M2 MacBook Air - fn keys

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M2 MacBook Air - fn keys

Hello, I am seeking help for fn keys.

When I press fn keys with fn1,2,7-12, I managed to use their respective functions (e.g. brightness up/down and volume up/down).

The issue is with F4 F5 F6. I know that when you press Fn F4, spotlight is supposed to come up, then Fn-F5 for dictation and Fn-F6 for Do not Disturb. However, when I do that, it does not work. Nothing happens.

I know the function in System Preference where you use F1, F2.. as standard keys. The functions work if I disable this, but I would prefer pressing the fn keys before using the F functions.

Seeking help on how I can troubleshoot this. I am using 12.5.1 macOS

MacBook Air, macOS 12.5

Posted on Sep 4, 2022 02:49 AM

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Answer 1

AnnieL2

Community Specialist

Sep 5, 2022 10:25 AM in response to Shaun_9772

Greetings Shaun_9772,

If we’ve understood correctly, you’d like to make it so that when you press fn + F4 or F5 or F6 the functions that happen when you press those keys with out the fn button occur.

If you open the keyboard viewer on your Mac, do you see those keys mapped for the functionality you’re seeking? Use the Keyboard Viewer on Mac

1. On your Mac, click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Show Keyboard Viewer.

If the command isn’t shown, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Input Sources, then select “Show Input menu in menu bar.”

2. Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose the input source for the language whose keyboard you want to view.

3. Press the key on your keyboard that corresponds to the character shown in the Keyboard Viewer, or click keys in the Keyboard Viewer.

Press a modifier key, or a combination of modifier keys, to see special characters or symbols you can type. For example, press and hold the Option key or the Option and Shift keys. An orange outline appears around dead keys, modifier keys that can be pressed with another key to enter a letter with a diacritical mark. See Enter characters with accent marks.

Thanks.

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Answer 2

SnickZ.

Community Specialist

Sep 6, 2022 08:17 AM in response to Shaun_9772

Thanks for trying that and getting back to us, Shaun_9772. It’s appreciated.

We’d like to try to isolate this issue further with you. Please restart your Mac in safe mode following the steps here: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Apple silicon

1. Shut down your Mac.

2. Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window.

3. Select your startup disk, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking “Continue in Safe Mode.”

4. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

We also want to inform you that starting in safe mode will take a bit longer than a normal start. This paragraph explains why:

Safe mode prevents your Mac from loading certain software as it starts up, including login items, system extensions not required by macOS, and fonts not installed by macOS. It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

Once your Mac is in safe mode, please test your function keys to see if they work as expected. Whether or not they do, restart normally to exit safe mode.

If the keys worked as expected while in safe mode, please test the issue once again after a normal restart.

Please let us know the results when you're able.

All the best.

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