Ask HN: Which Shift key do you primarily use? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Which Shift key do you primarily use?

2 pointsbrianmtully10 comments

I just realized that I never use the right Shift key. Always the left. Do any of you primarily use the right Shift key?

Left mostly due to gaming and mouse usage. Right does see some usage though. For example: when I don't have two hands on the keyboard; for Shift + Enter and Shift + Delete. It's a shame that Whatpulse can't tell the difference between left and right otherwise I would post the counts for both.

As an aside, it doesn't even recognise my shift key so I wrote a little utility to read its key frequencies file and print the data to the console. That tells me:

> Key 0x10: Shift, count 53170

This was a more interesting question than I thought at first. I looked at my keyboard, and I see equal wear on both keys. I tried typing the first sentence using Title Case, and I find that I use the pinky of the opposite hand that's typing to make capital letters. I've never thought the right shift key is "far away" at all.

I was going to say that I prefer the left shift key... but while writing this comment, I realized I'm using the right shift key.

(I'm right-handed and anchor my right pinky on the shift key. Somewhere, a typing tutor screams in horror. I use the left control key exclusively.)

If you type properly using both your hands, you should use both of them almost equally. That's what I do. Use the left shift key for keys pressed by your right hands, and right shift key for keys pressed by your left.

Heh. Here's some previous data: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=486317

I always use the left shift. And instinctively use my left ring finger if I need an uppercase Q, A, or Z. The right shift is just too far away.

Left, I don't think i've ever used the right shift key. I'm right handed, if that means anything. Maybe lefties use the right shift key?

I always use the left shift, and like you I never touch the right. But I'm a lefty...

I'm the same as you. I rarely-to-never use the right shift key

Right shift for using uppercase letters and symbols, left shift for selecting text and for some key combinations.

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