<s>
Backspace	B-Device
(	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
keyboard	O
key	O
that	O
originally	O
pushed	O
the	O
typewriter	O
carriage	O
one	O
position	O
backwards	O
and	O
in	O
modern	O
computer	O
systems	O
moves	O
the	O
display	O
cursor	O
one	O
position	O
backwards	O
,	O
removes	O
the	O
character	O
at	O
that	O
position	O
,	O
and	O
shifts	O
back	O
the	O
cursor	O
back	O
by	O
one	O
position	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
typewriters	O
,	O
a	O
typist	O
would	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
type	O
a	O
lowercase	O
letter	O
A	O
with	O
acute	O
accent	O
( á	O
)	O
by	O
typing	O
a	O
lowercase	O
letter	O
A	O
,	O
backspace	B-Device
,	O
and	O
then	O
the	O
acute	O
accent	O
key	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
technique	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
overstrike	B-Application
)	O
is	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
such	O
spacing	O
modifiers	O
in	O
computer	O
character	O
sets	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
caret	O
( ^	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
circumflex	O
accent	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Backspace	B-Device
composition	O
no	O
longer	O
works	O
with	O
typical	O
modern	O
digital	O
displays	O
or	O
typesetting	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
software	O
like	O
TeX	B-Application
or	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
use	O
the	O
opposite	O
method	O
for	O
diacritical	O
marks	O
,	O
namely	O
positioning	O
the	O
accent	O
first	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
the	O
base	O
letter	O
on	O
its	O
position	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
backspace	B-Device
"	O
is	O
the	O
traditional	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
key	O
which	O
deletes	O
the	O
character	O
to	O
the	O
left	O
of	O
the	O
cursor	O
,	O
the	O
actual	O
key	O
may	O
be	O
labeled	O
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
ways	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
delete	O
,	O
Erase	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
in	O
One	B-Application
Laptop	I-Application
Per	I-Application
Child	I-Application
)	O
,	O
or	O
with	O
a	O
left	O
pointing	O
arrow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dedicated	O
symbol	O
for	O
"	O
backspace	B-Device
"	O
exists	O
as	O
U+232B	O
⌫	B-Device
but	O
its	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
keyboard	O
label	O
is	O
not	O
universal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
backspace	B-Device
is	O
distinct	O
from	O
the	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
which	O
in	O
paper	B-Architecture
media	I-Architecture
for	I-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
would	O
punch	O
out	O
all	O
the	O
holes	O
to	O
strike	O
out	O
a	O
character	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
modern	O
computers	O
deletes	O
text	O
following	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
the	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
often	O
works	O
as	O
a	O
generic	O
command	O
to	O
remove	O
an	O
object	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
image	O
inside	O
a	O
document	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
file	O
in	O
a	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
)	O
,	O
while	O
backspace	B-Device
usually	O
does	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
modern	O
systems	O
,	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
often	O
mapped	O
to	O
the	O
delete	O
character	O
(	O
0x7f	O
in	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
or	O
Unicode	O
)	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
's	O
function	O
of	O
deleting	O
the	O
character	O
before	O
the	O
cursor	O
remains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
go	O
back	O
a	O
page	O
or	O
up	O
one	O
level	O
in	O
graphical	O
web	O
or	O
file	O
browsers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
on	O
a	O
computer	O
terminal	O
would	O
generate	O
the	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
code	I-Protocol
08	O
,	O
BS	B-Device
or	O
Backspace	B-Device
,	O
a	O
control	O
code	O
which	O
would	O
delete	O
the	O
preceding	O
character	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
control	O
code	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
pressing	O
Control-H	B-Device
,	O
as	O
H	O
is	O
the	O
eighth	O
letter	O
of	O
the	O
Latin	O
alphabet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Terminals	O
which	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
code	O
mapped	O
to	O
the	O
function	O
of	O
moving	O
the	O
cursor	O
backwards	O
and	O
deleting	O
the	O
preceding	O
character	O
would	O
display	O
the	O
symbols	O
^H	O
(	O
caret	O
,	O
H	O
)	O
when	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
was	O
pressed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
if	O
a	O
terminal	O
did	O
interpret	O
backspace	B-Device
by	O
deleting	O
the	O
preceding	O
character	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
receiving	O
the	O
text	O
might	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
sometimes	O
seen	O
is	O
^W	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
shortcut	O
to	O
delete	O
the	O
previous	O
word	O
in	O
the	O
Berkeley	O
Unix	O
terminal	B-Operating_System
line	I-Operating_System
discipline	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
shortcut	O
has	O
also	O
made	O
it	O
into	O
the	O
insert	O
mode	O
of	O
the	O
Vi	B-Application
text	O
editor	O
and	O
its	O
clone	O
Vim	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
^U	B-Device
deletes	O
a	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
environment	O
,	O
to	O
backspace	B-Device
means	O
to	O
move	O
a	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
backwards	O
,	O
typically	O
to	O
the	O
previous	O
block	O
.	O
</s>
