Editing Backspace (section)

==Nomenclature==
[[File:Blickensderfer model 7, 1909.jpg|thumb|An early typewriter with a ''backspacer''[sic] key. ([[Blickensderfer]] Model 7)]]
Although the term "backspace" is the traditional name of the key which steps the carriage back and/or<ref group=note>in some [[correcting typewriter]]s it did both</ref> deletes the previous character, typically to the left of the cursor, the actual key may be labeled in a variety of ways, for example ''delete'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://lowendmac.com/mail/07/0502.html | title=User Mistakes or Mac Mistakes?, Backspace vs. Delete, and It's Too Easy to Zap an Icon in the Dock | year=2007}}</ref> ''erase'',{{refn|group=note|for example in [[XO-1 (laptop)|One Laptop Per Child]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines/The_Sugar_Interface/Input_Systems | title=OLPC Human Interface Guidelines/The Sugar Interface/Input Systems | access-date=2008-01-15 | last=OLPC Wiki| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080118083728/http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines/The_Sugar_Interface/Input_Systems#.22Hand-held.22_Mode| archive-date= 18 January 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>}} or with a left pointing arrow.<ref name="debian"/> A dedicated symbol for "backspace" exists as [[Miscellaneous Technical#Block|U+232B]] ⌫ but its use as a keyboard label is not universal. Some very early typewriters labeled this key the ''backspacer'' key.
[[File:Hemingway Corona number 3 typewriter.jpg|thumb|Corona #3 typewriter. Note the oddly positioned backspace key, located off the keyboard, towards the back of the machine, on the right.]]
Backspace is distinct from the [[delete key]], which in a [[teletypewriter]] would punch out all the holes in [[punched paper tape]] to strike out a character, and in modern computers deletes text at or ''following'' the cursor position. Also, the delete key often works as a generic command to remove an object (such as an image inside a document, or a file in a [[file manager]]), while backspace usually does not.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/keys_general.mspx | title=Windows keyboard shortcuts overview | website=[[Microsoft]] | access-date=2016-02-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://github.com/lxde/lxqt/issues/178 | title=Keyboard shortcuts for PCmanFM-QT [bug]/[Missing feature] | website=[[GitHub]] | access-date=2016-02-09 }}</ref> Full-size [[Mac (computer)|Mac]] keyboards have two keys labeled ''delete''; a key that functions as a backspace key, and a key that functions as a delete key. Smaller Mac keyboards, such as laptop keyboards, have only a key that functions as a backspace key.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/switching-to-the/9781449372927/ch01s08.html |title=Keyboard Differences |work=Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mavericks Edition |first=David |last=Pogue |author-link=David Pogue}}</ref>