mode between insertion and replacement. In different programs, the action of the Insert button may be different.

Additional numeric keypad

The additional numeric keypad duplicates the actions of the numeric keys and some other keys on the main input panel. To use it, you must first enable the Num Lock button. Also, the keys on the additional keyboard can be used to control the cursor.

Keyboard shortcut

When you press a certain key combination, this or that command for the computer is executed.

Frequently used keyboard shortcuts:

• Ctrl + Shift + Esc - Opens the Task Manager.
• Ctrl + F - search box in the active program.
• Ctrl + A - Selects all content in the open window.
• Ctrl + C - copy the selected fragment.
• Ctrl + V - paste from clipboard.
• Ctrl + P - print the current document.
• Ctrl + Z - cancel the current action.
• Ctrl + X - cut the selected area of \u200b\u200btext.
• Ctrl + Shift + → selection of text by words (starting from the cursor position).
• Ctrl + Esc - Opens / closes the Start menu.
• Alt + Printscreen - screenshot of the active program window.
• Alt + F4 - Closes the active application.
• Shift + Delete - permanently deleting an object (past the trash bin).
• Shift + F10 - open the context menu of the active object.
• Win + Pause - system properties.
• Win + E - launches explorer.
• Win + D - minimizes all open windows.
• Win + F1 - Opens Windows Help.
• Win + F - brings up the search box.
• Win + L - lock your computer.
• Win + R - open "Run the program".

Symbols on the keyboard

Surely, many users have noticed symbols for nicknames, and other social networks. How to make characters on the keyboard if there are no explicit keys for this?

You can put characters on the keyboard using Alt codes - additional commands for entering hidden characters. These commands are entered simply by pressing Alt + a decimal number.

You can often come across questions: how to make a heart on a keyboard, an infinity sign or a euro on a keyboard?

• alt + 3 \u003d
• Alt + 8734 \u003d ∞
• Alt + 0128 \u003d €

These and other keyboard symbols are illustrated in the following tables. The column "Alt-code" contains a numeric value, after entering which, in combination with the Alt key, a certain character will be displayed. The symbol column contains the final result.

Please note that if the additional numeric keypad is not enabled - Num Lock is not pressed, then the Alt + number key combination may lead to unexpected results.

For example, if you press Alt + 4 in the browser, without Num Lock enabled, the previous page will open.

Punctuation marks on the keyboard

Sometimes users, trying to put punctuation marks on the keyboard, do not get exactly what they expected. This is due to the fact that a different keyboard layout implies a different use of the keyboard shortcut.

Here's how to put punctuation marks on the keyboard.

Punctuation marks with Cyrillic

• "(Quotes) - Shift + 2
• No. (number) - Shift + 3
• ; (semicolon) - Shift + 4
• % (percentage) - Shift + 5
• : (colon) - Shift + 6
• ? (question mark) - Shift + 7
• ((open bracket) - Shift + 9
• - (dash) - the button with the inscription "-"
• , (comma) - Shift + "point"
• + (plus) - Shift + button with plus sign "+"
• ... (dot) - the button to the right of the letter "U"

Latin punctuation marks

• ~ (tilde) - Shift + Ё
• ! (exclamation mark) - Shift + 1
• @ (doggy - used in email address) - Shift + 2
• # (hash) - Shift + 3
• $ (dollar) - Shift + 4
• % (percentage) - Shift + 5
• ^ - Shift + 6
• & (ampersand) - Shift + 7
• * (multiplication or asterisk) - Shift + 8
• ((open bracket) - Shift + 9
• ) (close bracket) - Shift + 0
• - (dash) - key on the keyboard with the inscription "-"
• + (plus) - Shift and +
• \u003d (equal) - button equal sign
• , (comma) - key with the Russian letter "B"
• ... (dot) - key with the Russian letter "U"
• < (левая угловая скобка) — Shift + Б
• \u003e (right angle bracket) - Shift + U
• ? (question mark) - Shift + button with a question mark (to the right of "Yu")
• ; (semicolon) - letter "Ж"
• : (colon) - Shift + "F"
• [(left square bracket) - Russian letter "X"
• ] (right square bracket) - "b"
• ((left curly brace) - Shift + Russian letter "X"
• ) (right curly brace) - Shift + "b"

Computer keyboard layout

Computer keyboard layout - a scheme for assigning symbols of national alphabets to specific keys. Switching keyboard layouts is performed programmatically - one of the functions of the operating system.

