Editing Keyboard shortcut (section)

== Customization ==
[[File:Vega strike key bindings chart.svg|thumb|right|Visual chart of the default key assignments for the video game ''[[Vega Strike]]''. These bindings can be reconfigured by editing the relevant [[XML]] file in a text editor.]]
When shortcuts are referred to as ''key bindings,'' it carries the connotation that the shortcuts are customizable to a user's preference and that program functions may be 'bound' to a different set of keystrokes instead of or in addition to the default.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Commands.html#Commands|title=GNU Emacs Manual: Commands|quote=Emacs does not assign meanings to keys directly. Instead, Emacs assigns meanings to named commands, and then gives keys their meanings by binding them to commands.}}</ref> This highlights a difference in philosophy regarding shortcuts. Some systems, typically [[end-user]]-oriented systems such as [[Mac OS]] or [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], consider standardized shortcuts essential to the environment's ease of use. In these commercial proprietary systems, the ability to change the default bindings and add custom ones can be limited, possibly even requiring a separate or third-party utility to perform the task, sometimes with workarounds like key remapping. In macOS, user can customize app shortcuts ("Key equivalents") in system settings, and customize text editing shortcuts by creating and editing related configuration files.<ref>{{cite web|website=Apple Developer Documentation Archive|date=September 9, 2013|url=https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/EventOverview/TextDefaultsBindings/TextDefaultsBindings.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310213842/https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/EventOverview/TextDefaultsBindings/TextDefaultsBindings.html|archive-date=March 10, 2024|title=Text System Defaults and Key Bindings
|access-date=2024-01-18}}</ref> Other systems, typically [[Unix]] and related, consider shortcuts to be a user's prerogative, and that they should be customizable to suit individual preference. In most real-world environments, both philosophies co-exist; a core set of ''sacred'' shortcuts remain fixed while others, typically involving an otherwise unused modifier key or keys, are under the user's control.

The motivations for customizing key bindings vary. Users new to a program or software environment may customize the new environment's shortcuts to be similar to another environment with which they are more familiar.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EGzrJ4UPElYC&q=customize%20shortcuts%20other%20program&pg=PA373|title=Macromedia FreeHand 10 for Windows and Macintosh|isbn=9780201749656|last1=Cohen|first1=Sandee|year=2002|publisher=Peachpit Press }}</ref> More advanced users may customize key bindings to better suit their [[workflow]], adding shortcuts for their commonly used actions and possibly deleting or replacing bindings for less-used functions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/customizing_your_keyboard_shortcuts|title=Customizing your keyboard shortcuts}}</ref> [[Hardcore gamers]] often customize their key bindings in order to increase performance via faster reaction times.

=== Reserved Keyboard Shortcuts ===
The original Macintosh [[User Interface Guidelines]] defined a set of keyboard shortcuts that would remain consistent across application programs.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://interface.free.fr/Archives/Apple_HIGuidelines.pdf#page=152 |title=Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines |page=128 |last=Apple |author-link=Apple Inc. |location=Reading, Massachusetts |publisher=Addison-Wesley| isbn=0-201-62216-5 |date=November 1992}}</ref> This provides a better [[user experience]] than the then-prevalent situation of applications using the same keys for different functions. This could result in [[user error]]s if one program used {{keypress|[[Command key|⌘ Command]]|D}} to mean ''Delete'' while another used it to ''Duplicate'' an item. The standard bindings were:
* {{key press|⌘ Q}} : [[exit (system call)|'''Q'''uit]]
* {{key press|⌘ W}} : Close [[window (computing)|'''W'''indow]]
* {{key press|⌘ B}} : [[boldface|'''B'''old]] text
* {{key press|⌘ I}} : [[italic type|'''I'''talicize]] text
* {{key press|⌘ U}} : [[underline|'''U'''nderline]] text
* {{key press|⌘ O}} : [[File operation|'''O'''pen]]
* {{key press|⌘ P}} : [[Printing|'''P'''rint]]
* {{key press|⌘ A}} : [[Selection (user interface)|Select]] '''A'''ll
* {{key press|⌘ S}} : [[Persistence (computer science)|'''S'''ave]]
* {{key press|⌘ F}} : [[text searching|'''F'''ind]]
* {{key press|⌘ G}} : Find A'''g'''ain (the G key is next to the F key on a [[QWERTY]] keyboard)
* {{key press|⌘ E}} : '''E'''nter search string from selection (allowed searching a document by selecting text and typing {{key press|⌘ E}}{{key press|⌘ G}} ([[e.g.|exempli gratia]])
* {{key press|⌘ Z}} : [[Undo]] (represents the do-undo-redo cycle)
* {{key press|⌘ X}} : [[Cut, copy, and paste|Cut]] (resembles scissors or a general sign for removal – and the X key is next to the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)
* {{key press|⌘ C}} : [[Copy and paste|'''C'''opy]]
* {{key press|⌘ V}} : [[Copy and paste|Paste]] (resembles the proofreader's mark for "insert" – and the V key is next to the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://studylib.net/doc/16057899/past-to-future--various-undo-models--interaction-historie|title=Larry Tesler email Past to Future: Various Undo Models, Interaction Histories, and Macro Recording Lecture 21}}</ref>
* {{key press|⌘ N}} : '''N'''ew [[Electronic document|Document]]
* {{key press|⌘ .}} ([[full stop]]): [[Abort (computing)|User interrupt]]<ref group="notes" name="cancelOperation"/>, it can be used to close dialogs, search bars, and context menus.
* {{key press|⌘ ?}} : [[Help (command)|Help]] ([[?]] signifies a question or confusion)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/question|title=Definition of QUESTION|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref>

Later environments such as Microsoft Windows retain some of these bindings, while adding their own from alternate standards like [[Common User Access]]. The shortcuts on these platforms (or on [[macOS]]) are not as strictly standardized across applications as on the early Macintosh user interface, where if a program did not include the function normally carried out by one of the standard keystrokes, guidelines stated that it should not redefine the key to do something else as it would potentially confuse users.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/KeyboardShortcuts/KeyboardShortcuts.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40002725-CHDIGFBH|title=OS X Human Interface Guidelines|quote=If your app does not perform the task associated with a recommended shortcut, think very carefully before you consider overriding it. Remember that although reassigning an unused shortcut might make sense in your app, your users are likely to know and expect the original, established meaning.}}</ref>