[python] Detect key input in Python

(In 2013) I don't know why Python is that weird, you can't find this by searching in google very easily, but it's quite simple.

How can I detect 'SPACE' or actually any key? How can I do this:

print('You pressed %s' % key)

This should be included in python core, so please do not link modules not related for core python.

This question is related to python input tkinter keyboard

The answer is


use the builtin: (no need for tkinter)

s = input('->>')
print(s) # what you just typed); now use if's 

Use Tkinter there are a ton of tutorials online for this. basically, you can create events. Here is a link to a great site! This makes it easy to capture clicks. Also, if you are trying to make a game, Tkinter also has a GUI. Although, I wouldn't recommend Python for games at all, it could be a fun experiment. Good Luck!


Key input is a predefined event. You can catch events by attaching event_sequence(s) to event_handle(s) by using one or multiple of the existing binding methods(bind, bind_class, tag_bind, bind_all). In order to do that:

  1. define an event_handle method
  2. pick an event(event_sequence) that fits your case from an events list

When an event happens, all of those binding methods implicitly calls the event_handle method while passing an Event object, which includes information about specifics of the event that happened, as the argument.

In order to detect the key input, one could first catch all the '<KeyPress>' or '<KeyRelease>' events and then find out the particular key used by making use of event.keysym attribute.

Below is an example using bind to catch both '<KeyPress>' and '<KeyRelease>' events on a particular widget(root):

try:                        # In order to be able to import tkinter for
    import tkinter as tk    # either in python 2 or in python 3
except ImportError:
    import Tkinter as tk


def event_handle(event):
    # Replace the window's title with event.type: input key
    root.title("{}: {}".format(str(event.type), event.keysym))


if __name__ == '__main__':
    root = tk.Tk()
    event_sequence = '<KeyPress>'
    root.bind(event_sequence, event_handle)
    root.bind('<KeyRelease>', event_handle)
    root.mainloop()

Examples related to python

programming a servo thru a barometer Is there a way to view two blocks of code from the same file simultaneously in Sublime Text? python variable NameError Why my regexp for hyphenated words doesn't work? Comparing a variable with a string python not working when redirecting from bash script is it possible to add colors to python output? Get Public URL for File - Google Cloud Storage - App Engine (Python) Real time face detection OpenCV, Python xlrd.biffh.XLRDError: Excel xlsx file; not supported Could not load dynamic library 'cudart64_101.dll' on tensorflow CPU-only installation

Examples related to input

Angular 4 - get input value React - clearing an input value after form submit Min and max value of input in angular4 application Disable Button in Angular 2 Angular2 - Input Field To Accept Only Numbers How to validate white spaces/empty spaces? [Angular 2] Can't bind to 'ngModel' since it isn't a known property of 'input' Mask for an Input to allow phone numbers? File upload from <input type="file"> Why does the html input with type "number" allow the letter 'e' to be entered in the field?

Examples related to tkinter

How can I create a dropdown menu from a List in Tkinter? Windows- Pyinstaller Error "failed to execute script " When App Clicked _tkinter.TclError: no display name and no $DISPLAY environment variable How to set a tkinter window to a constant size PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied matplotlib error - no module named tkinter How do I change the text size in a label widget, python tkinter Tkinter understanding mainloop How to clear/delete the contents of a Tkinter Text widget? tkinter: Open a new window with a button prompt

Examples related to keyboard

How do I check if a Key is pressed on C++ Move a view up only when the keyboard covers an input field Move textfield when keyboard appears swift Xcode iOS 8 Keyboard types not supported Xcode 6: Keyboard does not show up in simulator How to dismiss keyboard iOS programmatically when pressing return Detect key input in Python Getting Keyboard Input Press Keyboard keys using a batch file Keylistener in Javascript