Tab

Tab arrow mark1. An indentation at the beginning of a line to signify a new paragraph in a document. Usually about five spaces, tabs are primarily used to help create equal spacing between multiple lines and to start a new paragraph. When formatting marks are visible tabs are represented by an arrow pointing to the right, as shown in the example picture to the right.

2. In a software program window and on the Internet, a tab allows for the user to access different parts of a menu, display, or page. below is an example of what tabs may look like in a Microsoft Windows window.

Tabs

Tip Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Tab to switch between open tabs in a document or web browser.

3. May refer to a tab of an open window in tabbed browsing.

Tab keyboard key4. A keyboard key that inserts a tab character or advances the cursor to other tab settings on a line. This key can also move between selectable items in a dialog box. In the picture to the right, is an example of what the tab key may look like on the keyboard.

5. Small plastic piece used to enable/disable write-protection on floppy diskette drives.

Also see: Floppy drive definitions, Indent, Operating System Definitions, Keyboard definitions, Tab stop, White space