• 17 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Typewriter

A manual typewriter from the front, then its typebars and keyboard up close.

Parts of a Typewriter

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Platen
  2. Carriage
  3. Carriage return lever
  4. Platen knob
  5. Paper bail
  6. Paper guide
  7. Margin stop
  8. Type basket
  9. Ribbon spool
  10. Typebars
  11. Ribbon
  12. Keys
  13. Space bar
  14. Shift key
  15. Shift lock
  16. Backspace key
  17. Tabulator key

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: a computer keyboard, which kept these key names

All 17 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Carriage and basket 9

  1. Platen The roller the paper is fed around. The type strikes the paper against it. It is also called the cylinder, and turning it moves the paper up.
  2. Carriage Moves one space to the left each time a character is typed. The platen is mounted on it.
  3. Carriage return lever At the far left. Pushing it to the right returns the carriage to the start of the line and turns the platen to move the paper up.
  4. Platen knob Turning either knob turns the platen by hand. This rolls paper in or out.
  5. Paper bail A bar with small grips that holds the paper against the platen.
  6. Paper guide Set so every sheet's left edge goes in at the same place.
  7. Margin stop One each side. The carriage locks when it reaches the right-hand stop. The margin release key lets you type past it.
  8. Type basket The well that holds the fan of typebars. On some machines the shift key moves the whole basket.
  9. Ribbon spool The ribbon is wound on two spools. It travels from one to the other as you type.

Typebars and keyboard 8

  1. Typebars Each key swings one up to strike the ribbon against the paper. Two struck together can clash and jam.
  2. Ribbon An inked ribbon that the type strikes against the paper. That leaves the letter.
  3. Keys Each key produces a different character.
  4. Space bar Pressing it moves the carriage on one space without printing.
  5. Shift key There is one each side. Holding it shifts the basket of typebars or the carriage, so the capital on each typebar prints.
  6. Shift lock Keeps the machine shifted until it is released. Every letter then prints as a capital.
  7. Backspace key Moves the carriage back one space. Used, for example, to type one character on top of another.
  8. Tabulator key The tab key moves the carriage straight to the next tab stop. That helps with columns of figures.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two sources use it: Edith Mackay, The Typewriting Dictionary (Pitman, 1977), read through archive.org's full-text search, https://archive.org/details/typewritingdicti0000mack (platen, platen knob, carriage, carriage return lever, paper bail, paper guide, margin stop, margin release key, typebars, type basket, ribbon and its two spools, space bar, shift keys and shift lock, backspace key, tabulator key); two typewriter makers' instruction manuals on archive.org, https://archive.org/details/1959-scm-smith-corona-galaxie-portable-manual-typewriter-instruction-manual-v-2 and https://archive.org/details/TNM_Congratulations_You_Now_Own_the_Worlds_Finest_20180612_0206 (platen knob, paper bail, paper guide, margin set, ribbon spool, space bar, shift key); the list of principal operating parts in The Seven Keys to Better Faster Typing, https://archive.org/details/TheSevenKeysToBetterFasterTyping (cylinder or platen, platen knobs, paper bail, tabulator, space bar); and Wikipedia, Typewriter, text only (platen, carriage, carriage-return lever, typebars, basket of typebars, inked ribbon, keys, shift key, shift lock, backspace, tab or tabulator key). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's machine, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A manual typewriter prints by swinging a typebar against an inked ribbon. The first drawing is the whole machine; the second enlarges the type basket and the keyboard.

Read the full guide

Top of the machine first, then the keys

Numbers 1 to 3 are the platen, the carriage that carries it and the carriage return lever. Numbers 4 to 7 sit on the carriage: a platen knob, the paper bail, the paper guide and a margin stop. Numbers 8 and 9 are the type basket and a ribbon spool. Open the second drawing for 10 to 17: the typebars and ribbon, then the keys, space bar, shift key, shift lock, backspace key and tabulator key.

  • Platen and cylinder are two names for the same roller.
  • A computer keyboard kept the typewriter's names: shift, backspace, tab and space bar.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a typewriter called?

The carriage with its platen, platen knobs, paper bail, paper guide, margin stops and carriage return lever; the type basket of typebars with the ribbon and its two spools; and the keyboard, with the keys, space bar, shift keys, shift lock, backspace and tabulator.

What is the roller on a typewriter called?

The platen, or cylinder. The paper is fed round it and the type strikes the paper against it. The knob at each end turns it by hand.

What does the carriage return lever do?

It is the lever at the far left. Pushing it to the right returns the carriage to the start of the line and turns the platen, which moves the paper up for the next line.

What does the shift key do on a typewriter?

It shifts either the basket of typebars or the carriage, so that the capital letter on each typebar prints in place of the small one. The shift lock holds it in place.

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