View source for Command key

{{Short description|Computer key}}
{{For|the same [[Keyboard technology#Types|keyboard key]] in [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]|Menu key}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}

{{Infobox symbol
|mark = ⌘
|unicode = {{unichar|2318|Place of interest sign|html=}}
}}

The '''Command key''' (sometimes abbreviated as '''Cmd key'''), '''{{char|⌘}}''', formerly also known as the '''Apple key''' or '''open Apple key''', is a [[modifier key]] present on [[Apple Keyboard|Apple keyboards]]. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter [[keyboard shortcut|keyboard commands]] in applications and in the [[Operating system|system]]. An "extended" Macintosh keyboard—the most common type—has two command keys, one on each side of the [[space bar]]; some compact keyboards have one only on the left.

The {{char|⌘}} symbol (the "[[looped square]]") was chosen by [[Susan Kare]] after [[Steve Jobs]] decided that the use of the [[Marketing of Apple Inc.#Logo|Apple logo]] in the menu system (where the keyboard shortcuts are displayed) would be an over-use of the logo. Apple's adaptation of the symbol—encoded in [[Unicode]] at U+2318—was derived in part from its use in [[Nordic countries]] as an indicator of cultural locations and places of interest.<ref name="susan_kare_on_macintosh">{{cite web |publisher=Stanford University |title=Susan Kare on Working on the Macintosh |url=https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/mac/primary/interviews/kare/mac.html |date=February 20, 2001 |access-date=May 27, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150527143227/https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/mac/primary/interviews/kare/mac.html | archive-date = 2015-05-27}}</ref> The symbol is known by various other names, including "Saint John's Arms" and "[[Bowen knot]]".

== History ==
{{See also|Fonts on Macintosh#Apple logo}}

Apple's computers up through the 1979 [[Apple II Plus]] did not have a command key. The first model on which it appeared was the 1980 [[Apple III]], where there are two monochrome Apple keys, both to the left of the space bar on the lowest row of the keyboard. Two other early Apple computers, the 1982 [[Apple IIe]] and the 1984 [[Apple IIc]], also had two such keys, one to the left and one to the right of the space bar; in these models, they mapped to the first two fire buttons of an attached [[joystick]]. This allowed for flexible combinations of a modifier key and base key (such as Open-Apple with C for Copy) with just a few extra wires and no ROM changes, since the Apple II could only register one key press at a time (Shift and Control keys were handled in the keyboard encoding hardware which generated ASCII codes). In all these cases, the left Apple key had an outlined "open" Apple logo, and the one on the right had an opaque, "closed" or "solid" Apple logo key. The [[Apple Lisa]] had only the closed Apple logo.

When the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] was introduced in 1984, the keyboard had a single command key with a [[looped square]] symbol (⌘, [[Unicode|U]]+2318), because Steve Jobs said that showing the Apple logo throughout the menus as a keyboard shortcut was "taking [it] in vain".<ref name="logo_in_vain">{{ cite web | url = http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt | title = Swedish Campground | access-date = December 23, 2006 | last = Hertzfeld | first = Andy | work = Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories | quote = 'There are too many Apples on the screen! It's ridiculous! We're taking the Apple logo in vain! We've got to stop doing that!' }}</ref> Thus, the ⌘ symbol appears in the Macintosh menus as the primary modifier key symbol. The original Macintosh also had an Option key, which was used primarily for entering extended characters.

In 1986, the [[Apple IIGS|Apple II<small>GS</small>]] was introduced. Like the newer Macintosh computers to come, such as the [[Macintosh SE]], it used the [[Apple Desktop Bus]] for its keyboard and mouse. However, it was still an Apple II. Apple changed the keys on the II<small>GS</small>'s keyboard to Command and [[Option key|Option]], as on Mac keyboards, but added an open-Apple to the Command key, for consistency with applications for previous Apple II generations. (The Option key did not have a closed-Apple, probably because Apple II applications used the closed-Apple key much more rarely than the open-Apple key; thus there was less need to keep it around.) Because any ADB keyboard could be used with the II<small>GS</small>, all of Apple's ADB keyboards—even those intended for the Mac—also required the open-Apple, and it stuck for more than twenty years, causing confusion long after the Apple II series went out of production.

