The Key(s) of F

[beamjockey]

I just realized that, although I use a Windows machine every business day, I never touch the function keys. I mean the ones labeled F1 through F12, above the number row on the QWERTY part of the keyboard.

I don't even know what the F#-keys do, though I am perfectly capable of finding out

Comments

[rono_60103]

What's your favorite F# key

In my saxophone playing days I generally preferred to use the main keys on the left hand and a forked fingering for the right hand when playing F♯. But I don't remember what the individual keys were called.

Seriously, many or most Windows programs have function key mappings. But the functions in question usually (or always) also can be performed through the menus and toolbar.

I use F5, F7, CTRL-F7, F10, and F11 regularly in visual studio. They are "Start/continue debugging", "Build Solution", "Build File", "Step over", and "Step Into" respectively.

[agoodwinsmith]

Back at the dawn of time I used the F keys for commands in WordPerfect (oh, how I still pine for WordPerfect 5.1). I can't remember what any of them do, but I have a residual attachment to F5 for some reason.

[ffutures]

They mostly have some function in Oolite, though you can use the number keys instead. It's mostly fairly old software that uses them, which is why compact keyboards often minimise their size.

[sraun]

F5 defaults to Refresh for Windows Explorer and most web browsers - it's probably the one I use most.

[tandw]

Likewise here. I don't tend to use any of the others any more.

[blufive]

As pointed out by others, the function key functions tend to vary wildly from one program to another, which is why I mostly don't use them these days, because I generally can't keep track of what does what in all the different programs I use.

I suppose I do use F2 (which is "rename this thing" in several programs I use, including Windows Explorer, and "edit this cell" in Excel) quite a bit. And often curse as I fat-finger F1, which is mostly "help" - usually in the form of an intrusive, slow-to-launch, extra window which just gets in the way.