View source for Insert key

{{short description|Computer keyboard key}}
{{Citations missing|date=December 2007}}
{{redirects|Overtype|additive typing (rather than replacement typing)|Overstrike}}
[[Image:Insertpad.svg|thumb|200px|The insert key among other keys]]
The '''Insert key''' {{keypress|Insert}} (often abbreviated '''Ins''') is a key commonly found on [[computer keyboard]]s.

It is primarily used to switch between the two text-entering [[Mode (user interface)|mode]]s on a [[personal computer]] (PC) or [[word processor]]:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/overtype-mode|title=Definition of overtype mode|website=PCMAG}}</ref>
* '''overtype''' mode, in which the [[cursor (computers)|cursor]], when typing, overwrites any text that is present in the current location; and
* '''insert'''    mode, where the cursor inserts a [[character (computing)|character]] at its current position, forcing all characters past it one position further.
The insert/overtype mode toggling is not global for the computer or even for a single application but rather local to the text input window in which the Insert key was pressed.

==Overview==
On early [[text-based]] computing environments and [[computer terminal|terminals]], when the cursor is in overtype mode, it was represented as a block that surrounded the entire letter to be overstruck; when in insert mode, the cursor consisted of the [[vertical bar]] that is highly common among modern applications, or a blinking underline under the position where a new character would be inserted.

On modern keyboards, the Insert key is only present on the control block between the typewriter keys and the numeric keypad. Originally an insert key was provided in the typewriter key block beside a [[delete key]]; both have been removed in favor of a double-sized '[[backspace key]]'. The key was often maligned as unnecessary and more likely to be accidentally than intentionally activated.<ref name="Slate KILL IT OFF">{{cite news |last1=Malady |first1=Matthew J. X. |title=Five Modest Proposals for Improving the Computer Keyboard |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/02/caps-lock-has-to-go-and-other-proposals-for-improving-the-computer-keyboard.html |access-date=15 December 2020 |work=[[Slate Magazine]] |date=1 February 2012 |language=en}}</ref>

When [[keyboard layout|keymapping]] using Octal code, the desired key may be set by sending {{code|\e\161}} to perform the "insert" function.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

==Use in applications ==
Modern [[word processing]] applications operate in insert mode by default, but can still be switched to overtype mode by pressing the Insert key. Some applications indicate overtype mode with a letter-width cursor box, as opposed to the standard narrow cursor; however, others use the narrow cursor for both modes, and indicate overtype with an "OVR" indicator in the status bar.

The Insert key, when pressed along with [[ctrl key|Control]] or [[shift key|Shift]], can also be used to [[copy and paste|copy or paste]] in [[Microsoft Windows]]. This behavior comes from the [[Common User Access]] standard.

[[Screen reader]]s use the insert key for hotkeys for reading text, speaking formatting information, or opening the screen reader's configuration menu or window.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Computer keys]]
{{Keyboard}}
{{keyboard keys}}