Pause key

Located near the top-right of most PC keyboards, sharing the break key (as shown here), the pause key may be used to temporarily halt a computer process. For example, the pause key could be used to momentarily stop a computer game, like Deus Ex or the Call of Duty games, while the user steps away.

Most compact laptops, including Ultrabooks and netbook computers, do not have a pause key. Also, Apple keyboards do not have a pause key.

Depending on the program or the specific action desired, users may need to press the Shift or Ctrl key plus the pause key to pause a program or game. On a computer with the Microsoft Windows operating system, users can also press the Windows key and the Pause key to bring up the System Properties window.

The most common use for the pause key today is to pause the screen output from the BIOS when a computer is first booting up.

Where is the Pause key on the keyboard?

The Pause key may be abbreviated as Pa or Pause and is found with the other control keys on the keyboard. Below is an overview of a computer keyboard with the Pause key highlighted in blue.

On Apple computer keyboards, the Pause key may be missing and have an F15 function key instead.

Where is a Pause key on a laptop keyboard?

The Pause key on a laptop is often part of another key near Backspace, as shown in the picture. If a laptop uses two keys as one key, you must press Fn with the second key you want to use. On a laptop, the Scr Lk, Pause, and Break functions are usually part of another key and are in blue text.

To use these keys, press the Fn and the key with the blue text you want to use. In the example picture, Pause is part of the Insert key, so you would need to press the Fn and the Insert key to execute the Pause functionality.

With laptops there’s no standard placement for the Pause key. Your laptop may not have the same configuration as shown in the picture. However, all PCs follow the same steps mentioned above.

Smaller, more compact laptops may not include a Pause key.

Query about Pause/Break key on the Keyboard

I have a program that uses the Pause/Break to continue to function and without it I can’t continue to use it to work. The company work for gave us keyboards with the Pause/break key but it isn’t ergonomic and it hurts my wrist to use it. This is why I purchased this keyboard. This is a great keyboard and it works well, but I need that «Pause/Break» Key. So Microsoft can you do something about this.

• What exactly are you referring to when you say, «I need that «Pause/Break» Key»?
• Isn’t Pause/Break key in the keyboard you have purchased, working?
• Doesn’t this keyboard have a Pause/Break key?
• Are you saying you have now bought Ergonomic keyboard?
• Does the keyboard have Pause and Break keys separately?

It could be possible that some newer keyboards may have separate keys for the pause function and the break function. Instead of both functions being on the same key, the keyboard has a PAUSE key separate from the BREAK key.

On many keyboards, the key that commands the pause and break functions is typically labeled as the BREAK key. Therefore, many keyboard shortcuts instruct you to «press a key plus the BREAK key.» However, when you press only the BREAK key, the default behavior is to pause .

This behavior that many people are familiar with can cause some confusion on newer keyboards that have separate PAUSE and BREAK keys. For example, newer portable computers may have separate PAUSE and BREAK keys.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Follow these steps on a keyboard that has a single PAUSE/BREAK key:

1. Open a command prompt window. To do so, click Start, click Run, type cmd.exe , and then click OK.
2. At the command prompt, type dir , press the ENTER key, and then immediately press the PAUSE/BREAK key.

Notice that the listing of files in the directory pauses. This behavior shows that the default behavior of the key is to pause. To notice this behavior for a directory that has a short list of files, you must press the PAUSE/BREAK key very quickly after you press the ENTER key.
Press CTRL+PAUSE/BREAK.

Notice that the listing of files in the directory stops and returns you to the command prompt. This shows that the secondary behavior of the key is to break.

Additionally, if you follow these same steps, and if you press the CTRL+Windows Logo+PAUSE/BREAK keyboard shortcut to open the System Properties dialog box, the dialog box does not appear. This behavior is additional proof that the default behavior of the PAUSE/BREAK key is to pause.

If the keyboard does not have Pause/Break key, you can use On-screen keyboard and check.

Open On-Screen Keyboard by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking Ease of Access, and then clicking On-Screen Keyboard.

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

What is a Pause key? Why & when is it used?

If you have a full keyboard, I am sure you must have seen “Pause” key or “Pause Break” key. It is usually located around the control keys like Scroll Lock, Home and end button, and so on. The question is what is a Pause key doing on a keyboard. I have seen it, but I have hardly used it. In this post, I will try to answer the question —What is a Pause key and when is it used?

