menu key

{{Short description|Button on Windows-oriented computer keyboards}}

{{Refimprove|date=July 2016}}

File:Kontextmenü.jpg

File:Menu key -- Diatec and Dell.jpg versions]]

File:Copilot key.jpg key (at center) on a Lenovo Legion 7i laptop. Starting in 2024, this key replaces the menu key for licensed Windows-compatible keyboards.]]

In computing, the menu key ({{keypress|Menu}}), or application key, is a key with the primary function to launch a context menu with the keyboard rather than with the usual right-mouse button.{{Cite web |title=Using your keyboard |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-your-keyboard-18b2efc1-9e32-ba5a-0896-676f9f3b994f |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=support.microsoft.com}} It was previously found on Microsoft Windows-oriented computer keyboards and was introduced at the same time as the Windows logo key. On keyboards including the key, its symbol would usually have been a small icon depicting a pointer hovering above a menu; it would typically have been found on the right side of the keyboard between the right Windows logo key and the right control key (or between the right AltGr key and the right control key). While the Windows key is present on the vast majority of keyboards intended for use with the Windows operating system, the menu key was frequently omitted in the interest of space, particularly on portable and laptop keyboards.

It was able to be used when the right-mouse button was not present on a mouse.

Some Windows public terminals did not have a Menu key on their keyboard with the goal of preventing users from right-clicking; however, in many Windows applications, a similar functionality could be invoked with the {{Key press|Shift|F10}} keyboard shortcut, or sometimes {{Key press|Ctrl|Shift|F10}}.

Some laptop computers include a menu function on the fn key (usually operated by typing {{Key press|Shift|Fn}}), however, this generally invokes functions built into the vendor's software and is not the same as the key described above. For example, the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard has an FN key where the menu key is usually found; pressing FN, together with the keyboard's print screen key (above home), produces the Menu key function.

Android devices formerly came with physical menu buttons, but with the release of Android Honeycomb, this was deprecated in favor of an on-screen button.{{cite web|url=http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/menus.html |title=Menus | Android Developers |website=Developer.android.com |date= |accessdate=2016-07-17}}{{cite web|author= |url=http://android-developers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/say-goodbye-to-menu-button.html |title=Say Goodbye to the Menu Button | Android Developers Blog |website=Android-developers.blogspot.co.uk |date=2012-01-26 |accessdate=2016-07-17}}