Why Are There Two “Ctrl, Shift, and Alt” Keys on Keyboards?

Keyboards have become an integral part of our daily lives and act as a gateway to the digital world. While we often underestimate their layout and functionality, there are logical reasons behind some design choices. on the keyboard Ctrl, Shift, and Alt keys existence is one of the products of this design preference.

Have you ever wondered why your keyboard has two Ctrl, Shift and Alt keys on each side? These keys are called modifier keys because as you know, they change the function of other keys when used together. For example Ctrl+Cis copying the selected text. Shift+A writes a capital letter A and Alt+F4 also closes the current window. So why do we need two of each modifier key? Isn’t just one enough? Is there a deeper reason behind this?

To answer these questions we need to go back in time and look at the ancestor of keyboard layouts: QWERTY

The QWERTY layout is attributed to an American inventor named Christopher Latham Sholes, who patented the first practical typewriter in 1868 (so we don’t know who discovered it first, but he got the patent). Sholes, for his typewriter who uses metal hammers to strike inked strips and make marks on paper was trying different keyboard layouts.

One of the problems he ran into was hammers getting stuck when two adjacent keys were pressed in quick succession. To solve this problem, the most commonly used Tried adding letter pairs like TH, ER and AN separately to the keyboard layout. This is how the idea of ​​modifier keys first appeared.

Sholes also borrowed some ideas from existing telegraph keyboards, such as placing vowels at the top and using punctuation as scrolling characters. You can also use the keyboard to separate words. added a spacebar at the bottom. The result was a layout similar to what we use today, except that some keys are in different positions, such as Z and X swapping and M being in second place.

Finally, the Shift key was added to these typewriters so that users can type letters in uppercase or lowercase whenever they want. Sholes sold his typewriter patent to the Remington company, which manufactures firearms and sewing machines. Remington made some minor changes to Sholes’ layout and began mass production of typewriters in 1874. modern keyboards as we know them now. IBM added the Ctrl and Alt keys to the literature.

So why put two of these modifier keys in each?

As we said, in original typewriters this there were no modifier keysbecause they were not needed to write text (Except for the Shift key). However, as computers became more advanced and capable of performing a variety of functions and commands, these keys began to be used to provide shortcuts and options to users.

Having two sets of keys is on our keyboards as it allows users to use both hands to perform shortcuts and commands, depending on which one is closer or comfortable. For example, we use the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V commands we use to copy and paste the selected text. C And V letters are near where we position our left hand on the keyboard. Therefore one-handed to be able to copy and paste a text Ctrl key we use

But if in Word you need to use bold a selected text command, Ctrl+K command. Instead of using both hands for this You can do it with one hand using the right Ctrl key..

Or to give another example, which is the location we all use to get to the Task Manager. Ctrl+Alt+Del command that you can only do with your right hand did you know?

In other words, as you can understand, there are two of these toggle keys, although most of them are not used by daily users, these keys are there to make our work easier and when you make it a habit, you can use the computer. you will start using it much faster.