What is a Pause key

Here is a fact, the Pause Key in the modern world has no purpose. The key first came into the picture in the 20th century. The primary goal—Pause or break the running program or piece of code. Like I said earlier, the Pause key is accompanied by the Break key, and they are two different keys. The first one will pause the program, while the second will display the usual output, and resume the program from where it left.

When is the Pause/Break key used

These keys first came with IBM Model M 101 key keyboard in 1985. The primary function was to pause a game or pause a scrolling output, to interrupt a modem connection and so on. So where do we use it today? If you are a programmer or work with the continuous output or open up System Properties.

1] Use on Command Prompt to pause the output

• Open Command Prompt and type ping thewindowsclub.com -t. The will result in continuous output on the screen.
• Now press the Pause key, and you should the screen freezes.
• Use CTRL + Break, and you should see the result of Ping command. The ping will start instantly after the conclusion.
• If you want to resume without using Ctrl + Break, just hit any key. To terminate, use Ctrl+C.

2] Open System Properties

When you press Windows + Pause/Break, it will open the System Properties window. You should also see the Change settings highlighted.

3] Pause a POST screen

If you want to read what’s on the POST screen, press the Pause/Break key. Hit it again, and POST or Power On Self Test will continue.

Missing Pause/Break Key

On laptops or smaller keyboard, there is no dedicated key. Instead, the Fn key is used with some other key to replicate Pause key function.

Lenovo uses Ctrl + Fn + F11 or Ctrl + Fn + B or Fn + B. Samsung uses the same Fn+B combination while Dell uses Fn + Win + B. Baseline, it is there on your laptop or keyboard, make sure to ask about it with customer support or through their documentation.

Apart from these, here are some more use of the Pause Key

• Ctrl+Alt+Break is a useful shortcut to toggle between full-screen and windowed remote desktop sessions.
• Ctrl+Break is a useful shortcut for stopping a build in Visual Studio.

Hope this clears up the air.

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What Is the Pause and Break Key on the Keyboard For?

Published by Timothy Tibbetts on 05/28/2019

Here’s an interesting question we received recently. Every keyboard has a Pause — Break key. Why is it there and what is it used for?

Initially, the Pause — Break key was designed to halt a process temporarily. Most people would use the Pause — Break key to pause a game.

Most full-size keyboards offer the Pause — Break key combination while many notebooks, laptops, and compacts only offer the Pause button, sometimes in conjunction with another key like Insert. And, sometimes there’s no Pause button at all.

If you do have a Pause button and need the Break key, you might have to search for the keyboard replacement combination because they can vary widely from computer to computer. Examples include Ctrl + Fn + F11, Fn + B, Fn + Ctrl + B, Fn + B, and Fn + Shift just to name a few.

The key has little use anymore, but there are some uses for Pause and Break.

Press your Windows Key + Pause and the System Properties of your Control Panel will open. This is the only default keyboard combination that uses Pause. No combination uses Break.

Pause your screen when booting (POST) allowing you to see an error, for example.

Programmers or coders using continuous output can use the Pause key as needed.

Pause the screen when using the Command Prompt or PowerShell. When pinging an address, for example, press CTRL + Break for the output. Press any key to continue pinging.

Windows key is acting as a play/pause button

I recently resetted my windows and now the WinKey is acting as a play/pause button.

edit: I just used a key remapper (keytweak) to fix it

Replies (43) 

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What device are you using?

Why did you perform reset?

Try run Windows Update and install all updates.

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Try report this issue through Feedback Hub app.

What is the language of your Windows?

Does it act like Play/Pause when you are opening a media or is it happening for all apps?

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I’m using a Acer Nitro 5 and after the 2004 version update the windows key started acting as a play/pause button, so I resetted hoping it would fix it.

same problem with me i also have the same laptop

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Same laptop same problem, I’m also running the latest update.

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I recently resetted my windows and now the WinKey is acting as a play/pause button.

edit: I just used a key remapper (keytweak) to fix it

I’ve got a acer predator helios, and same issue.

Here’s what I did to fix it:

download windows powertoys (it’s an official windows application)

install (including any dependencies such as .Net core)

run as admin — optional

go to keyboard manager

select the key want remapped (press the windows key, it should say «Play/pause media»)

select the key from the dropdown on the other side (Win)

ok/apply. now windows key works as intended

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