# Control-C

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Control-C.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-C
> Source revision: 1296783486
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{{Short description|Computer command}}
{{About|the keyboard shortcut|the ASCII character|End-of-text character}}

'''Control-C''' is a common [computer command](/source/command_(computing)). It is generated by holding down the {{keypress|[Ctrl](/source/control_key)}} key and typing the {{keypress|C}} key.

In [graphical user interface](/source/graphical_user_interface) environments, control+C is often used to [copy](/source/Cut%2C_copy_and_paste) highlighted text to the [clipboard](/source/Clipboard_(software)).<ref>{{cite web
   |url=https://groups.google.com/d/topic/alt.folklore.computers/uSTMVuiE6zE
   |title=Why Ctrl+v for Paste?
   |quote=control+C and control+V to do ... copy and paste}}</ref> Macintosh computers use {{keypress|Command|C}} for this.

In many [command-line interface](/source/command-line_interface) environments, control+C is used to [abort](/source/abort_(computing)) the current task and regain user control.<ref>{{cite web
   |url=https://pen-testing.sans.org/resources/papers/gcih/buffer-overflow-exploit-dameware-remote-control-software-104168
   |title=A Buffer Overflow Exploit Against the DameWare Remote Control software
   |quote=As soon as the command shell is closed with a control-c combination ...
   |date=December 19, 2003
   |access-date=January 23, 2020
   |archive-date=July 24, 2020
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724200739/https://pen-testing.sans.org/resources/papers/gcih/buffer-overflow-exploit-dameware-remote-control-software-104168
   |url-status=dead
   }}</ref>

== In graphical environments ==
[Larry Tesler](/source/Larry_Tesler) created the concept of [cut, copy, paste](/source/Cut%2C_copy%2C_and_paste), and [undo](/source/undo) for human-computer interaction while working at [Xerox PARC](/source/Xerox_PARC) to control [text editing](/source/text_editor). During the development of the [Macintosh](/source/Macintosh) it was decided that the cut, paste, copy and undo would be used frequently and assigned them to the [⌘](/source/Command_Key)-'''Z''' (Undo), ⌘-'''X''' (Cut), ⌘-'''C''' (Copy), and ⌘-'''V''' (Paste).<ref>{{Cite web|last=By|date=2021-01-20|title=The Origin Of Cut, Copy, And Paste|url=https://hackaday.com/2021/01/20/the-origin-of-cut-copy-and-paste/|access-date=2021-06-22|website=Hackaday|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Origins of the Apple Human Interface| date=27 February 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-atKrg0T4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211217/OW-atKrg0T4 |archive-date=2021-12-17 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-06-22}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tesler|first=Larry|date=2012-07-01|title=A personal history of modeless text editing and cut/copy-paste|url=https://doi.org/10.1145/2212877.2212896|journal=Interactions|volume=19|issue=4|pages=70–75|doi=10.1145/2212877.2212896|s2cid=21399421 |issn=1072-5520|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The four letters are all located together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard [QWERTY](/source/QWERTY) keyboard. [IBM](/source/IBM) and early versions of [Windows](/source/Windows) used a different set of keys as part of [IBM Common User Access](/source/IBM_Common_User_Access). Later, Windows adopted the shortcuts using Control instead of the Command key, as the usual keyboard of [IBM PC](/source/IBM_PC_compatible) has no Command key.

==In command-line environments==
Control+C was part of various [Digital Equipment](/source/Digital_Equipment_Corporation) operating systems, including [TOPS-10](/source/TOPS-10) and [TOPS-20](/source/TOPS-20). Its popularity as an abort command was adopted by other systems including [Unix](/source/Unix). Later systems that copied it include [CP/M](/source/CP%2FM), [DOS](/source/DOS) and [Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows). In [POSIX](/source/POSIX) systems, the sequence causes the active program to receive [SIGINT](/source/SIGINT_(POSIX)), the interruption signal. If the program does not specify how to handle this condition, the program is terminated. Typically a program that ''does'' handle a SIGINT will still terminate itself, or at least terminate a task running inside it.

This system is usually preserved even in [graphical](/source/Graphical_user_interface) [terminal emulator](/source/terminal_emulator)s. If control-C is used for copy in the graphical environment, an ambiguity arises. Typically {{keypress|Shift|Ctrl|C}} is used for one of the commands, and both appear in the emulator's [menu](/source/menu_(computing))s.

On [ASCII](/source/ASCII) terminals the keystroke produced the [end-of-text control character](/source/End-of-Text_character). There is no indication this had anything to do with the choice to use it to interrupt programs, instead it was chosen because it was not being used for anything else.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==See also==
*[C0 and C1 control codes](/source/C0_and_C1_control_codes)
*[Control-D](/source/Control-D)
*[Control-V](/source/Control-V)
*[Control-X](/source/Control-X)
*[Control-Z](/source/Control-Z)
*[Control-\](/source/Control-%255C)
*[Keyboard shortcut](/source/Keyboard_shortcut)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Computer keys

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Control-C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-C) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-C?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.