Buy Download Getting Started Learning Reference Hardware FAQ

Reference   Language | Libraries | Comparison | Changes

Keyboard Modifiers

The Keyboard.write() and Keyboard.press() and Keyboard.release() commands don’t work with every possible ASCII character, only those that correspond to a key on the keyboard. For example, backspace works, but many of the other non-printable characters produce unpredictable results. For capital letters (and other keys), what’s sent is shift plus the character (i.e. the equivalent of pressing both of those keys on the keyboard).

A modifier key is a special key on a computer keyboard that modifies the normal action of another key when the two are pressed in combination.

For more on ASCII values and the characters or functions they represent, see asciitable.com

For multiple key presses use Keyboard.press()

The Leonardo's definitions for modifier keys are listed below:

See Also

• Keyboard.begin()
• Keyboard.end()
• Keyboard.press()
• Keyboard.release()
• Keyboard.releaseAll()

Reference Home

Corrections, suggestions, and new documentation should be posted to the Forum.

The text of the Arduino reference is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Code samples in the reference are released into the public domain.