Brightened (and annoyed) by the light of your keyboard at night? Find out here how to dim, turn off and, of course, turn on the keyboard light on a Mac.
First, Any Ship at Night
Any ship in the seas or in the air will look red at night from the left (port) side and green from the right (starboard).
These navigation (or position) lights don’t go all the way around, of course. Straight from the back (stern), all you see is a single white light.
Any Mac laptop’s keyboard will typically look white at night—of course, we see its backlight, after all.
if you’ve had enough of the lighting show, here’s how to turn it off (on your MacBook):
How to Turn On or Turn Off the Keyboard Light on a Mac (or Change Its Brightness)
Time needed: 1 minute
To turn the keyboard backlight on a Mac on or off and change its brightness:
- Press
(high keyboard backlight brightness) to turn on the keyboard backlight or increase its brightness. No
key: if you do not see the symbol on your keyboard, chances are it is not backlit and you cannot change the keyboard brightness with it. You can try using the following, though:
How to find it: The keyboard brightness key is usually on the F5 key; try Function F5 to access it. - Press
to decrease the brightness of the keyboard backlight. Turn off the keyboard light altogether: Press
repeatedly until the Mac keyboard backlight is off.
Using the mouse: You can also adjust the key light using Control Center; see below.
Use Mac Control Center to Turn the Keyboard Backlight On or Off
To adjust your Mac’s keyboard backlight using the mouse cursor and macOS Control Center:
- Open Control Center in the menu bar.
- Click Keyboard Brightness.
No “Keyboard Brightness”: If you do not see Keyboard Brightness in Control Center, see below for adding it.
Menu bar: You can also add a Keyboard Brightness item to the menu bar; see below as well.
- Choose the desired brightness for the keyboard backlight.
Add Keyboard Brightness to Control Center and Menu Bar
To add keyboard brightness shortcuts to Control Center and Mac menu bar:
- Open System Settings.
- Go to the Control Center category.
- Enable Show in Menu Bar and Show in Control Center as desired for Keyboard Brightness (under Other Modules).
Add Keyboard Brightness to Menu Bar (macOS Monterey)
To add an item for adjusting the keyboard backlight to the macOS Monterey menu bar.
- Select System Preferences… from the Apple symbol menu ().
- Open the Dock & Menu Bar category.
- Now choose Keyboard Brightness on the left.
- Enable Show in Menu Bar.
In addition, you can change the backlight using the keyboard’s Touch Bar.
How to Turn On or Off the Keyboard Light on a Mac: FAQ
Can I have the keyboard’s backlight turn off when I am not typing?
Yes, the backlight can turn on and off as you use the keyboard.
To have the keyboard light turn off automatically:
- Select System Settings… (or Preferences…) from the Apple logo menu.
- Go to the Keyboard category.
macOS Monterey and earlier: Open the Keyboard tab next. - Enable Turn keyboard backlight off after ___ of inactivity.
- Choose a keyboard light timeout from the drop-down menu.
Unless it’s off: The backlight will only turn on and off if it is not generally disabled; see above for adjusting the overall brightness.
(How to turn on or off the keyboard light on a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.3, Ventura 13.1 and Monterey 12.3; updated March 2024)