The Apple symbol was removed in the keyboard's 2007 redesign, making room for the key's name to appear—the word "command" is now printed on the key.<ref name="open_apple_closed_apple">{{ cite web | url = https://www.macworld.com/article/224807/think-retro-open-apple-closed-apple.html | title = Think Retro: Open Apple, closed Apple | access-date = September 30, 2022 | last = Phin | first = Christopher | work = MacWorld | quote = 'in 2007 Jobs’ vision was finally realized and the Apple symbol was removed for good. In its place, on U.S. keyboards, the word Command joins the ⌘, while in Europe it’s Cmd.' }}</ref>

== NeXT ==
[[File:NeXT_Keyboard_Command_Key.jpg|thumbnail|right|NeXT keyboard command key]]

On the keyboard of the [[NeXT Computer]] that key was marked {{keypress|{{color|green|command}}}} in green.
<!--
    Note when editing: do not remove the color green template in the keypress template,
    otherwise the knot symbol is automatically inserted, which was NOT on the NeXT keyboard
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The menus were not marked with a symbol denoting the command key.

Besides being used as a modifier key for keyboard shortcuts it was also used to alter the function of some keys. {{keypress|{{color|green|Command}}|Shift}} toggles alpha lock, {{keypress|{{color|green|command}}|return}} sends Enter and {{keypress|{{color|green|command}}|F11 🔉}} toggles Mute.<ref>NeXT User's Reference, 4/90, Reorder Product #N6002</ref>

The functions were printed in green on the front side of the modified keys. This was also done on the Z, X, C and V  keys (Undo, Cut, Copy and Paste).

(Left) {{keypress|{{color|green|command}}}}-{{keypress|[[Alt key|option]]}}-{{keypress|*}} triggers a non-catchable ''hardware'' [[Reset (computing)|reset]] thereby [[Reboot (computing)#Hard reboot|hard rebooting]] the computer. (Contrary to [[Ctrl alt del|{{Keypress|Ctrl|Alt|Del}}]] on a [[IBM PC compatible|PC compatible computer]] which triggers only a ''software'' reset.)

On the NeXT [[Apple Desktop Bus|ADB]] keyboard, the Command keys were replaced by keys labeled {{keypress|help}} and the Command key morphed into a wide ''Command bar'' in front of the space bar.<ref>large picture of a [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Apple_Keyboard_vs._NeXT_ADB_keyboard_%28circa_1992%29.jpg NeXT ADB keyboard] showing the "Command bar"</ref>

== Function ==
The purpose of the Command key is to allow the user to enter [[keyboard shortcuts]] in applications and in the [[Operating system|system]]. The [http://interface.free.fr/Archives/Apple_HIGuidelines.pdf Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines] have always recommended that developers use the Command key (and not the Control or Option keys) for this purpose. A small set of keyboard commands (such as cut and paste, open and save) are standard across nearly all applications, and many other commands are standardized (Find, Show Fonts). If an application needs more shortcuts than can be obtained with the twenty-six letters of the [[Latin alphabet]], double modifiers such as Command+Option are used.

One advantage of this scheme, as contrasted with the [[Microsoft Windows]] mixed use of the Control and [[Alt key|Alt]] keys, is that the [[Control key]] is available for its original purpose: entering [[control character]]s in [[Terminal emulator|terminal]] applications. (Indeed, the very first Macintosh lacked a Control key; it was soon added to allow compatible terminal software.)

The Macintosh keyboard's other unusual modifier key, the [[Option key]], serves as a modifier both for entering keyboard shortcuts and for typing text—it is used to enter foreign characters, typographical symbols, and other special characters.

