Esc key
On computer keyboards, the Esc key is a key used to generate the escape character. The escape character, when sent from the keyboard to a computer, often is interpreted by software as "stop", "cancel" or "exit", and when sent from the computer to an external device marks the beginning of an escape sequence to specify operating modes or characteristics generally.
It is now generally placed at the top left corner of the keyboard, a convention dating at least to the original IBM PC keyboard, though the key itself originated decades earlier with teletypewriters.
Symbol
The keyboard symbol for the ESC key is standardized in ISO/IEC 9995-7 as symbol 29, and in ISO 7000 "Graphical symbols for use on equipment" as symbol ISO-7000-2029. This symbol is encoded in Unicode as U+238B .Origins
The name of the equivalent key on some early Teletype Model 33 keyboards was labeled Alt Mode..., the alternative mode of operation causing the escapement to treat the following one character in a special way. Much later printers and computer terminals that would use escape sequences often would take more than one following byte as part of a special sequence.Uses
As most modern computer users are no longer concerned with controlling terminal or peripheral behaviour via manually typed or computer-issued escape sequences, the task to which was originally dedicated, the escape key has long since been appropriated by application programmers, most often to mean Stop. This use continues today in Microsoft Windows's method of escape as a shortcut in dialog boxes for No, Quit, Exit, Cancel, or Abort, as well as a common shortcut key for the Stop button in many web browsers, and to cancel drag and drop operations.On machines running Microsoft Windows, prior to the implementation of the Windows key on keyboards, the typical practice for invoking the "start" button was to hold down the Control key and press escape. This key combination still works as of Windows 11.
Microsoft Windows makes use of "Esc" for many key shortcuts. Many of these shortcuts have been present since Windows 3.0, through Windows XP and later.
In macOS, "Esc" usually closes or cancels a dialog box or sheet. The ++ combination opens the Force Quit dialog box, allowing users to end non-responsive applications. Another use for the Esc key, in combination with the Command key, is switching to Front Row, if installed.
In most computer games, the escape key is used as a pause button and/or as a way to bring up the in-game menu, usually containing ways to exit the program. This is despite the existence of a separate Pause/Break key.
In the vi family of text editors, escape is used to switch modes. This usage is a legacy of the key being conveniently placed in the top row on the ADM-3A terminal keyboard used to develop vi, in what on modern keyboards is now the tab position – yet on modern keyboards, Esc is now inconveniently located, most often in the function keys row. This is similar to how the extensive modifier keys in Emacs were easily used on the original keyboard —being placed together—but these keys have now been spread around the keyboard, and hence become more difficult to use.
The TECO editor uses ESCape as a delimiter when used once, and as an execute key when used twice in a row.