Carriage return

A carriage return, sometimes known as a cartridge return and often shortened to CR, <CR> or return, is a control character or mechanism used to reset a device's position to the beginning of a line of text. It is closely associated with the line feed and newline concepts, although it can be considered separately in its own right, as explained further below.

Typewriters

Originally, the term "carriage return" referred to a mechanism or lever on a typewriter. It was used after typing a line of text and caused the assembly holding the paper (the carriage) to return to the right so that the machine was ready to type again on the left-hand side of the paper (assuming a left-to-right language). The lever would also usually advance the paper to the next line.

The first power carriage return was added to electric typewriters by Smith Corona in 1960. The command key for this was usually labeled "carriage return" or "return". With typewriters like the Selectric, where the type element was moved when typing and the paper held stationary, the key returned the type element to the left and the term "carrier return" was sometimes used for this function.