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# keyEquivalent

The button’s key-equivalent character.

```
var keyEquivalent: String { get set }
```

## Discussion

The value of this property is the string that contains the key equivalent character of the button, or the empty string if one hasn’t been defined. Buttons don’t have a default key equivalent.

Setting this property redraws the button’s inside if it displays a key equivalent instead of an image. The key equivalent isn’t displayed if the image position is set to `NSNoImage`, `NSImageOnly`, or `NSImageOverlaps`; that is, the button must display both its title and its “image” (the key equivalent in this case), and they must not overlap.

To display a key equivalent on a button, set the image and alternate image to `nil`, then set the key equivalent, then set the image position.

## See Also

[`image`](/documentation/AppKit/NSCell/image)

The image displayed by the cell, if any.

[`alternateImage`](/documentation/AppKit/NSButtonCell/alternateImage)

The image the button displays in its alternate state.

[`imagePosition`](/documentation/AppKit/NSButtonCell/imagePosition)

The position of the button’s image relative to its title.


---

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