Backspace key

Sometimes referred to as the rubout key, the backspace key or back space key is a keyboard key used to delete any character before the current position of the cursor. For example, click the mouse button at the end of the below text and press backspace to delete the last character in the line. As seen in the picture to the right, the backspace key always has an arrow that points to the left, on Apple Macintosh computers, the backspace key is delete.

Press and hold down Ctrl and press Backspace to delete one full word at a time, instead of deleting one character at a time.