Why caps lock key

Techopedia Terms. Connect with us. Sign up. Term of the Day. Best of Techopedia weekly. News and Special Offers occasional. Caps Lock. Techopedia Explains Caps Lock. What Does Caps Lock Mean? Share this Term. The alternative set of keys was pushed up and locked in the new position, and the Caps Lock key was held down.

The user had to turn off Caps Lock mechanically by pressing the Caps Lock key again. If you pressed the Caps Lock key, you can turn it off by pressing the key again. Many keyboards have a built-in status indicator that lights up when the Caps Lock key is on. This LED is located either directly on the key or on the status bar of the keyboard, if there is one. First, open a word processor and press any key. Then see whether the program generates lowercase or uppercase letters from the alternative set of key values.

The terms Caps Lock and Shift Lock are often used interchangeably , although they are not synonyms: If the Caps Lock key is on, only letters are capitalized. The other keys do not change. Pressing the Shift Lock key is the same as holding down the Shift key, meaning upper case letters are generated instead of lower case letters and special characters are generated instead of numbers.

The exact differences usually depend on the keyboard settings of specific systems and users. You can use various methods to turn Caps Lock on or off, permanently disable it or even assign a custom function to it. On most keyboards, if the Caps Lock key is on and you want to turn it off, simply press the key again.

On mechanical typewriters, the Caps Lock key was often released by pressing the Shift key. As a result, many people still prefer this method. You can easily change this setting in Windows 10 :. Open the Settings app, go to Devices and click Typing in the sidebar.

Scroll down and click Advanced keyboard settings. In the next window, select Language bar options. Go to the Advanced keyboard settings tab. Nowadays, this is usually no longer an issue because applications like Microsoft Word will automatically correct accidental usage of the Caps Lock key. Alternatively, you can assign it another function that you need more often than Caps Lock. To disable, turn off, or unlock the Caps Lock key, press the key again.

The Caps Lock function on the default keyboards included with smartphones and tablets works differently than the keyboard key. If you want to type in all caps on a phone or tablet, double-tap the key that looks like an up arrow. If done properly, the arrow has an underline and remains active until tapped again.

See our Search Key page for further information and an example of this key. The Caps Lock key is a toggle key that allows you to switch the letters on your keyboard from lowercase to uppercase.

For example, if you press the Caps Lock key to enable Caps Lock, every letter you type on the keyboard will be automatically capitalized until you press it again to disable it. In the Windows Narrator program, the Caps Lock key is known as the "Narrator key" and is used in conjunction with other keys to perform Narrator shortcuts. Both "CapsLock" and "Caps Lock" are correct.