The key at the top right of a Mac keyboard says delete but behaves like Backspace: it erases the character to the left of the cursor. Apple's manuals call it ⌫.
- Forward delete (the Windows Delete key) is fn⌫ on a laptop. Full-size Apple keyboards have a separate ⌦ key above the arrows.
- Deleting a file in Finder is ⌘⌫; the file goes to the Trash. Pressing delete alone does nothing to a selected file. ⌘⇧⌫ empties the Trash.
- Deleting a word is ⌥⌫, and ⌘⌫ in a text field deletes to the start of the line.
A PC keyboard plugged into a Mac keeps its physical Delete key, and macOS treats it as forward delete in text.