You are plausibly here becuase you are trying to follow a tutorial and it ’s advert to the Option Francis Scott Key . You await down at your keyboard and there is no Option key . If you are search for the Option samara on a Mac , wondering where the Option key is on a PC keyboard , or just marvel that the Option key does , we have the solvent .
No Option key?
There are a number of reasons why your keyboard might not have an selection key :
We ’ll persist through everything you need to lie with about the location of the Option tonality , which samara to apply or else , and what you’re able to do with selection below .
Where is the Option key on Mac?
Many Mac users – Brits specially – wonder where to find the choice key on a Mac . And it ’s barely surprising that many newcomers to Apple computers may be a little stumped . Scan the keyboard of any Apple Macintosh sell in the UK between 2006 and 2017 , and you ’re unconvincing to line up a key labelled Option . So where is the Mac Option key ?
The answer to the doubt of where is the Option winder is mere . The Option samara on a Mac , otherwise known as the Alternate key , is usually label with the alphabetic character Alt and the ⌥ symbol .
On Apple keyboard it generally ride between the Command and the Ctrl key fruit on the leftfield of the bottom wrangle ( newer Macs with bigger keyboards may also have an Option / Alt paint on the correct side of the keyboard ) . Read : Where is the Command samara ?
Where is Option on a windows keyboard?
Like some Mac keyboard , Windows keyboards also lack the choice keystone . It ’s potential to employ a Windows keyboard with a Mac – and just as you ’d expect if you ’ve scan the above , the Alt Florida key is the one to use when the pick key is call for .
The Alt key will be conversant to Windows PC drug user as the headstone immediately to the left of the Spacebar .
If you plug a Windows or IBM PC keyboard into a Mac , pressing the Alt key has the same effect as weight-lift the selection headstone .
Another key missing from a microcomputer keyboard that you will expect on the Mac is the Command samara . We discuss that elsewhere .
What does the Option key do?
The Option key fruit has many essential uses on the Mac – in fact for Mac users Option or Alt carries a lot more responsibility than the Alt Florida key does on a microcomputer .
One of the most common uses for pick ( or Alt ) on a Mac is to typewrite symbols and accent marks such as å , ß , ∂ and µ. We coverHow to type Æ , € , # , @ , © and other characters on a Macseparately .
pick / Alt is also used in hatful of really ready to hand keyboard shortcuts . A lot of the time combine the Option / Alt cay with the Command key will raise the standard option , so , for object lesson , Command + Option / Alt + Shift + S will bring up theSave As selection .
you’re able to also press Option / Alt + Command + R to enter Internet Recovery mode on some Macs .
And if you have a 2nd volume on your Mac , or you are running macOS from an external thrust , then Option / Alt is the Florida key to crusade at start up in decree to access this drive .
see outMac keyboard shortcutsfor more ways to expend the Option / Alt key .
Why is there no Option key?
We do n’t know why Apple decided to remove the Option legend on some territories ’ keyboard and instead employ only the Logos ‘ Alt ’ and the ⌥ symbol .
Best we can see , Apple removed the Option designation convention on non - US Mac keyboard around the time of the C.P.U. migration from Motorola / IBM to Intel . In other words , after leaving the G3 , G4 and G5 for the Intel Core 2 Duo and Core i3 / i5 / i7 series .
You may also findHow to right - select a MacandHow to find oddment and plate on a Mac keyboarduseful .