In Windows, you can change the keyboard layout by pressing Alt + Shift or Ctrl + Shift. Typical keyboard layouts are English and Russian.

If necessary, you can change or add the keyboard language in Windows 7 by going to Start - Control Panel - Clock, Language and Region (sub-item "changing keyboard layout or other input methods").

In the window that opens, select the "Languages \u200b\u200band keyboards" tab - "Change keyboard". Then, in a new window, on the General tab, click Add and select the desired input language. Don't forget to save your changes by clicking "OK".

Computer virtual keyboard

Virtual keyboard - a separate program, or an add-on included in the software. It is used to enter letters and symbols from the computer screen using the mouse cursor.

A virtual keyboard is needed, for example, to keep confidential data (login and password) safe. When entering data from a conventional keyboard, there is a risk of information being intercepted by malicious spyware. Then, via the Internet, the information is transmitted to the attacker.

You can find and download the virtual keyboard using search engines - it will not take much of your time. If Kaspersky Anti-Virus is installed on your PC, you can launch the virtual keyboard through the main program window, it is included in its structure.

Screen keyboard

Screen keyboard located on the touch screen of a smartphone, pressing on it occurs with the user's fingers. It is sometimes called virtual.

To launch On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 7, go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - then Accessibility - On-Screen Keyboard. It looks like this.

To switch the keyboard layout, use the corresponding buttons on the taskbar (near the date and time, at the bottom left of the monitor screen).

What to do if the keyboard does not work

If your keyboard suddenly stops working - do not rush to get upset, first find out what caused the breakdown. All the reasons due to which it does not work can be divided into hardware and software.

In the first case, if the hardware part of the keyboard is broken, it is very problematic to fix the problem without special skills. Sometimes it's easier to replace it with a new one.

Before you say goodbye to a seemingly faulty keyboard, check the cable with which it is connected to the system unit, it may have moved a little. If everything is in order with the cable, make sure that the breakdown is not caused by a software failure of the computer. To do this, restart your PC.

If after restarting, the keyboard does not show signs of life, try to wake it up using the solution available in Windows. The sequence of actions is given on the example of Windows 7, if you have a different version of the Windows operating system, proceed by analogy. The principle is approximately the same, the names of the menu sections may differ slightly.

Go to Start - Control Panel - Hardware and Sound - Device Manager. In the window that opens, if you have a problem with the keyboard, it will be marked with a yellow shortcut with an exclamation mark. Select it with the mouse and select Action - Delete from the menu. After uninstalling, close Device Manager.

Return to the Hardware and Sound tab and select Add Device. After searching for hardware, your keyboard will be found, and its drivers will be installed.

If the hardware installation was successful and the keyboard malfunction was due to a software failure, the Num Lock key light on the keyboard will light up.

If the problem persists, then a temporary solution may be.

These days, a computer keyboard, like a mouse, is considered a device of little value. Nevertheless, it plays an important role in working with a computer.

It is a well-known fact that a limited set of special characters can be entered from the keys of a conventional computer keyboard. Fortunately for users, any operating system has a special toolkit that allows you to freely enter rare ones in text documents such as a paragraph, a degree, Christmas tree quotes, etc.

How to enter absolutely any characters using standard Windows OS tools?

Each character in operating systems of the Windows family is assigned its own numeric code. Theoretically, if the user knows the code of a special character, then he can enter it from his keyboard, and Windows will automatically convert this code into the corresponding character. To enter the code, hold down the Alt key (both left and right) and hold it until the end of entering the numeric code on the additional block of numeric keys.

Tellingly, the code of many special characters in Windows starts with the letter "A", which is actually replaced by pressing the Alt key. For example, to enter the character A065, the user only needs to hold down the Alt key and then dial the code 065 on the block of numeric keys.

All codes can be divided into two categories - three and four digits. If the special character code contains only three digits, then this is a simple code of the old PC866 table. Values \u200b\u200bover 255 are not found in this category and are compatible with DOS applications. Windows OS correctly displays these codes, but transforms them into CP1251 tables or Unicode.

