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{{short description|Key on computer keyboards}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2008}}

[[Image:enter.png|right|thumb|The return (red circle on the left) and enter (green circle on the right) keys on a [[Keyboard (computing)|keyboard]]]]

On [[computer keyboard]]s, the '''enter key''' {{key top|Enter}} and '''return key''' {{key top|Return|Return|narrow}} are two closely related keys with overlapping and distinct functions dependent on [[operating system]] and [[application software|application]].

==Functions==
The return key has its origins in two [[typewriter]] functions: [[carriage return]], which would reset the carriage to the beginning of the line of text, and [[line feed]], which would advance the paper one line downward. These were often combined into a single return key, a convention that continues in modern computer [[Word processor|word processing]] to insert a [[newline|paragraph break]] (¶).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/return-key |title=return key |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2020 |website=Cambridge Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=2020-09-14}}</ref>
[[File: Fl Return Button.png|thumb|right|An OK button which can be invoked by pressing a return key, or possibly an enter key]]
The enter key is a computer innovation, which in most cases causes the active [[user interface]] to operate its default function.
* For [[Command-line interface|command lines]], this is typically to execute the entered command.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/enter-key |title=Enter key |website=PCMag |publisher=Ziff Davis, LLC |access-date=2020-09-14}}</ref>
* For [[dialog box|dialog boxes]], it is an alternative to clicking the preselected button, usually an [[OK#Computers|OK button]].
* For the address bar of a [[web browser]] or [[file manager]], it is displaying the [[web page]] or folder that the typed address refers to.
* For [[calculator]] programs, it is calculating the result of the typed expression.

On modern computers both keys generally have all the functions of the other, allowing for either key to be used, or even for them to be combined into a single key, as is the case with most [[laptop]]s. [[Microsoft Windows]] makes no distinction between them whatsoever,{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} and usually both keys are labelled as enter on Windows keyboards with the [[QWERTY#United States|United States layout]]. Other operating systems, such as [[Apple Inc.|Apple's]] [[Darwin (operating system)|Darwin]]-based operating systems, generally treat them equivalently while still maintaining the technical and descriptive distinction, allowing applications to treat the two keys differently if necessary.

==Location==
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 350
 | image1 = ANSI US QWERTY (Windows) Enter Return.svg
 | image2 = ISO British QWERTY (Windows) Enter Return.svg
 | caption2 = Return (red) and Enter (green) keys highlighted on the ANSI United States layout (top) and ISO British layout (bottom).
}}
The enter key is typically located to the right of the {{key press|3}} and {{key press|.}} keys on the lower right of the [[numeric keypad]], while the return key is situated on the right edge of the main alphanumeric portion of the keyboard. On [[ISO/IEC 9995|ISO]] and [[Japanese Industrial Standards|JIS]] keyboards, return is a stepped double-height key spanning the second and third rows, below {{key top|Backspace}} and above the right-hand {{key top|Shift}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/51645.html |title=ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009 Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 1: General principles governing keyboard layouts |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2009 |publisher=International Organization for Standardization}}</ref> On [[ANSI]] keyboards it is wider but located on the third row only, as the [[backslash]] {{key press|\}} key is located between it and {{key top|Backspace}}.

