Keyboard Brightness Shortcut Mac

On the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, these keys are not physical. Instead, you expand the Control Strip to reveal the keyboard brightness buttons, or use the itself after customizing it in System Settings.

Tap the Keyboard Brightness icon in the expanded Control Strip to adjust the slider.

To avoid manual adjustments entirely, macOS can manage the lighting for you: keyboard brightness shortcut mac

For Macs without dedicated physical keys, you can create a virtual "shortcut" in your Menu Bar: Open the Apple Menu and select . Navigate to Control Center in the sidebar.

If you prefer not to use keyboard shortcuts or want to explore other options, you can adjust keyboard brightness through System Preferences: On the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, these

Most modern models have replaced the dedicated F5/F6 brightness keys with other functions (like Dictation and Do Not Disturb). On some newer M4 models, Command + F1/F2 may function as a brightness shortcut.

This app allows you to quickly switch the behavior of your F-keys. You can set it so that when you are in a specific app (like a Terminal or IDE), the F-keys default to hardware controls (like brightness) without holding the Fn key. To avoid manual adjustments entirely, macOS can manage

If you don’t see the F5/F6 keys with backlight icons, your keyboard likely lacks backlight hardware.

Go to System Settings → Keyboard