A$= INKEY$

Returns the key that has been pressed as a string. If no key has been pressed since the last call, it returns an empty string.

INKEY$ consumes input from the keyboard buffer. If multiple keys have been pressed between this call and the last call to INKEY$ (or an INPUT statement), it will take multiple calls to retrieve them all.

Extended keys

Some non-printing keys return special character codes rather than ASCII. These values can be retrieved by wrapping INKEY$ with ASC().

Key	ASC(INKEY$) value
PAGEUP	245
PAGEDOWN	246
DEL	247
INS	248
END	249
UP	250
DOWN	251
LEFT	252
RIGHT	253
HOME	254

Examples

REM Wait for a keypress
PRINT "Press a key..."
REPEAT
    k$ = INKEY$
UNTIL k$ > ""
PRINT "You pressed: "; k$

REM Handle arrow keys
k$ = INKEY$
IF k$ > "" THEN
    code = ASC(k$)
    IF code = 250 THEN PRINT "Up arrow pressed"
    IF code = 251 THEN PRINT "Down arrow pressed"
ENDIF

Notes

Printable characters return their usual ASCII values (e.g. "A" → 65).
Extended keys must be checked via ASC().
If no key is pressed, result is "" (empty string).

See also: ASC · INPUT