# Key

Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to:

## Common uses

* Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message
* Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument
* Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock
* Key (map), a guide to a map's symbology
* Key (music), the scale of a piece of music
* Key on a typewriter or computer keyboard

## Arts, entertainment and media
### Films

* The Key (1934 film), an American pre-Code film
* The Key (1958 film), starring William Holden and Sophia Loren
* The Key, also known as Odd Obsession, a 1959 Japanese comedy drama
* The Key (1961 film), a Soviet animated feature
* The Key (1965 film), a Croatian omnibus film
* The Key (1971 film), a Czechoslovakian drama
* The Key (1983 film), an Italian erotic film
* The Key (1987 film), an Iranian film
* The Key (2007 film), a French thriller film
* Key (film), a 2011 Telugu-language psychological thriller
* The Key (2014 film), an American erotic drama film

### Literature

* The Key (Curley novel), by Marianne Curley, 2005
* The Key (Elfgren and Strandberg novel), by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren, 2013
* The Key (Tanizaki novel), by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, 1956
* "The Key" (short story), by Isaac Asimov, 1966
* The Key, a 1974 children's book by Sheila K. McCullagh, part of the Tim and the Hidden People series
* The Key: A Startling Enquiry into the Riddle of Man's Past, a 1969 book by John Philip Cohane
* The Key, a magazine published by Kappa Kappa Gamma
* "The Key", a short story by Satyajit Ray
* The Keys (journal), of the League of Coloured Peoples founded in 1933

### Music
#### Bands

* The Keys (English band), 1979–1983
* The Keys, a Welsh band successor to Murry the Hump

#### Albums

* Key (Meredith Monk album), 1971
* Key (Son, Ambulance album), 2004
* The Key (Joan Armatrading album), 1983
* The Key (Vince Gill album), 1998
* The Key (Nocturnus album), 1990
* The Key (Operation: Mindcrime album), 2015
* Keys (album), by Alicia Keys, 2021
* The Keys (EP), by GWSN, 2020

#### Songs

* "The Key" (Speech Debelle song), 2009
* "The Key" (Matt Goss song), 1995
* "The Key", a song by Ou Est Le Swimming Pool from the 2010 album The Golden Year
* "Key", a song by Band-Maid from the 2014 album Maid in Japan
* "The Key", a 2010 song by Edita Abdieski
* "Key", a song by C418 from the 2011 album Minecraft – Volume Alpha
* "The Keys", a song by Crazy Town from the 2015 album The Brimstone Sluggers
* "Key", a song by Porter Robinson from the 2017 EP Virtual Self

### Television

* "The Key", a Code Lyoko episode, 2005
* "The Key" (Fear the Walking Dead), 2020
* "The Key", an episode of Prison Break (season 1), 2006
* "The Key" (The Walking Dead), 2018
* "The Key", an episode of Yes, Prime Minister, 1986
* "The Keys" (Seinfeld), a 1992 TV episode

### Other uses in arts, entertainment and media

* Key (character), a supervillain in the DC Comics universe
* Key, the title character of Key the Metal Idol, a Japanese original video animation series
* The Key, a painting by Jackson Pollock

## People

* Key (surname), including a list of people with the surname
* Keys (surname), including a list of people with the surname
* Key (entertainer) (born 1991), South Korean entertainer

## Places

* Cay, or key, a small island on the surface of a coral reef
** Key Cay, British Virgin Islands

### United States

* Key, Alabama
* Key, Ohio
* Key, West Virginia
* Keys, Oklahoma
* Florida Keys

### Elsewhere

* The Keys, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
* Rural Municipality of Keys No. 303, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Key, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran
* Key Island, Tasmania, Australia
* The Key, New Zealand, a locality of Mararoa, New Zealand

## Science and technology

* Candidate key, or simply a key, in relational database management systems
** Unique key
* Key (engineering), a machine element used to connect a rotating machine element to a shaft
* KeY, a tool is used in formal verification of Java programs
* The Key (smartcard), a British smartcard for public transport ticketing
* .key, file extension used by Keynote presentation software
* Identification key, used to identify biological entities
* Telegraph key, or Morse key, a specialized electrical switch

## Sports

* Key (basketball), a marked area on a basketball court
* Frederick Keys, an American baseball team

## Other uses

* Key (company), a Japanese visual novel studio
* Key Airlines, an American former airline
* Key School, in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
* Keys, a truce term used in western Scotland
* Amazon Key, a service by Amazon Prime
* House of Keys, the lower branch of the parliament of the Isle of Man
* Samara (fruit), or key, a type of fruit
* Yeoman Warders Club in the Tower of London, or "The Keys"
* KeyBank, an American regional bank based in Cleveland, Ohio