All existing characters are theoretically encoded in four-digit codes. All four-digit codes in the range from 0128 to 0255 correspond to characters from table CP1252. If the code exceeds the value 0255, then it is clearly contained in the Unicode table. But most of the old and simple Unicode programs cannot handle codes over 0255. There is no problem with this nuance, except for Microsoft Word.

In order not to memorize the codes of all frequently used special characters, you can use the symbol table. It is present in all generations of Windows and is contained in the Start menu in the general list of programs in the Utilities category.

In the main window of the symbol table, the user sees a set of special symbols. It is enough for him to select the required symbol and look at the lower right corner of the program window - there is indicated a key combination for entering this symbol from the keyboard. You can act differently: select the desired symbol, click on the "Select" button, and then "Copy". To paste a symbol copied to the clipboard, just go to a text editor and use the CTRL + V keyboard shortcut.

Everyone can type today. Even the most staunch opponents of new technologies know how to type characters on the keyboard ( but don't do it out of principle). After all, all that is required is to find the key with the desired letter or punctuation mark and press it with your finger:

But sometimes situations arise when the desired character is simply not on the keyboard. For example, a person writes a text about the temperature at the South Pole, but there is no symbol for degrees. In this case, not only a beginner can get confused, but also a fairly experienced user ( or the one who considers himself to be them).

But there is certainly a way out of this situation. When the characters on the keyboard do not meet the requirements, you must use other input methods. Some of them will be covered in this article.

Why isn't everything on the keyboard?

If you look just below the monitor screen, you can see different characters on the keyboard, which nevertheless look very familiar. They are used, oddly enough, in order to print, and mankind has been fond of this occupation for a long time.

Back in 1868, a typewriter was introduced to the world ( although they tried to do it a century earlier), the letters on it were in alphabetical order, and it took people 22 years to eliminate this inconvenience. In turn, in 1890, the QWERTY layout appeared, which migrated to modern keyboards.

Thus, the composition and arrangement of the main symbols have been developed over the years, and over time, humanity has not come up with something radically new in this regard, but only improved the old.

Why do the keyboards remain the same, and there is no one who wants to capitalize on the novelty? You need to understand that large companies producing equipment should target a wide audience, so the symbols and signs on the keyboard are designed for the most common needs. To understand manufacturers, you need to define the categories of people who use computers.

• Regular users. They need to go online, check their mail and, in some cases, write small texts ( messages, announcements):

For these people, additional characters on the keyboard are not required, and even those that are there are too many.

• Programmers:

Keyboard characters include basic reserved constructs in many programming languages \u200b\u200b( &, |, #, (), etc.). Such popular and most widely used languages \u200b\u200bas C, C ++, Lisp, Java have a well-established syntax, which was initially partially adapted to the characters available on the keyboard. Therefore, if now the standard layout changes significantly, this will lead to significant inconveniences for programmers, and this is not needed by anyone.

• Office workers. These comrades in most cases operate with numbers, so their needs closely overlap with programmers' needs:

Mathematical operations, percentage and dollar sign are the faithful companions of every report.

Needless to say, today everyone uses a computer everywhere. In many cases, people need to enter characters that are not on the keyboard. It can be some kind of scientific notation or simply display means that are more suitable in a particular situation.

Thousands of keyboards would be needed to accommodate all known symbols, but the keys have a wonderful property: they can be pressed several at a time. However, more on that later.

Special characters

We are used to the fact that a symbol is something visual, however, when formatting text, it is often necessary to indent and line breaks, which are ignored by the browser when displayed. In this case, special characters are used. They are not on the keyboard, but in the html code you can, for example, write & nbsp, which will mean a non-breaking space.

Let's imagine another situation: you are writing an article about Internet technologies and want to give examples of html tags. But here's the bad luck: you know how to put symbols on the keyboard ( not small already), but the browser treats the tags as tags and does not display anything. In this case, special characters come to the rescue again.

Sometimes the authors of the articles are faced with an intricate problem: how to write characters on the keyboard, if they are not on it. The weak give up and use tricks, naming what they could not print. The initiates, however, turn to special characters and find what they need:

For example, 7 is a Jewish star; there is no symbol on the keyboard, but it comes in handy when writing religious texts.

Character codes

We have already discussed the codes of special characters in the html language, however, there are other ways to show what is not shown on the keyboard keys.

First of all, we should mention the encoding standards: ASCII, Unicode, UTF-8, which allow not only entering characters using the keyboard, but also setting them programmatically, when not the number 300 is displayed on the screen, but a beautiful heart ( if ASCII encoding is set).

