Computer word

What Is the Windows Key?

The Windows key is a key on a Windows computer's keyboard. Pressing it opens the Start menu, the same menu that opens when you click Start on the taskbar. Pressing it again closes the menu.

What it looks like

A drawing of a Windows keyboard. The key near the left end of the bottom row, between Fn and Alt, is shaded and labeled with the word Windows.

It is in the bottom row, near the left corner, between the Ctrl or Fn key and the Alt key. It shows the Windows logo, a window made of four squares. In the picture on this page it is labeled with the word Windows instead of the logo.

On Windows and on a Mac

Mac keyboards have no Windows key. On a Mac keyboard, the keys nearest that place are Option and Command; neither opens a menu when pressed on its own.

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