Skip to content Skip to footer

Ctrl+Alt+Del was a mistake

Every Windows user knows about the Ctrl+Alt+Del keyboard combination. It was originally designed to trigger a reboot of a system. It’s used for a wide variety of tasks such as logging into Windows or accessing the Task Manager and even the quick Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) remedy.

During a fundraising event at Harvard, Bill Gates blamed IBM engineer David Bradley for the 3 key combination, also known as the “three-fingered salute” and claims that he favored a single button. According to Bradley he stated that he wanted to make it Ctrl+Alt+Esc but this was to easy for one to bump the keyboard and unexpectedly trigger a reboot. Thus bringing us to Ctrl+Alt+Del making it impossible to complete with one hand.

In a YouTube video Bradley stated, “I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous.”