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I just got a Zagg keyboard and it is great for typing long sections of text on the iPad. But a big drawback is that it does not have an Escape ⎋ key. All the top row keys are mapped to iPad-specific features. This is bad when using vim or remoting into a Windows machine. Does anyone know how to get the Escape ⎋ key to work? Or is there a better iPad keyboard out there that has the Escape ⎋ key?

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Purely out of curiosity, why do you need an escape key, and what does it do on the iPad? I know the eject button raises/lowers the keyboard, and the functions keys manage brightness, media playback, etc., but I've never used Esc apparently. – Jason Salaz♦ Jul 20 '12 at 11:49
The OP says that its for use when remoting into other systems, and in particular mentions VIM which uses the escape key to switch from editing to command modes. It's understandable that an iPad keyboard does not have the key as it is unlikely to be used, and why many remote access apps include it as an extra on the on screen keyboard (which will be hidden if using a hardware keyboard) – Kevin Jul 20 '12 at 15:41

6 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

After much research I cound not find a solution to get the key to work. My solution was to return the Zagg keybard and simply get a standard wireless keyboard from the Mac store. It feels solid and works great. A tad more bulky than the Zagg, but I love that it works with more than just the iPad.

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up vote 2 down vote

Give Ctrl and [ a try that should send the same as Esc (ASCII 27).

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It doesn't even work under Mac OS X. LOL – Shane Hsu Dec 26 '12 at 12:15
@ShaneHsu works perfect for me in terminal (switching to command mode) on OSX 10.8.3 – tomaszkubacki May 13 at 4:39
up vote 1 down vote

For shell-level stuff I use an app called Prompt to SSH into servers and it has ESC and other commonly used VI keyboard sequences.

I am still looking for an escape key for use with the Amazon web services console, when it randomly tosses up a "Please wait..." browser dialog box which it also says to press Esc to end it. No solution yet with either Chrome or Safari that I know of so far. I could use my Mac keyboard, but don't usually have it with me.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you have a keyboard with the "keyboard key" the fourth from the left On the top row of keys. This functions like the escape key on other keyboards.

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up vote -1 down vote

I don't know if the Zagg keyboard has a 'control' button, but my iPad keyboard has one, and if I do Control-c, it forces Vim to quit (at least on my VPS).

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3  
Control-C is not Escape – patrix♦ Nov 4 '12 at 6:28
up vote -2 down vote

Ctrl-[ (Ctrl + left bracket) is identical to Esc. Am using the Zagg with a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and really love it.

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Welcome to Ask Different! This is a site focussed on Apple products, see the faq. – patrix♦ Mar 4 at 7:05

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