Text cursor

Updated: 08/16/2021 by Computer Hope
Text cursor

Also called a caret, a cursor or text cursor is a blinking horizontal or vertical line ( blinking cursor ) that indicates where new text starts when you begin to type. For example, below is an empty text box. Clicking in this box displays a text cursor indicating where to start typing.

Tip

In text editors and word processors, the text cursor is also called an i-cursor.

Note

If your text cursor is a block or rectangle instead of an I-beam, press the Insert key.

Text cursor example

As you start to type, the text cursor stays at the end of the line to indicate the insertion point. Pressing the left arrow key moves the cursor to the left and lets you insert text at the text cursor's position. If there was text after the cursor, pressing the right arrow key moves the cursor to the right.

Also, when working with text that's more than one line, press the up arrow key to move the text cursor up or down to move up or down one or more lines.

Tip

Click with the mouse where you want the text cursor to appear in text that already exists.

Cursor, I-beam, Insert mode, Software terms, Text