Windows Virtual Key Codes

This is a quick post to act as a reference, mostly for myself tbh, on Windows Virtual Key Codes and how to use them. This is one of those things that I seem to always need to refer back to over and over again, so I thought I’d make it a little easier on myself by coding up a page that let’s me quickly search for the key I want, with a key-press.

Press Any Key

Let me know if there’s any keys missing, I’m using a laptop to develop. Here’s the table of keys:

VK Key Code/valueDescription
VK_LBUTTON
0x01
Left mouse button
VK_RBUTTON
0x02
Right mouse button
VK_CANCEL
0x03
Control-break processing
VK_MBUTTON
0x04
Middle mouse button (three-button mouse)
VK_XBUTTON1
0x05
X1 mouse button
VK_XBUTTON2
0x06
X2 mouse button
0x07
Undefined
VK_BACK
0x08
BACKSPACE key
VK_TAB
0x09
TAB key
0x0A-0B
Reserved
VK_CLEAR
0x0C
CLEAR key
VK_RETURN
0x0D
ENTER key
0x0E-0F
Undefined
VK_SHIFT
0x10
SHIFT key
VK_CONTROL
0x11
CTRL key
VK_MENU
0x12
ALT key
VK_PAUSE
0x13
PAUSE key
VK_CAPITAL
0x14
CAPS LOCK key
VK_KANA
0x15
IME Kana mode
VK_HANGUEL
0x15
IME Hanguel mode (maintained for compatibility; use VK_HANGUL)
VK_HANGUL
0x15
IME Hangul mode
VK_IME_ON
0x16
IME On
VK_JUNJA
0x17
IME Junja mode
VK_FINAL
0x18
IME final mode
VK_HANJA
0x19
IME Hanja mode
VK_KANJI
0x19
IME Kanji mode
VK_IME_OFF
0x1A
IME Off
VK_ESCAPE
0x1B
ESC key
VK_CONVERT
0x1C
IME convert
VK_NONCONVERT
0x1D
IME nonconvert
VK_ACCEPT
0x1E
IME accept
VK_MODECHANGE
0x1F
IME mode change request
VK_SPACE
0x20
SPACEBAR
VK_PRIOR
0x21
PAGE UP key
VK_NEXT
0x22
PAGE DOWN key
VK_END
0x23
END key
VK_HOME
0x24
HOME key
VK_LEFT
0x25
LEFT ARROW key
VK_UP
0x26
UP ARROW key
VK_RIGHT
0x27
RIGHT ARROW key
VK_DOWN
0x28
DOWN ARROW key
VK_SELECT
0x29
SELECT key
VK_PRINT
0x2A
PRINT key
VK_EXECUTE
0x2B
EXECUTE key
VK_SNAPSHOT
0x2C
PRINT SCREEN key
VK_INSERT
0x2D
INS key
VK_DELETE
0x2E
DEL key
VK_HELP
0x2F
HELP key
0x30
0 key
0x31
1 key
0x32
2 key
0x33
3 key
0x34
4 key
0x35
5 key
0x36
6 key
0x37
7 key
0x38
8 key
0x39
9 key
0x3A-40
Undefined
0x41
A key
0x42
B key
0x43
C key
0x44
D key
0x45
E key
0x46
F key
0x47
G key
0x48
H key
0x49
I key
0x4A
J key
0x4B
K key
0x4C
L key
0x4D
M key
0x4E
N key
0x4F
O key
0x50
P key
0x51
Q key
0x52
R key
0x53
S key
0x54
T key
0x55
U key
0x56
V key
0x57
W key
0x58
X key
0x59
Y key
0x5A
Z key
VK_LWIN
0x5B
Left Windows key (Natural keyboard)
VK_RWIN
0x5C
Right Windows key (Natural keyboard)
VK_APPS
0x5D
Applications key (Natural keyboard)
0x5E
Reserved
VK_SLEEP
0x5F
Computer Sleep key
VK_NUMPAD0
0x60
Numeric keypad 0 key
VK_NUMPAD1
0x61
Numeric keypad 1 key
VK_NUMPAD2
0x62
Numeric keypad 2 key
VK_NUMPAD3
0x63
Numeric keypad 3 key
VK_NUMPAD4
0x64
Numeric keypad 4 key
VK_NUMPAD5
0x65
Numeric keypad 5 key
VK_NUMPAD6
0x66
Numeric keypad 6 key
VK_NUMPAD7
0x67
Numeric keypad 7 key
VK_NUMPAD8
0x68
Numeric keypad 8 key
VK_NUMPAD9
0x69
Numeric keypad 9 key
VK_MULTIPLY
0x6A
Multiply key
VK_ADD
0x6B
Add key
VK_SEPARATOR
0x6C
Separator key
VK_SUBTRACT
0x6D
Subtract key
VK_DECIMAL
0x6E
Decimal key
VK_DIVIDE
0x6F
Divide key
VK_F1
0x70
F1 key
VK_F2
0x71
F2 key
VK_F3
0x72
F3 key
VK_F4
0x73
F4 key
VK_F5
0x74
F5 key
VK_F6
0x75
F6 key
VK_F7
0x76
F7 key
VK_F8
0x77
F8 key
VK_F9
0x78
F9 key
VK_F10
0x79
F10 key
VK_F11
0x7A
F11 key
