# Control-X

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Control-X.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-X
> Source revision: 1320186488
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Computer command}}
{{about|a key combination|the control character, CAN|cancel character}}
In [computing](/source/computing), ''Control-X'' or ''[^X](/source/caret_notation)'' is the [key combination](/source/key_combination) of the [control key](/source/control_key) and a key usually labelled "X", typically used to cut selected text and save it to the clipboard ready to paste elsewhere. There is some disagreement whether the action moves with the key labelled "X" or stays in the lower-left location on keyboards with different letter arrangements.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

==Text editing==
In many [software applications](/source/software_applications) on Windows<ref>{{cite web | url = http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449 | title = Keyboard shortcuts for Windows | access-date = 2012-05-23}}</ref> and the [X Window System](/source/X_Window_System) {{keypress|Control|x}} can be used to [cut](/source/Cut%2C_copy%2C_and_paste) highlighted mutable text to the [clipboard](/source/Clipboard_(software)). On [Mac OS X](/source/Mac_OS_X) {{Keypress|Command|x}} has an analogous function.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343 |title= Mac Keyboard shortcuts {{!}} -23}}</ref> The key combination 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).{{citation needed|date = January 2013}} This style of [human–computer interaction](/source/human%E2%80%93computer_interaction) is referred to as '''indirect manipulation''' as opposed to direct manipulation. Direct manipulation is a term introduced by [Ben Shneiderman](/source/Ben_Shneiderman) in 1982 within the context of office applications and the [desktop metaphor](/source/desktop_metaphor).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Shneiderman|first=Ben|title=The future of interactive systems and the emergence of direct manipulation|journal=Behaviour & Information Technology|year=1982|volume=1|issue=3
|pages=237–256|doi=10.1080/01449298208914450}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
|last= Shneiderman|first= Ben|author-link= Ben Shneiderman|title= Direct Manipulation. A Step Beyond Programming Languages|journal= IEEE Computer|volume= 1|issue= 8|pages= 57–69|date=August 1983|url= http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/human-computer-interaction/design-principles/1983-shneiderman-direct-manipulation/|doi= 10.1109/MC.1983.1654471|s2cid= 14942172|access-date=2010-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208111520/http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/human-computer-interaction/design-principles/1983-shneiderman-direct-manipulation/|archive-date=8 February 2012|citeseerx= 10.1.1.296.5944}}</ref> Indirect manipulation has a higher level of abstraction compared to direct manipulation, because first one must select the item (such as character, word, paragraph or icon) that one wants to edit and then give the command as a second step.

On ASCII terminals the key combination produces the [CAN](/source/Cancel_character) control character. Before the standard use for "cut" it was used for a variety of different purposes by different software. [Emacs](/source/Emacs) uses it as the first keystroke in a number of two-keystroke commands, for instance {{keypress|Ctrl|X}}{{keypress|S}} saves the current file.

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Computer keys

{{desktop-environment-stub}}

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