Caps Lock

What is Caps Lock?
Caps Lock is a key on a computer keyboard that allows users to create uppercase letters once activated, as in 'SAMPLE', without holding down the Shift key. It's a toggle key and can be found on the left side of a computer keyboard, below the Tab key. To activate the key, the user has to press it once and the button will lock the Caps Lock, which will make all subsequent typed letters uppercase. The user only has to press it one more time to turn Caps Lock off.

The Caps Lock key is a modified version of the Caps Lock key found on mechanical typewriters. In general, mechanical typewriters require more force to press keys, making it difficult to keep depressing the shift key, especially when entering more than two letters.

The introduction of the shift-lock key on mechanical typewriters not only helped those who used the shift key frequently, but also those who were disabled and unable to hold down more than one key at a time. For the computer keyboard, it was simply decided to press the Shift key with Caps Lock instead.