In computer keyboards

Keyboard (computing)

In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

, the enter key (or the return key on Macs

Macintosh

The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...

 and most Sun Workstations

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

) in most cases causes a command line

Command-line interface

A command-line interface is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks...

, window form, or dialog box

Dialog box

In a graphical user interface of computers, a dialog box is a type of window used to enable reciprocal communication or "dialog" between a computer and its user. It may communicate information to the user, prompt the user for a response, or both...

 to operate its default function. This is typically to finish an "entry" and begin the desired process, and is usually an alternative to pressing an OK button.

The return key is often also referred to as that by many American groups (and even marked as) the enter key and it usually performs the same function as the enter key, but in some applications (mainly page layout

Page layout

Page layout is the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement and style treatment of elements on a page.- History and development :...

, word processing

Word processing

Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...

 and in typewriting) it is the one that operates like the carriage return

Carriage return

Carriage return, often shortened to return, refers to a control character or mechanism used to start a new line of text.Originally, the term "carriage return" referred to a mechanism or lever on a typewriter...

 key from which it originates. It typically has an arrow pointing down and left , which is the symbol for carriage return.

The enter key is typically located on the lower right of the numeric keyboard, and the return key (often marked as the enter key) on the right edge of the keyboard, under backspace

Backspace

Backspace is the keyboard key that originally pushed the typewriter carriage one position backwards, and in modern computer displays moves the cursor one position backwards, deletes the preceding character, and shifts back the text after it by one position....

 in older computers and under the vertical bar

Vertical bar

The vertical bar is a character with various uses in mathematics, where it can be used to represent absolute value, among others; in computing and programming and in general typography, as a divider not unlike the interpunct...

 key in most newer machines (assuming a standard US layout).

Apple commonly uses the symbol (U

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...

+2324, "UP ARROWHEAD BETWEEN TWO HORIZONTAL BARS") to represent the Enter key.

Differences between Enter and Return

On some keyboard layouts, the return and enter key are two different keys, an artifact of the differing handling of newline

Newline

In computing, a newline, also known as a line break or end-of-line marker, is a special character or sequence of characters signifying the end of a line of text. The name comes from the fact that the next character after the newline will appear on a new line—that is, on the next line below the...

s by different operating systems. As an example, on the Macintosh

Macintosh

The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...

, the return key is the usual key, while the enter key is positioned at the lower right of the numeric key pad. For example, while using the text tool in Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...

, the return key produces a new line while the enter key ends editing mode.

On IBM's 3270

IBM 3270

The IBM 3270 is a class of block oriented terminals made by IBM since 1972 normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. As such, it was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text colour on the original models, these terminals are informally known as green screen terminals...

 and 5250

IBM 5250

IBM 5250 was originally a family of terminal devices sold with the IBM System/34 minicomputer systems. One model was the IBM 5251-11. It also connected to the later System/36, System/38 and AS/400 systems.- Historical origins :...

 line of terminals

Computer terminal

A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...

, 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 a highly editable command line environment called a "Worksheet" in the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop

Macintosh Programmer's Workshop

Macintosh Programmer's Workshop or MPW, is a software development environment for the Classic Mac OS, written by Apple Computer. For Macintosh developers, it was one of the primary tools for building applications for System 7.x and Mac OS 8.x and 9.x. Initially, MPW was sold as a commercial product...

, 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

Direct mode

Direct mode, also known as immediate mode is a computing term referring to the input of textual commands outside the context of a program. The command would be executed immediately and the results printed on screen, in contrast to programming mode where nothing would be executed until a specific...

.

In technical terms, the Macintosh keyboard maps the return key to a carriage return

Carriage return

Carriage return, often shortened to return, refers to a control character or mechanism used to start a new line of text.Originally, the term "carriage return" referred to a mechanism or lever on a typewriter...

, while the enter key maps to a newline.

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

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 (manufactured from 1982

1982 in video gaming

-Events:* December 27 - Starcade, a video game television game show, debuts on TBS in the United States.-Notable releases:*October 13 - Mystique releases the Custer's Revenge adult video game for the Atari 2600 home console....

) had only the "Return" key.

Uses

In pocket calculator

Calculator

An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...

-like programs (for example, Microsoft Calculator for Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 users), the enter key of the numeric keypad

Numeric keypad

A numeric keypad, numpad or tenkey for short, is the small, palm-sized, seventeen key section of a computer keyboard, usually on the very far right. The numeric keypad features digits 0 to 9, addition , subtraction , multiplication and division symbols, a decimal point and Num Lock and Enter keys...

 acts like the equal to (=) button to obtain the result of the previously entered operations.
Usually the default button on a form is highlighted, giving a subtle visual clue that the user has the option of clicking the button or simply pressing Enter.

In modern word processing applications

Word processor

A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material....

, pressing the return key ends a paragraph and starts a new one. Spacing between the paragraphs can be defined through paragraph styles. Some people, however, tend to misuse the return key by pressing it two or more times in order to get extra space between paragraphs (in reality, this inserts blank paragraphs, which is not the right way to use a word processor). In contrast, using the return key to space paragraphs in plain text

Plain text

In computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....

files is normal.