[[Image:NeXT Pizzabox-IMG 7239.jpg|left|thumb|An example of a non-standard double-height ANSI return key on the [[NeXTstation]] keyboard (alongside several other non-standard elements)]]
Some variants of the ANSI keyboard layout create a double-height return key by subsuming the backslash {{key press|\}} key into it. This alternate form is most popular in Asia. However, this requires the relocation of the backslash key and is relatively uncommon on modern keyboards elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deskthority.net/wiki/Return_key |title=Return key |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Deskthority Wiki |publisher=Deskthority |access-date=2020-09-14}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Nomenclature}}Keyboard symbols===
[[File:2007 09 30 de Apple-Tastatur-crop.jpg|right|thumb|[[Apple Pro Keyboard|Apple Pro keyboard]], showing symbols on the return key and, on the number pad, the enter key]]
The return key symbol is {{unichar|23CE|return symbol}}, an arrow pointing down and leftward; however, rendering of the symbol varies greatly by [[typeface]], with it appearing hollow in some or with an additional initial rightward bar in others. For this reason, {{unichar|21B5}} or {{unichar|21A9}} are sometimes used instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xahlee.info/comp/unicode_computing_symbols.html |title=Keyboard Symbols ⌘ ⏎ ⌫ |last=Lee |first=Xah |website=Σ Xah Code |date=2010-09-03 |access-date=2020-08-31}}</ref> On most ISO and other keyboards worldwide the return key is labelled solely with the {{key press|⏎}} symbol across all [[Computing platform|platforms]]. Meanwhile, on ANSI US keyboards it is labelled as {{key press|Enter}} by Windows [[OEM]]s (sometimes even without the return symbol) and as {{key press|return}} by Apple.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.apple.com/shop/mac/mac-accessories |title=Mac Accessories |publisher=Apple Inc. |access-date=2020-09-14}}</ref>

For enter, {{unichar|2386|enter symbol}} exists in [[Unicode]] for the ISO 9995-7 enter key symbol;<ref name="misctech">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2300.pdf |title=Miscellaneous Technical |work=Unicode Standard |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]]}}</ref> however, it is infrequently used, one example being the [[CSA keyboard|French Canadian keyboard]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/46162/where-are-and-in-a-french-keyboard |title=Where are [ and ] in a French keyboard? |last=Jobin |first=Maxime |website=Ask Different |publisher=Stack Exchange |date=2012-03-27}}</ref> Windows keyboards worldwide tend to simply label the key with the text {{key press|Enter}}, while Apple uses the symbol {{key top|⌤}} ({{unichar|2324}}<ref>{{cite web |author=Apple Computer |author-link=Apple Inc. |url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/APPLE/KEYBOARD.TXT |title=Map (external version) from Mac OS Keyboard character set to Unicode 4.0 and later |date=2005-04-05 |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |quotation=0x04 0x2324 # UP ARROWHEAD BETWEEN TWO HORIZONTAL BARS # Enter key}}</ref> or {{unichar|2305}}) on ISO and JIS keyboards and the text {{key top|enter}} on ANSI US keyboards;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://macbiblioblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/special-key-symbols.html |title=Special Key Symbols |last=Weaks |first=Joe |website=The Macintosh Biblioblog |publisher=BlogSpot |date=2005-05-15 |access-date=2012-09-19}}</ref> this is acknowledged by an annotation "enter key" on U+2324 in the Unicode code chart.<ref name="misctech"/>

==History==
[[File:Commodore-64-Computer-FL.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Commodore 64]] (released in [[1982 in video gaming|1982]]) had only the "return" key.]]
On [[IBM]]'s [[IBM 3270|3270]] and [[IBM 5250|5250]] line of [[Computer terminal|terminals]], the Enter key was located to the right of the space bar and was used to send the contents of the terminal's buffer to the host computer. The Return key was located in a more standard location and was used to generate a new line.

Apple also took advantage of this situation to create an editable command line environment called a "Worksheet" in the [[Macintosh Programmer's Workshop]], where return was used strictly as a formatting key while enter was used to execute a shell command or series of commands in [[direct mode]]. This strict dichotomy has since been relaxed, so that now there are very few situations within [[macOS]] where enter and return are not equivalent.

One example of this continued division of use is the type tool in [[Adobe Photoshop]], where the return key produces a new line while the enter key ends editing mode. Another is [[Mathematica]], where the Return key creates a new line, while the Enter key (or Shift-Return) submits the current command for execution.

Historically, many computer models did not have a separate keypad, and only had one button to function as Enter or Return.  For example, the [[Commodore 64]] (manufactured from [[1982 in video gaming|1982]]) had only the "Return" key. Most laptop computers continue in this combined tradition.

Before computers, on electric typewriters the "Return" key was kept comparatively large. This is due to the frequency of usage (which also includes the space bar), and therefore, is kept large to reduce the likelihood of [[Typographical error|finger slips]].{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Carriage return]]
* [[Numeric keypad]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{keyboard}}
{{keyboard keys}}

[[Category:Computer keys]]