How to Use a Keyboard ⌨️
What You'll Learn
- Find letters and numbers on the keyboard
- Use the Space Bar, Enter key, and Backspace
- Type your name for the first time!
Finding the Letters
The keyboard has a key for every letter in the alphabet. Look at the middle row — you'll see A S D F G H J K L. This is called the home row. When you get better at typing, your fingers will rest here!
The letters are not in ABC order on a keyboard. They are arranged in a special way called QWERTY — named after the first six letters on the top row!
When you are just learning, it is totally fine to look at the keyboard and use one finger to find each letter. This is called "hunt and peck" typing — and everyone starts this way!
Important Keys to Know
- ⬛ Space Bar — the long key at the bottom. Press it to make a space between words.
- ↵ Enter / Return — press this to start a new line or to say "done!" to the computer.
- ⌫ Backspace — made a mistake? Press Backspace to erase the last letter you typed.
- ⇧ Shift — hold Shift while pressing a letter to make it a CAPITAL letter.
- 🔒 Caps Lock — press once to make ALL your letters capitals. Press again to turn it off.
Capital Letters
When you type, letters usually come out small — like abc. To make a CAPITAL letter, hold down the Shift key and press the letter at the same time!
Try it: Hold Shift and press A — you should see a capital A!
Names always start with a capital letter. Your name, your city, and your school all start with a capital!
Ask a grown-up to open a text editor (like Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac). Now let's type your name!
- Hold Shift and press the first letter of your name — it will be a CAPITAL!
- Now type the rest of your name without holding Shift.
- Press Enter to go to a new line.
- Type: I love learning!
- If you make a mistake, press Backspace to erase it and try again.
1. What key do you press to make a space between words?
2. You typed the wrong letter! Which key fixes your mistake?
3. How do you type a capital letter?