Everything about Control-Alt-Delete
Computer keyboard shortcut that triggers a reboot or system security function
Control-Alt-Delete is a computer keyboard command on IBM PC compatible computers, invoked by pressing the Delete key while holding the Control and Alt keys: Ctrl+Alt+Delete. The function of the key combination differs depending on the context but it generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function. For instance, in pre-boot environment or in MS-DOS, Windows 3.0 and earlier versions of Windows or OS/2, the key combination reboots the computer. Starting with Windows 95, the key combination invokes a task manager or security related component that facilitates ending a Windows session or killing a frozen application. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Control-Alt-DeleteA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: « Control, alt, delete » : attaques populistes patriarcales contre les droits des femmes au niveau internationalInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Ctrl alt deleteThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: “Control-Alt-Delete”: Rebooting Solutions for the E-Waste ProblemCited 228 times
- Go sideways: Table of keyboard shortcutsA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Windows keyA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
“Control-Alt-Delete”: Rebooting Solutions for the E-Waste Problem
ALT control, delete: FANCM as an anti-cancer target in Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres
Control, alt, delete: Patriarchal populist attacks on international women’s rights
Editorial: Control alt delete – technology and children's mental health
Control ALT to delete tumors
Chairman?s Editorial: Control Alt Delete
‘Control-alt-delete’ management: democratisation under the social interaction of the internet
Control+Alt+Delete: Authoritarian Educational Leadership and the State Takeover of Houston ISD
🆕 Influential since 2022
📚 Books worth reading
Ctrl alt deleteMitch Joel · 2013
Drupal 7 bibleRic Shreves · 2011- 📕Control; Alt; DeleteDavid R. Flores · 2025
Wired for WarP. W Singer · 2009- 📕Control Alt DeleteJ. Steven Young · 2015
Control Alt Delete- 📕Control, Alt, DeleteRebecca Langley · 2019
- 📕Control Alt DeleteRuben Hargis · 2014
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
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