Here’s how to create some of the best time-saving function key shortcuts for your Mac. Nevertheless, function keys can be very useful if you customize them to do what you want them to do. Change the behavior of function keys on your Mac. Evidently the keyboard changes the way the keys. To use a function key as a function key, you must hold down the fn button at the bottom left of your keyboard. The place on my friends Mac keyboard that functions as an Fn key is an Insert key on mine. On my Mac mini with Mac OS X El Capitan the function keys worked perfectly, but on my iMac still with. I'll try to paraphrase what barley suggested: If your keyboard does not have an fn key, then ignore that step in your instructions, and simply press the next referenced f key, ignoring the fn key - which, after all, is a modifying key - and your keyboard doesn't need that to operate the function keys. Before we start, let’s get to know some strange keys on Apple Mac keyboard, such as (Command / Cmd). Confused by that Fn key on your keyboard Fn is actually short for function, and lets you access a range of alternative functions for the other keys on your keyboard. So.is there any way to 'press Fn' on older mac keyboards or on third party keyboards?ĮDIT: To clarify, my dell keyboard does NOT have a Fn key on it. shortcut is Control-F2, press Fn-Control-F2.
", and it allows you to redefine the caps lock, ctrl, alt and shift keys, but not assign anything to Fn (which is a shame, I use Caps Lock as my Ctrl and the 'real' Ctrl would be a perfect Fn key) I know that I can change my function keys to work properly using an option from the Keyboard preference pane, but I don't want to do that because the ONLY time I need my function keys is when I'm in terminal, other times I am fine with things like volume adjustment etc.
#Fn keys on mac keyboard for mac
A friend of mine has a new Mac keyboard which has a Fn key right on it, but when I press the same location on my keyboard my cursor simply turns into a question mark, apparently this is treated as the 'help' key from older model mac keyboards. Keys for Mac in Windows OS, we would need to change the layout of the keyboard first to Windows by pressing Fn+O. But, there are keys (F, FN) on our keyboard that people are afraid to press because we think it will breakMost.
I am using a Dell keyboard with Mac OS X, and I would like access to my function keys while I'm using Terminal. Most people know how to use letters, numbers, and basic punctuation on the computer.