The most USELESS keys on a QWERTY keyboard – and the sneaky shortcuts you’re not using

Typing on a keyboard has become second nature to many of us, and some masters can do it with their eyes closed.

But when asked what the Scroll Lock function is or what the Menu button does, can you answer?

While alphabet, numeric, and punctuation keys may be familiar to most QWERTY keyboard users, there are several buttons that fly under the radar.

Many of these are often useless when performing day-to-day tasks, but occasionally they can be hidden gems for sneaky shortcuts.

MailOnline has put together a list of the more mysterious buttons on the QWERTY keyboard and whether they can do anything for you.

The most useless keys

Scroll Lock

The Scroll Lock feature is located in the top right corner of your keyboard and is often overlooked.

And if you press it, you probably won’t see any visible effect on your screen.

Can this be useful?

Sometimes the button can be used to change the behavior of certain program functions, such as scrolling.

In general, when using Excel, the arrow keys can be moved to scroll up or down one cell at a time when Scroll Lock is off.

However, when enabled, the arrow keys can be used to move faster through the worksheet area – one row up/down or one column left/right at a time.

With its niche purpose, the Scroll Lock key may not be useful unless Excel is used regularly.

Pause [Break] key

This button, which is located on the top row of the keyboard, is also almost never used, according to Microsoft.

Like Scroll Lock, it usually has no effect when pressed while browsing the web or typing in Word.

Can this be useful?

Very rarely, the break [Break] key can – unsurprisingly – pause a running program.

Along with Ctrl, it can also stop running programs altogether, be it games or certain commands.

Still, Microsoft claims it’s primarily used on older programs, while more up-to-date software overlooks it.

Tilde key

How often do you see the Tilde button wedged next to ‘1’ and below the Esc button?

The serpentine key on the top left of the keyboard is generally typing a ”’ symbol or a ‘¬’ if you hold down Shift.

The two symbols are most commonly used by mathematicians, with ‘¬’ used to represent logical negation in Boolean algebra.

On the other hand, the backtick symbol (`) is generally used by computer programmers as a typographic marker.

Can this be useful?

Unless you work in these professions, this key is unlikely to come in handy.

Insert the key

Often shown as Ins, the Insert key probably has no visible effect when tapped while browsing online.

But perhaps users, perhaps subconsciously, switch between different text settings that can be applied while typing.

By default, typed text usually appears before pre-existing text when you write something in a Word document.

But when Insert is tapped, this typing style can change, allowing users to delete and overwrite pre-existing text.

Can this be useful?

The Insert key may dissuade computer users from hitting the Delete button, but it’s arguably not essential to save time.

The sneaky keys you don’t use

Menu key

This key is located next to Ctrl near the bottom-right corner of a keyboard.

Like no other button on the qwerty, the symbol of this key is usually a mini page or a few lines that appear to be text.

When pressed, it has the same effect as right-clicking, opening a context menu for the current application in use.

While this key is often forgotten, it can come in handy for those who find it inconvenient to click on a laptop mouse pad.

This tool allows computer users to avoid the pad altogether, as arrow keys can also be used to scroll through each menu option.

The Enter button can then be pressed to select a chosen option, with your hands never leaving the keyboard once.

Function keys

Some users may already be familiar with these hidden gems, but if you’re not, here’s a quick rundown of what the function keys can do.

Placed at the top of a keyboard, these F keys run from one through twelve and can provide everyday quick shortcuts.

F1: Help

I need a hand? Pressing the F1 key can open a help system window while searching the web.

Here, Google can provide advice on a variety of topics, including clearing your internet history, creating a personal profile, or managing an account.

F2: Rename

As the name suggests, F2 can quickly rename documents when searching files and folders.

Just go to the This PC menu, click on a folder and press F2 to rename it.

F3: Search

At one time or another, you’ve probably wanted to find a specific key phrase amidst endless pages in Microsoft Word.

Pressing F3 can open a seek bar to achieve just this – with the same effect as holding down the Ctrl button and the letter F at the same time.

F4: close

Any open window – be it an Internet browser or a Microsoft program – can be closed without using a mouse.

All you need to do is press F4 and the Alt key at the same time and the window should close immediately.

F5: Refresh

Want to quickly refresh a web page? Just press F5 and this can happen in seconds.

The tool can come in handy when a site seems to have crashed.

F6 and F10: Cursor mover and selection tool

Not surprisingly, F6 can be used to move a cursor between different subjects in a window.

When you first press it, the cursor can select the search bar at the top of an internet browser.

Press it again and you’ll see the cursor move to something else – be it a tab or an option in the favorites bar.

On Microsoft Word, F6 can also be used in combination with Ctrl and Shift to move between documents.

Similarly, F10 can highlight some options in a Microsoft document when tapped.

These options are labeled with letters of the alphabet, which can then be pressed on a keyboard to select the corresponding option.

F7, F8 and F9: Volume

All three of these keys can change the volume when you watch something in Windows Media Player.

While sound levels can be lowered with a tap of F8, they can also be muted completely by pressing F7.

Pressing F9 instead turns the volume up a notch while using the software.

Despite this, some of these buttons have other unique functions that can come in handy.

If you press Alt and F7 at the same time, you can check spelling and grammar while using Microsoft Word.

F7 can also be used to open a Thesaurus in Word when pressed in combination with Shift.

Like F5, the F9 key can also be used to refresh a page, but it is mainly used for Microsoft Word.

F11: Full screen

Computer users can enter and exit the full screen mode of Google and other browsers when F11 is tapped.

This is a simple tool that can be useful if you want to increase the size of a clip being viewed on a web page.

F12: Save As

When using Microsoft, this tool can be used to open a Save As box, allowing users to save the latest version of a file that is being created.

End key

The End key is another useful tool that you may miss.

Found next to the Delete function, this tool is mainly used when typing text in a document.

Press the button and the cursor immediately moves to the end of a line of text.

It achieves the same effect as holding down the to the right, but can do this so much faster.