== Origin of the symbol ==
{{see also|Looped square|Bowen knot}}

[[File:Sweden road sign H22.svg|thumb|Swedish road sign no. H22]]
[[File:Bowen-knot-in-rope.jpg|thumb|A [[Bowen knot]]]]

The ⌘ symbol came into the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] project at a late stage. The development team originally went for their old Apple key, but [[Steve Jobs]] found it frustrating when "apples" filled up the Mac's menus next to the key commands, because he felt that this was an over-use of the company [[logo]].<ref name="logo_in_vain" /> He then opted for a different key symbol. With only a few days left before deadline, the team's bitmap artist [[Susan Kare]] started researching for the Apple logo's successor. She was browsing through a symbol dictionary when she came across the cloverleaf-like symbol, commonly used in [[Nordic countries]] as an indicator of cultural locations and places of interest<ref name="susan_kare_on_macintosh" /><ref name="grafik">{{cite web|url=https://www.grafik.net/category/pictoform/high-command|title=High Command|last=Grafik|website=Grafik}}</ref> (it is the official road sign for [[tourist attraction]] in [[Denmark]], [[Finland]],<ref name="Informative signs">{{cite web|url=http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162623/http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-date = 2015-04-02 | title=Informative signs|publisher=Finnish Transport Agency|date=August 10, 2011|access-date=April 5, 2014}}</ref> [[Iceland]],<ref name="Road Markings, www.arctic.is">{{cite web | url = http://www.arctic.is/traffic-signs/ | title=Road Markings, www.arctic.is | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162623/http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-date = 2015-04-02}}</ref> [[Norway]],<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.vegvesen.no/Trafikkinformasjon/Lover+og+regler/Trafikkskilt/Serviceskilt |title=Serviceskilt |publisher=Vegvesen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006024837/http://www.vegvesen.no/Trafikkinformasjon/Lover%2Bog%2Bregler/Trafikkskilt/Serviceskilt |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and [[Sweden]],<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Vag/Vagmarken/Lokaliseringsmarken-for-upplysning-om-serviceanlaggningar-med-mera/Sevardhet/ |title=Sevärdhet |publisher=Transportstyrelsen | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100823204216/http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Vag/Vagmarken/Lokaliseringsmarken-for-upplysning-om-serviceanlaggningar-med-mera/Sevardhet/ | archive-date = 2010-08-23}} {{in lang|sv}}</ref> and the computer key has often been called ''{{lang|sv|Fornminne}}''—[[ancient monument]]—by Swedish Mac users<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.faktoider.nu/fornminne.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163817/http://www.faktoider.nu/fornminne.html | archive-date = 2015-04-02 |title=Fornminne på Mac |publisher=Hexmasters Faktoider}} {{in lang|sv}}</ref> and ''{{lang|da|Seværdighedstegn}}''—landmark signs—by [[Danish language|Danish]] users). When she showed it to the rest of the team, everyone liked it, and so it became the symbol of the 1984 Macintosh command key.<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt | title = Swedish Campground | access-date = February 21, 2007 | last = Hertzfeld | first = Andy | work = Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories | quote = 'Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.' | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512133957/http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt | archive-date = 2015-05-12 }}</ref><ref name="grafik"/> Susan Kare states that she has since been told that the symbol was picked for its Scandinavian usage due to its resembling the shape of a square castle with round corner towers as seen from above looking down, notably [[Borgholm Castle]].<ref name="grafik"/> However, the symbol is used in many places in Scandinavian history, for example on a 5th-century picture stone from Gotland,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.guteinfo.com/?id=3665 |title=Bilder av Gotland - Kulturkringlan}}</ref> and first usage of the shape as a sign for a place of interest was suggested by the Finnish Local Heritage Federation in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.raa.se/om-riksantikvarieambetet/riksantikvarieambetets-historia/ |title=Riksantikvarieämbetets historia|date=August 17, 2017 }}</ref>

The symbol was included in the original Macintosh font [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]], and could be inserted by typing a {{Keypress|Ctrl|Q}} key combination.<ref>{{ cite web | last = Apple Computer | title = Technical Note TE505 – Font Manager Q&As – Macintosh Reference Library | url = https://developer.apple.com/technotes/te/te_505.html | publisher = Apple | date = October 1, 1993 | access-date = September 2, 2008 | quote = Chicago Control-Q prints propeller or clover symbol }}</ref>

