Detect which key-press

Question

We can detect any ASCII character key press from the answers there but is there any way to detect keys like 'Ctrl,Alt, function keys(F1, F2..) etc.

Preferably for windows.

Please enter your code, your attempts, and a bit more description. — Alex_P, Dec 03 '18 at 09:03
I tried all the codes in the answers from the link, I do not know what else to try, they don't detect the keys mentioned. Do I put all those codes here? @Alex_P — Vedant Kandoi, Dec 03 '18 at 09:05
Did you try using `pynput`? You say preferably Windows and there are some comments on that thread which point to `msvcrt` a Windows-only module and he goes onto say **I actually use pynput now.** Pynput ref: https://pythonhosted.org/pynput/keyboard.html — Wayne Phipps, Dec 03 '18 at 09:17
Possible duplicate of [detect key press in python?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24072790/detect-key-press-in-python) — NIMISHAN, Dec 03 '18 at 09:23
@WaynePhipps, `msvcrt` does not detect those keys. `pynput` is working(wasn't before for some reason). Is there a similar library for other OS? — Vedant Kandoi, Dec 03 '18 at 09:30

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 06 '20 at 14:05

For detecting ctrl or alt or any function key like f5 f6 , you have to make your own function.

This code will print witch key you press so you come to know the string for a special. key.

import msvcrt
while True:
    if msvcrt.kbhit():
        key_stroke = msvcrt.getch()
        print(key_stroke)   # will print which key is pressed

For Example, this code is for detection F6 keypress

import msvcrt
while True:
    if msvcrt.kbhit():
        key_stroke = msvcrt.getch()
        c1 = "b\'\\x00\'"
        c2 = "b\'@\'"
        if str(key_stroke) == str(c1):
            key_stroke = msvcrt.getch()
            if str(key_stroke) == str(c2):
                print('yes')

I hope it's work for you.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 28 '21 at 08:07

Simplest cross platform solution is sshkeyboard. It handles parsing the msvcrt output into readable characters.

Install with pip install sshkeyboard,

then write script such as:

from sshkeyboard import listen_keyboard

def press(key):
    print(f"'{key}' pressed")

def release(key):
    print(f"'{key}' released")

listen_keyboard(
    on_press=press,
    on_release=release,
)

And it will print:

'a' pressed
'a' released

When A key is pressed. ESC key ends the listening by default.

Detect which key-press

2 Answers2