Mac equivalents of Windows keys
Many of the keys that you'd see on a PC have equivalent keys on an Apple keyboard.
When your Mac powers up, it normally uses the system on its internal hard drive unless you change this behavior by choosing System Preferences@@→Startup Disk. You can also change what your Mac does by holding down the following keys or key combinations during startup. Print these boot option keys, because they’re particularly helpful to have. The Option key is labelled Alt on a Mac keyboard. And the 'Apple key' is what some of us call the Command or Cmd key on a Mac keyboard. That's essentially what you need to know. Read on for more.
Windows logo: Press Command (⌘).
Backspace or Delete: Press Delete.
Enter or ⏎: Press Return.
Alt (left): Press Option (⌥).
Alt GR (right): Press Option + Control.
Applications: This key isn't available on Apple keyboards.
Download latest apple update.
Download latest apple update.
Use the On-Screen Keyboard for other functions
If your Apple keyboard doesn't include the following keys, you can recreate them in Windows using the On-Screen Keyboard.
Use the Snipping Tool to print screen
To recreate the Print Screen and Print Active Window function in Windows, use the Snipping Tool.
If your keyboard isn't working as expected in Windows
If your Apple keyboard works as expected in macOS but not in Windows, try these solutions:
- Install the latest Apple software updates for Windows.
- Install the latest Windows support software.
- If you're using Microsoft Windows 10 N, install the latest Media Feature Pack.
Pc Keyboard Mac Option Key
Learn more
Macbook Keyboard Covers
- Microsoft provides a keyboard mapping article that describes using a Windows keyboard with macOS.
- Use Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to find key combinations for the unique characters used by the language and region your Apple keyboard is designed to support:
- Download, install, and open the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.
- Choose File > Load Existing Keyboard.
- Select the keyboard you want to see.
- Find the country or region name in the keyboard list that's followed by '(Apple)'.
- Follow the instructions provided with the app. You can print images of the keyboard, including what keys look like when holding modifiers like Shift, Option, or Fn.