Is there a way to get an input in the console without having to press the enter key?

Question

I want to be able to get single characters from the console without having to press the enter key.

For example, when I press the letter "e", I want to immediately use that value without the user having to press the enter key

Please read the [`Console` documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.console?view=net-6.0). Also, if you're using Visual Studio then you can simply type `Console.` in your code and it will show you the methods available. If you click on a method name in the resulting list, it will give you a description of what the method does. — ProgrammingLlama, Aug 16 '22 at 15:09

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 16 '22 at 15:21

6

Try:

var key = System.Console.ReadKey(intercept: true);

The intercept flag prevents the pressed key from being rendered into the terminal.

answered Aug 16 '22 at 15:21

Good Night Nerd Pride

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The intercept is a nice hint! – IFrank Aug 16 '22 at 15:25
Is there a way to wait until the user presses something? I currently have this inside a while loop and the loop has to run only after the user presses a key (like what Console.ReadLine does) – electro Aug 16 '22 at 15:31
@electro `ReadKey()` also blocks until the user presses a key. – Good Night Nerd Pride Aug 16 '22 at 15:32
In order use it in a switch statement, do I have to use ToString?(key.ToString()) – electro Aug 16 '22 at 15:39
@electro no you can `switch` on `key.Key` or `key.KeyChar`. – Good Night Nerd Pride Aug 16 '22 at 15:41

gerdogdu · Answer 2 · 2022-08-17T12:18:58.457

Hope this is what you are looking for!
Reference: How to handle key press event in console application

using System;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Press 'Shift+Q' to exit.");
            do {
                ConsoleKeyInfo keyInfo = Console.ReadKey(true);
                if (keyInfo.Modifiers.HasFlag(ConsoleModifiers.Shift)
                    && keyInfo.Key == ConsoleKey.Q)
                {
                    break;
                }

                // TODO : Write your code here
                Console.WriteLine(keyInfo.KeyChar);
            } while (true);
        }
    }
}

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 16 '22 at 15:25

What yoy need is Console.ReadKey().

For example:

 ConsoleKeyInfo key = Console.ReadKey(); // Read pressed key
 char c = key.KeyChar; // char...
 string s = c.ToString(); // ... or string, depending on what you need.

As already suggested, you can try type Console. in VS and see which members are available.

Is there a way to get an input in the console without having to press the enter key?

3 Answers3