Control-C

Control-C is a common computer command. It is generated by pressing the C key while holding down the Ctrl key on most computer keyboards.

In graphical user interface environments that use the control key to control the active program, control-C is often used to copy highlighted text to the clipboard. In many command-line interface environments, control-C is used to abort the current task and regain user control. It is a special sequence which causes the operating system to send a signal to the active program. Usually the signal causes it to end, but the program may "catch" it and do something else, typically returning control to the user.

Ctrl-C was one of a handful of keyboard sequences chosen by the program designers at Xerox PARC to control text editing, with Ctrl-Z (Undo), Ctrl-X (Cut), Ctrl-V (Paste), and Ctrl-P (Print). The first four letters are all located together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard QWERTY keyboard, and P towards the upper right. The equivalent key combination on Macintosh computers is Command-C.

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