VK_F12
0x7B
F12 key
VK_F13
0x7C
F13 key
VK_F14
0x7D
F14 key
VK_F15
0x7E
F15 key
VK_F16
0x7F
F16 key
VK_F17
0x80
F17 key
VK_F18
0x81
F18 key
VK_F19
0x82
F19 key
VK_F20
0x83
F20 key
VK_F21
0x84
F21 key
VK_F22
0x85
F22 key
VK_F23
0x86
F23 key
VK_F24
0x87
F24 key
0x88-8F
Unassigned
VK_NUMLOCK
0x90
NUM LOCK key
VK_SCROLL
0x91
SCROLL LOCK key
0x92-96
OEM specific
0x97-9F
Unassigned
VK_LSHIFT
0xA0
Left SHIFT key
VK_RSHIFT
0xA1
Right SHIFT key
VK_LCONTROL
0xA2
Left CONTROL key
VK_RCONTROL
0xA3
Right CONTROL key
VK_LMENU
0xA4
Left MENU key
VK_RMENU
0xA5
Right MENU key
VK_BROWSER_BACK
0xA6
Browser Back key
VK_BROWSER_FORWARD
0xA7
Browser Forward key
VK_BROWSER_REFRESH
0xA8
Browser Refresh key
VK_BROWSER_STOP
0xA9
Browser Stop key
VK_BROWSER_SEARCH
0xAA
Browser Search key
VK_BROWSER_FAVORITES
0xAB
Browser Favorites key
VK_BROWSER_HOME
0xAC
Browser Start and Home key
VK_VOLUME_MUTE
0xAD
Volume Mute key
VK_VOLUME_DOWN
0xAE
Volume Down key
VK_VOLUME_UP
0xAF
Volume Up key
VK_MEDIA_NEXT_TRACK
0xB0
Next Track key
VK_MEDIA_PREV_TRACK
0xB1
Previous Track key
VK_MEDIA_STOP
0xB2
Stop Media key
VK_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE
0xB3
Play/Pause Media key
VK_LAUNCH_MAIL
0xB4
Start Mail key
VK_LAUNCH_MEDIA_SELECT
0xB5
Select Media key
VK_LAUNCH_APP1
0xB6
Start Application 1 key
VK_LAUNCH_APP2
0xB7
Start Application 2 key
0xB8-B9
Reserved
VK_OEM_1
0xBA
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘;:’ key
VK_OEM_PLUS
0xBB
For any country/region, the ‘+’ key
VK_OEM_COMMA
0xBC
For any country/region, the ‘,’ key
VK_OEM_MINUS
0xBD
For any country/region, the ‘-‘ key
VK_OEM_PERIOD
0xBE
For any country/region, the ‘.’ key
VK_OEM_2
0xBF
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘/?’ key
VK_OEM_3
0xC0
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘`~’ key
0xC1-D7
Reserved
0xD8-DA
Unassigned
VK_OEM_4
0xDB
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘[{‘ key
VK_OEM_5
0xDC
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘\|’ key
VK_OEM_6
0xDD
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘]}’ key
VK_OEM_7
0xDE
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
For the US standard keyboard, the ‘single-quote/double-quote’ key
VK_OEM_8
0xDF
Used for miscellaneous characters; it can vary by keyboard.
0xE0
Reserved
0xE1
OEM specific
VK_OEM_102
0xE2
Either the angle bracket key or the backslash key on the RT 102-key keyboard
0xE3-E4
OEM specific
VK_PROCESSKEY
0xE5
IME PROCESS key
0xE6
OEM specific
VK_PACKET
0xE7
Used to pass Unicode characters as if they were keystrokes. The VK_PACKET key is the low word of a 32-bit Virtual Key value used for non-keyboard input methods. You’ll never use this for your game
0xE8
Unassigned
0xE9-F5
OEM specific
VK_ATTN
0xF6
Attn key
VK_CRSEL
0xF7
CrSel key
VK_EXSEL
0xF8
ExSel key
VK_EREOF
0xF9
Erase EOF key
VK_PLAY
0xFA
Play key
VK_ZOOM
0xFB
Zoom key
VK_NONAME
0xFC
Reserved
VK_PA1
0xFD
PA1 key
VK_OEM_CLEAR
0xFE
Clear key

If you find this helpful, please link or mention it on social media. If it’s the sort of thing that people utilize I can justify spending more time on similar helpful tools. Comment below if you have anything in mind that you’d find useful.

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