In [[Unicode]] and [[HTML]] it is encoded as {{unichar|2318|Place of interest sign|html=}}.<ref>{{ cite web | first = Julie D. | last = Allen | title = Unicode Names Index | url = https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.0.0/Indices.pdf | work = The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0.0 | publisher = Unicode Consortium | page = 1214 | date = October 2006 | access-date = August 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = Unicode Character Name Index | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/charindex.html#P | access-date = May 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = ''The Unicode Standard, Version 6.0'': Miscellaneous Technical | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2300.pdf | access-date = May 26, 2011}}</ref>

== On other keyboards ==
On [[USB]] keyboards, the {{keypress|Command}} keys are mapped to standard keycodes reserved for [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] functions.<ref>{{ citation | title = USB HID usage table | url = http://www.freebsddiary.org/APC/usb_hid_usages.php | work = FreeBSD Diary  | access-date = 2014-09-30 }}</ref>

When using a Macintosh computer with a keyboard lacking {{keypress|Command}} keys, the {{key top|Windows|3=true}} keys used on [[Microsoft Windows]] oriented keyboards, or the {{key top|Meta}} keys used on [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] and other Unix keyboards, can be used in place of the Command keys.<ref>{{ cite news | first = Dan | last = Frakes | title = Mac mini, Windows Keyboard | url = http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/2005/01/doublecommand/index.php | work = MacWorld | publisher = Mac Publishing | date = January 31, 2005 | access-date = December 23, 2006 | quote = Windows key acts as Apple/command }}.</ref> Conversely, when an Apple USB keyboard is used with other operating systems, the Command keys function as Windows keys or Meta keys.

On a Windows keyboard the position of the {{keypress|Win}} and {{keypress|Alt}} keys are swapped compared to the position of {{keypress|Alt}} and {{keypress|Command}} keys on an Apple keyboard. In [[macOS]] this can be configured in the keyboard preferences (Modifier Keys ...<ref>{{cite web | title = How-To: Remap Windows keyboards to match the Mac keyboard layout | url = https://9to5mac.com/2016/03/17/how-to-remap-windows-keyboard-buttons-match-mac-layout/}}</ref>) so that the Windows {{keypress|Alt}} key (next to the space bar) becomes the Mac {{keypress|Command}} key and vice versa so that users do not have to change their [[motor learning]]. All the modifier keys, along with the {{keypress|Caps lock}}, can be remapped to whichever modifier key function the user wishes, so users of traditional Unix style keyboards may choose to use the {{keypress|Caps lock}} key as a {{keypress|Command}} key or other modifier.

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Command keys}}
* [http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/feature-key.html Jargon File entry on feature key]
* [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/P/pretzel-key.html Jargon File entry on pretzel key]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130502133023/http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium&search=camp Andy Hertzfeld's story at Folklore.org]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720045826/http://library.stanford.edu/mac/primary/interviews/kare/ Susan Kare's interview about the symbol]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061111121234/http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/29/2919.html Sight Worth Seeing entry, Symbols]
* [http://lowendmac.com/2002/more-on-the-history-of-apples-command-key/ More on the History of Apple's Command Key, Low End Mac]
* [http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/25/2518.html St. Hans' Cross entry, Symbols Online Symbol Encyclopedia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140911221843/http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/08/11/how-apple-keyboards-lost-a-logo-and-windows-pcs-gained-one/ "How Apple Keyboards Lost a Logo and Windows PCs Gained One", ''RoughlyDrafted'']
* [https://medium.com/technology-and-language/what-is-apples-command-key-all-about-fe6f9410405e Tom Chatfield tells the story of the command key, on Medium]
* [http://www.johnmiranda.com/next/_DSC4805.jpg High resolution photo of mint NeXT keyboard]

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{{Mac OS X}}
{{keyboard keys}}

[[Category:Computer keys]]
[[Category:Macintosh platform]]