There is a way to expand the existing characters on the keyboard - ALT -code. To enter characters in this way, you do not need to go to any special editor at all:

In order to know how to make symbols on the keyboard ( even those that are not there and about which you do not know), it is enough to have a sign in front of your eyes and, holding down the alt key, enter a sequence of numbers.

How to enter something that is not on the keyboard?

For those who do not know how to make characters on the keyboard that are not displayed on the keys, putting together everything mentioned above, there are several ways to highlight.

Keyboard secrets: how to write with characters that are not on the keyboard

Sometimes a situation arises when you need to use a special character in some text, but there is no key with such a character on the keyboard. How to be? There are several ways. If you are typing in a text editor Microsoft Word 2007, then everything is simple: just select the "Symbol" item on the "Insert" tab. In the drop-down list, select the desired symbol or click on "Other symbols ...". In the dialog box that opens, find the required symbol and press the "Insert" key. You can also insert by double-clicking on the selected symbol.

But what if you work in a simple Notepad editor? In this case, you need to do so. Press and hold the Alt key and use the numeric keypad to type the special character code. The number keys you need are usually located on the right side of your desktop computer keyboard and can be activated by pressing the NumLock button.

If you are working with a laptop, then these keys are the same as some keys for letters. They can be "enabled" by a special combination, as a rule, Fn + key, which says NumLock or NumLk.

Here are the codes for some of the symbols.

● Step by step:

1.Turn on the NumLock button (on the right side of the keyboard)

2. Hold Alt.

3. And at the same time holding down the alt key We type the combination on the digital block.

4. Press Alt.

5. Admiring the icon.

● On laptops without a Num Pad, open Start\u003e Programs\u003e Accessories\u003e Accessibility\u003e On-Screen Keyboard. Use virtual buttons.

● You can also use transliteration for the character set.

● The ALT key also allows you to type standard characters such as dog or bullets.

● Do not skip zeros in the code, zero must also be pressed.

● Hold down the ALT key + the combination of numbers specified in the code. You need to hold the ALT key without releasing it until you have typed all the digits of the code. Then the symbol will appear.

More symbols:

Copyright

Heart

® Reserved

℠ Service mark

℃ Celsius

℉ Fahrenheit

No. License plate

℗ Copyright records

℞ Pharmaceutical symbol

℧ Inverted Ohm

☀ Sun

☂ Umbrella

☃ Snowman

☄ Comet

★ Star (filled)

☆ Star (outlines)

☇ Lightning

☉ Sun (outline)

☊ Ascending node

☋ Descending node

☌ Pairing

☍ Opposition

☎ Phone (filled)

☏ Telephone (outline) 9743]

☐ Empty square

☑ Checkbox

☒ Square with a cross X

☓ Andrew's Cross

☚ Finger pointing to the left (filled)

☛ Finger pointing to the right (filled)

☜ Finger pointing to the left (outline)

☝ Thumb pointing up (outline)

☞ Right-pointing finger (outline)

☟ Downward pointing finger (outline)

☠ Skull and bones

☡ Warning sign

☢ Sign of radiation

☣ Biohazard sign

☤ Caduceus (rod of Hermes)

☦ Eastern Christian cross

☧ Christogram

☨ Patriarchal Cross

☩ Greek cross

☪ Moon and Star

☫ Farsi Symbol

☬ Adi Shakti

☭ Hammer and sickle

☮ Peace Sign

☯ Yin and Yang

☰ Trigram sky

☱ Trigram lake

☲ Trigram fire

☳ Thunderstorm trigram

☴ Trigram wind

☵ Trigram water

☶ Trigram Mountain

☷ Trigram earth

☸ Dharma wheel

☹ Sad smiley

☺ Cheerful smiley

☻ Black smile

☽ Growing moon

☾ Falling moon

☿ Mercury

♀ Venus (sign of a woman)

♂ Mars (male sign)

♃ Jupiter

♄ Saturn

♆ Neptune

♇ Pluto

♊ Gemini

♏ Scorpio

♐ Sagittarius

♑ Capricorn

♒ Aquarius

♔ White king

♕ White Queen

♖ White rook

♗ White elephant

♘ White horse

♙ White pawn

♚ Black king

♛ Black Queen

♜ Black Rook

♝ Black elephant

♞ Black horse

♟ Black pawn

♠ Black lance

♤ Pica (outline)

