<s>
The	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
a	O
key	O
on	O
most	O
computer	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
which	O
is	O
typically	O
used	O
to	O
delete	O
either	O
(	O
in	O
text	O
mode	O
)	O
the	O
character	O
ahead	O
of	O
or	O
beneath	O
the	O
cursor	B-Application
,	O
or	O
(	O
in	O
GUI	B-Application
mode	O
)	O
the	O
currently-selected	O
object	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
because	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
also	O
deletes	O
characters	O
,	O
but	O
to	O
the	O
left	O
of	O
the	O
cursor	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
many	O
keyboards	B-Device
,	O
such	O
as	O
most	O
Apple	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
,	O
the	O
key	O
with	O
the	O
backspace	B-Device
function	O
is	O
also	O
labelled	O
"	O
delete	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
key	O
appears	O
on	O
English-language	O
IBM-compatible	B-Device
PC	I-Device
keyboards	I-Device
labeled	O
as	O
or	O
,	O
sometimes	O
accompanied	O
by	O
a	O
crossed-out	O
right-arrow	O
symbol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dedicated	O
symbol	O
for	O
"	O
delete	O
"	O
exists	O
as	O
U+2326	O
⌦	B-Device
but	O
its	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
keyboard	B-Device
label	O
is	O
not	O
universal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
sometimes	O
the	O
key	O
labelled	O
performs	O
the	O
Backspace	B-Device
function	O
instead	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
on	O
some	O
Apple	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
other	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
Delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
in	O
its	O
original	O
IBM	O
notebook	O
position	O
of	O
above	O
and	O
to	O
the	O
right	O
of	O
the	O
Backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
laptops	O
add	O
rows	O
of	O
smaller	O
keys	O
above	O
the	O
Function	O
key	O
line	O
to	O
add	O
keys	O
on	O
a	O
non-standard	O
size	O
keyboard	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
this	O
row	O
of	O
smaller	O
keys	O
,	O
the	O
position	O
of	O
the	O
Delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
positioned	O
at	O
or	O
near	O
the	O
right-hand	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
a	O
MacBook	B-Device
,	O
the	O
forward	O
delete	O
function	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
using	O
the	O
key	O
combination	O
or	O
simply	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
typically	O
smaller	O
and	O
less-conveniently	O
located	O
than	O
the	O
Backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
and	O
on	O
keyboards	B-Device
where	O
space	O
is	O
limited	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
those	O
omitting	O
the	O
numeric	B-Device
keypad	I-Device
or	O
virtual	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
on	O
mobile	O
devices	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
often	O
omitted	O
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
some	O
compact	O
keyboards	B-Device
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
60-key	O
Happy	B-Device
Hacking	I-Device
Keyboard	I-Device
)	O
,	O
the	O
Delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
replaces	O
the	O
conventional	O
Backspace	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
Backspace	B-Device
function	O
is	O
achieved	O
by	O
holding	O
the	O
Fn	B-Device
key	I-Device
and	O
pressing	O
Delete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
struck	O
on	O
a	O
computer	B-Device
keyboard	I-Device
during	O
text	O
or	O
command	O
editing	O
,	O
the	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
(	O
or	O
)	O
,	O
known	O
less	O
ambiguously	O
as	O
forward	O
delete	O
,	O
discards	O
the	O
character	O
ahead	O
of	O
the	O
cursor	B-Application
's	O
position	O
,	O
moving	O
all	O
following	O
characters	O
one	O
position	O
"	O
back	O
"	O
towards	O
the	O
freed	O
letterspace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
key	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
by	O
many	O
GUI	B-Application
applications	O
to	O
request	O
deletion	O
of	O
the	O
currently-selected	O
object	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
a	O
file	O
in	O
a	O
file	B-Application
browser	I-Application
or	O
a	O
block	O
of	O
text	O
in	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
often	O
works	O
as	O
a	O
generic	O
command	O
to	O
remove	O
a	O
selected	O
object	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
image	O
embedded	O
in	O
a	O
document	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Apple	B-Device
Keyboards	I-Device
,	O
both	O
the	O
forward	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
and	O
the	O
delete	O
(	O
backspace	B-Device
)	O
key	O
have	O
the	O
same	O
effect	O
when	O
pressed	O
while	O
an	O
object	O
is	O
selected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
usually	O
mapped	O
to	O
ESC	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
VT220	B-Device
escape	O
code	O
for	O
the	O
"	O
delete	O
character	O
"	O
key	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
on	O
many	O
modern	O
motherboards	O
,	O
also	O
functions	O
to	O
open	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
setup	O
screen	O
when	O
pressed	O
after	O
starting	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
GUI	B-Application
applications	O
where	O
the	O
Delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
enabled	O
,	O
especially	O
in	O
file	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
,	O
pressing	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
necessarily	O
immediately	O
delete	O
the	O
selected	O
object	O
,	O
but	O
often	O
a	O
confirmation	O
dialog	O
box	O
will	O
appear	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
cancel	O
the	O
deletion	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
object	O
may	O
instead	O
be	O
silently	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
"	O
trash	B-Application
folder	I-Application
"	O
or	O
equivalent	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
recovered	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
other	O
GUI	B-Application
contexts	O
,	O
the	O
Undo	B-Application
function	O
can	O
often	O
reverse	O
a	O
deletion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
many	O
Apple	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
lack	O
a	O
dedicated	O
key	O
for	O
the	O
forward	O
delete	O
function	O
,	O
Mac	O
users	O
wishing	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
dedicated	O
forward	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
can	O
reassign	O
the	O
forward-delete	O
function	O
to	O
a	O
different	O
key	O
using	O
various	O
third-party	O
applications	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
DoubleCommand	O
,	O
Karabiner	O
or	O
PowerKey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
installing	O
and	O
enabling	O
the	O
DoubleCommand	O
application	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
,	O
or	O
numeric	B-Device
keypad	I-Device
keys	O
as	O
a	O
forward	O
delete	B-Device
key	I-Device
.	O
</s>
