# Control-V

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Control-V.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-V
> Source revision: 1347740900
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Computer command}}
In [computing](/source/computing), '''Control-V''' is a key stroke with a variety of uses including generation of a [control character](/source/control_character) in [ASCII code](/source/ASCII_code), also known as the '''synchronous idle''' ('''[SYN](/source/synchronous_idle)''') character. The key stroke is generated by typing {{keypress|[Ctrl](/source/control_key)|[V](/source/V)}}. On [MacOS](/source/MacOS) based systems usually {{keypress|[CMD](/source/command_key)|V}} is used instead.<ref name=":0"> {{cite web |title=Mac Keyboard shortcuts |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343 |accessdate=2012-05-23}}</ref>

== Usage ==
In many [GUI](/source/Graphical_user_interface) environments, including [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) and most [desktop environment](/source/desktop_environment)s based on the [X Window System](/source/X_Window_System), and in applications such as [word processing](/source/word_processor) [software](/source/software) running in those environments, control-V can be used to [paste](/source/Cut%2C_copy_and_paste) text or other content (if supported) from the [clipboard](/source/Clipboard_(software)) at the current [cursor](/source/Cursor_(computers)) position.<ref name=":0" /><ref> {{cite web |title=Keyboard shortcuts for Windows |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449 |accessdate=2012-05-23}}</ref>  Control-V was one of a handful of [keyboard](/source/computer_keyboard) sequences chosen by the program designers at [Xerox PARC](/source/Xerox_PARC) to control [text editing](/source/text_editor). 

[Unix](/source/Unix) interactive terminals use '''Control-V''' to mean "the next character should be treated literally" (the [mnemonic](/source/mnemonic) here is "V for verbatim").  This allows a user to insert a literal '''Control-C''' or '''Control-H''' or similar control characters that would otherwise be handled by the terminal.  This behavior was copied by text editors like [vi](/source/Vi_(text_editor)) and Unix [shells](/source/Shell_(computing)) like [bash](/source/Bash_(Unix_shell)) and [tcsh](/source/tcsh), which offer text editing on the command line.<ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.unix-manuals.com/refs/vi-ref/vi-ref.htm | title = Unix Manual - vi reference | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120504035615/http://www.unix-manuals.com/refs/vi-ref/vi-ref.htm | archive-date = 2012-05-04 }}</ref>

== Representation ==
The [ASCII](/source/ASCII) and [Unicode](/source/Unicode) representation of "Synchronous Idle" is 22 in decimal, which is 26 in octal and 16 in hexadecimal.

== See also ==
* [Control-C](/source/Control-C)
* [Control-X](/source/Control-X)
* [Keyboard shortcut](/source/Keyboard_shortcut)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Computer keys

{{desktop-environment-stub}}

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