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TheHome key is commonly found ondesktop andlaptopkeyboards. The key has the opposite effect of theEnd key. In limited-size keyboards where theHome key is missing the same functionality can be reached via the key combination ofFn+←.
Its standard symbol⇱ fromISO/IEC 9995-7, i.e.U+21F1 ⇱NORTH WEST ARROW TO CORNER, is used on some full-size keyboards instead of a possibly localized text label.
In modernMicrosoft Windows text editing applications, it is primarily used to return the cursor to the beginning of the line where the cursor is located. When the text is not editable, theHome key is used to return to the beginning of the document; this can also be done in editable text if the key is pressed along withControl.
TheHome key can also be used to select all the characters before the cursor in a certain line if pressed along with⇧Shift in selectable text.
Only full-sized Apple keyboards have aHome key. InmacOS single linetext fields, the key works like it does inMS-DOS and Windows, going back to the days ofdumb terminals, where Home moves to the start of the line. In multilineword processors, when the key is pressed, the window scrolls to the top, while the caret position does not change at all; that is, theHome key is tied to the current window, not the text box being edited.[1][2] On Apple keyboards that do not have a Home key, one can pressFn+← for the Home key functionality described above. To get the same result as the Windows platform (that is, moving the insertion point to the beginning of the current line of text), one can press⌘Command+←. An application can also be used to change this behavior.[3]
InLinux, theHome key has basically the same functionality as it does on Windows. It returns the cursor to the beginning of the line in editable text, and otherwise scrolls a scrollable document to the beginning. Also, like Windows, theHome key can be used to select all the characters before the cursor in a certain line if pressed along with⇧ Shift in editable text.
AHome key was present on theADM-3A and many other pre-PCdumb terminal keyboards. Its application here was to return thetext cursor to the beginning of the screen line.
| Esc | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | F6 | F7 | F8 | F9 | F10 | F11 | F12 | PrtScn/ SysRq | Scroll Lock | Pause/ Break | |||||||||
 | Insert | Home | PgUp | Num Lock | ∕ | ∗ | − | |||||||||||||||||
| Delete | End | PgDn | 7 | 8 | 9 | + | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ | 1 | 2 | 3 | Enter | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ← | ↓ | → | 0 Ins | . Del | ||||||||||||||||||||