What key on many PC keyboards opens the Windows Start menu?

The Windows key on many PC keyboards opens the Windows Start menu.

Microsoft introduced the key with its Natural Keyboard in 1994, ahead of Windows 95. When Windows 95 launched, pressing the key became a shortcut for opening the new Start menu, which replaced the older Program Manager interface used by earlier Windows versions.

Traditional full-size PC keyboards commonly placed two Windows keys between Control and Alt on the left, and between Alt and the navigation keys on the right. Compact keyboards and laptops may include only one, or combine it with an Fn key. The key is also known as the Win, Start, logo, flag, or Super key.

A common mix-up is confusing it with the Menu key, which opens a context menu, or with Control, Alt, and Escape, which perform other shortcuts. In Windows 8, the key opened the Start screen; later versions returned to calling that interface the Start menu.