Although most operating systems and GUI frameworks provide text box controls with extensive built-in functionality, some applications, such as video games, may implement simplified versions.
Enter text When keys are pressed on a keyboard, the text is added at the caret location. Some very simple text boxes may not show a caret, which would suggest that new characters typed in will appear at the end of the current text.
Navigate and manipulate text Using a mouse: • Change the caret position by clicking the desired point with a mouse cursor; • Select a portion of text by pressing the main mouse button while pointing the cursor at one end of the desired part of the text and dragging the cursor to the other end while holding the button pressed. Using the keyboard: • Pressing
arrow keys changes the caret position by one character or line • Pressing / keys (
Microsoft's Windows OS) or -left arrow / Command-right arrow (
Apple's
Mac OS) moves the caret to the beginning / end of the line • Pressing / moves the caret a page (the number of lines that can be displayed in the text box at a time) backward / forward (Windows) or moves the
scrollbar thumb a page backward / forward without changing the caret position (Mac OS) • Holding the key (Windows) while pressing arrow keys or / keys makes the caret move at larger steps, e.g. words, paragraphs or beginning / end of document • Holding the (Mac OS) while pressing arrows moves the caret whole words or paragraphs • Holding the while pressing up or down arrows (Mac OS) or holding the key while pressing / (Windows) moves the caret to the beginning or end of the document • Holding the while changing the caret position with a mouse or keyboard selects the text between the caret position from when Shift was first pressed and its current position • Pressing (Windows) selects all text
Edit text Work in insert or overwrite mode, typically switched using . In insert mode if there is a character to the right of the caret, the new character will be inserted before it, while in overwrite mode typing a new character will replace (overwrite) the character to the right of the caret position. Typing in text while some part of the text already entered is selected will replace the selected text. / keys remove one character right / left of current caret position, while pressing them together with the or removes one word. Edit the text using standard
clipboard operations. Edits can be
undone and
redone with Control-Z| / Control-Y| (Windows) or / (Mac OS) == Alternative meanings ==