Heart (painted over) or heart

♦ Tambourine (filled)

♧ Clubs (outline)

♨ Geyser

♩ Musical quarter note

♪ Musical eighth note

♫ Connected two notes

♬ Two notes connected by a double bar

♭ Flat

♮ Natural scale sound

✁ Cut from the top

✂ Cut here

✃ Cut from the bottom

✄ Scissors

✆ Public phone

✇ Cassette

✈ Airport / plane

✉ Envelope / email

✌ Victory Sign

✍ Signature

✎ Diagonal pencil

✏ Pencil

✐ Diagonal pencil pointing up

✓ Check mark

✔ Bold check mark

✕ Multiplication sign / X

✖ Bold multiplication sign / X

✗ Slanted X

✘ Bold oblique X

✝ Roman cross

✞ Roman Cross 3D

✟ Latin cross (outline)

✠ Maltese cross

✡ Star of David

❛ Quotation mark

❜ Quotation mark (inverted)

❝ Double quote mark

❞ Double quote mark (inverted)

™ Trademark ○ \u003d 777

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In this article

Inserting an ASCII or Unicode character into a document

If you only need to enter a few special characters or symbols, you can use either keyboard shortcuts. For a list of ASCII characters, see the following tables or the article Insert national alphabets using keyboard shortcuts.

Notes:

Insert ASCII characters

To insert an ASCII character, press and hold the ALT key while entering the character code. For example, to insert a degree symbol (º), press and hold the ALT key, then enter 0176 on the numeric keypad.

Use the numeric keypad to enter numbersinstead of numbers on the main keyboard. If you need to enter numbers on the numeric keypad, make sure the NUM LOCK indicator is on.

Inserting Unicode Characters

To insert a Unicode character, enter the character code, then press Alt and X in sequence. For example, to insert a dollar sign ($), enter 0024 and press ALT and X in sequence. For all Unicode character codes, see.

Important: Some Microsoft Office programs, such as PowerPoint and InfoPath, do not support converting Unicode codes to characters. If you need to insert a Unicode character in one of these programs, use.

Notes:

If the wrong Unicode character is displayed after pressing ALT + X, select the correct code, and then press ALT + X again.

In addition, "U +" must be entered before the code. For example, if you enter "1U + B5" and press Alt + X, the text "1µ" is displayed, and if you enter "1B5" and press Alt + X, the character "Ƶ" is displayed.

Using the symbol table

Symbol Map is a program built into Microsoft Windows that allows you to view the symbols available for a selected font.

Using a symbol table, you can copy individual symbols or a group of symbols to the clipboard and paste them into any program that can display these symbols. Opening the symbol table

On Windows 10 Enter the word "symbol" in the search box on the taskbar and select a symbol table from the search results.

On Windows 8 Enter the word "character" on the home screen and select a character table from the search results.

On Windows 7 press the button Start, sequentially select All programs, Standard, Service and click symbol table.

Characters are grouped by font. Click on the font list to select the appropriate character set. To select a symbol, click it, then click Choose... To insert a symbol, right-click the desired location in the document and select Paste.

Frequently used symbol codes

For a complete list of characters, see your computer, ASCII character code table, or Unicode character set tables.

Glyph		Glyph
Monetary units
Legal Symbols
Math symbols
Fractions
Punctuation and dialect symbols
Form symbols
			Commonly used diacritics codes For a complete list of glyphs and related codes, see. Glyph Glyph Frequently used ligature codes For more information on ligatures, see the article Non-printable ASCII control characters Characters used to control some peripheral devices such as printers are numbered 0–31 in the ASCII table. For example, a feed / new page character is number 12. This character tells the printer to go to the top of the next page. Non-printable ASCII control character table Decimal number Sign Decimal number Sign Freeing the data channel Heading start First device control code Start of text Second device control code End of text Third device control code End of transmission Fourth device control code five-pointed Negative confirmation the confirmation Synchronous transmission mode Sound signal End of block of transmitted data Horizontal tab End of media Line feed / new line Replacement character Vertical tab exceed Page translation / new page Twelfth File separator Carriage return Group separator Shift without storing digits Record separator Shift with conservation of digits fifteen Data separator