I cannot control volume from my keyboard. Is anyone else having this issue?

Hi JimM13, We appreciate you reaching out to us. We understand that you are unable to control sound volume from your keyboard while MacBook Air is closed and connected to an external monitor.

We’d like to gather additional details that may help us be in a better position to assist you.

Is the sound coming out of the external monitor?

Are you able to use the keyboard if your MacBook Air is left open?

In the meantime, let’s check if the issue persists when signed in on a different user account. 

The article below can help if you do not have any other user account to test with.

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

If you are experiencing the issue when signed in on a different user account, please check if the issue persists while on safe mode.

Performing this step may help resolve the issue, or further isolate the issue.

Below is an article to help guide you through the process.

How to use safe mode on your Mac

Trying these steps may help further isolate the issue.

Please keep us posted.

Take care!

JimM13,

Make sure to notate what happens while in safe mode as well as a guest user account.

Let's also check the sound output settings:

"Change the sound output settings on Mac

You can play sound through your computer’s internal speakers, your display’s speakers (if it has speakers), or through speakers, headphones, or other equipment plugged into your Mac or available wirelessly through AirPlay.

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Sound  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
2. Click Output on the right, then select the device you want to use in the list of sound output devices. All sound output devices available to your Mac are listed, including the computer’s internal speakers, devices plugged into your computer’s sound port (), USB speakers, and AirPlay devices.For any device plugged into the computer’s sound port, choose Headphones.
3. Do any of the following to adjust your sound output settings:

• Adjust the volume: Drag the Output volume slider.
• If you have Sound in the menu bar, you can turn the volume up or down from anywhere.
  • To set a volume for alert sounds, drag the Alert volume slider in Sound Effects. The alert volume is relative to your computer’s volume, so if you lower the computer’s volume, alert sounds also play more quietly.
  • Stop sound output: Select the Mute checkbox.
  • Adjust the balance: Drag the Balance slider."

More details can be found here: Change the sound output settings on Mac

Cheers!