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Of course if you only have on input source set then it won't really do anything except show you the input source there and it wouldn't make sense to have this set to this. I can click on that and switch if I want or I could tap the fn key and you could see how it switches for me. Now according to this since I have it set to change input source, and now you could see here the little flag there indicating my input source. Let's, for instance, add a British keyboard right there. If I had multiple languages that I wanted to access on my keyboard I could add a new keyboard here. So instead of Do Nothing I can have it Change the Input Source. Now in addition to that with macOS Monterey you could also use this fn or Globe key to trigger actions all by itself. Either way you can access all those functions by either pressing or not pressing the fn or Globe key. However, if you find yourself using apps that are commonly asking you to press F1 or F5 or F7 then you may want to have this turned On so you can press those keys without having to hold down the fn or Globe key. A lot of Mac users don't actually use the F1, F2, F3 shortcuts in apps very much and in that case it might make sense to have this turned Off so you can just use these keys to control Playback, Volume and so on. So just switch this to whatever you prefer. If you want to get the F1 key to send the signal to the app that you are using you need to hold down the fn key or Globe key and press F1 at the same time. Pressing F1 will actually lower brightness.
![map keys on mac keyboard map keys on mac keyboard](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2chKG.jpg)
If you uncheck this it does the opposite. However if you were to hold down the fn or Globe key and press F1 then it would lower the brightness of your screen. So let's say you are using an app and it shows that the F1 key can be used to do some special function. When you have this checked then by just pressing the F1 key it sends the F1 signal to whatever app you're using. Now which one happens depends on this checkbox here. So when you press F1 you can trigger the F1 character or you could also be turning down the brightness of your screen. They also have special symbols on them that represent Brightness, Playback Control, and Volume Controls.
![map keys on mac keyboard map keys on mac keyboard](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AIB4A.jpg)
![map keys on mac keyboard map keys on mac keyboard](https://www.techowns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heart-Keyboard-Symbol-2-1024x432.jpg)
So you have the keys labeled F1, F2, F3 and so on. One is it can change how the keys at the top of your keyboard work. It basically can do two different things. But strangely enough it does actually call it the fn key here in the description.Īlright, so let's go back here and take a look at what the fn key does. Also you'll notice a different menu here on the MacBook because there's a Touch Bar on this particular model so it actually has an additional set of functionality here that you won't find on newer Macs that don't have the Touch Bar. So you can see it says press Globe to and it has that same menu there.
#Map keys on mac keyboard pro#
However on my M1 MacBook Pro it has the Globe printed on that key in addition to fn and if I look into Preferences it calls it by that symbol there. Also here is uses the term fn key in this description. It says here Press fn key to and I can set it to something. If I go to System Preferences and then go to Keyboard then I go to the keyboard section here and it will call this the fn key. So here on my new Mac Studio I'm still using the very good previous generation of Apple keyboard and it has fn on the key. Most notably if you have a Mac with a Touch Bar things will be a little different but your Mac will also show the key as either fn or Globe depending upon which keyboard you have. This is the same key and does the same thing but the functionality does vary depending upon which Mac you have. But newer Macs have that same key with fn and also a Globe symbol on it. If you have an older Mac keyboard, even just a couple of years old, it just has a key on it that's labeled with the two letters fn. So it has been awhile since I've talked about the fn or as it is called now the Globe Key. Join us and get exclusive content and course discounts. There you can read more about the Patreon Campaign. MacMost is brought to you thanks to a great group of more than 1000 supporters. Let's take a look at what the fn or Globe key does on your Mac keyboard. Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with.
#Map keys on mac keyboard how to#
Check out How To Use the FN/Globe Key On Your Mac Keyboard at YouTube for closed captioning and more options.