Editing AltGr key (section)

==History==
{{anchor|alternate graphic}}
IBM states that ''AltGr'' is an [[abbreviation]] for '''alternate graphic'''.<ref name="IBM-1" /><ref name="IBM-2" />

[[File:Compose key on Sun Type 5c keyboard.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Sun Microsystems]] keyboard, which labels the key as ''Alt Graph'']]
A key labelled with some variation of "Alt Graphic" was on many computer keyboards before the Windows international layouts. On early home computers the alternate graphemes were primarily [[box-drawing characters]].<ref name="Kaplan" />

This likely was the intended purpose of the [[Alt key]] on PC keyboards, however software quickly used this as a combination key for shortcuts, requiring a new key for producing additional characters.

===Ctrl+Alt===
Windows interprets {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} as {{keypress|AltGr}}, to accommodate some compact keyboards like those of [[netbook]]s which have neither the AltGr key nor a right-hand Alt key. Thus {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt|a}} has the same effect as {{keypress|AltGr|a}}. Because of this feature, Microsoft advises that {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} not be used as part of any application keyboard shortcut, as it would prevent typing the matching {{keypress|AltGr}} character on such keyboards.<ref name=Chen>{{cite web|url= https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20040329-00/?p=40003 | title = Why Ctrl+Alt shouldn't be used as a shortcut modifier | author = Raymond Chen | date = 29 March 2004 | publisher = Microsoft}}</ref>{{efn|In general the substitution for the AltGr-key with  {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} works as expected, but in some programs unexpected results can occur. For example in a local MS Outlook 365 installation the  key combo {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} is not recognized as an AltGr.}}