How to disable Fn key on laptop keyboard and use F1-F12 keys
Modern laptop and computer keyboards come with buttons designed to perform more than one function, so these buttons can perform a special action such as changing the volume or controlling the screen brightness level; along with that they also function as the old F1-F12 keys that are located on the top row of the keyboard.
But they do not perform the same function at the same time, but rather they are divided so that by default, clicking once on any of these buttons performs the special functions, while you need to press and hold the Fn button on the keyboard if you want to use the functions of the known F1-12 keys.
Some of us may not like this mode, and want to make the F keys virtual - for example, for PC games. Instead of pressing the Fn key every time you want to use the F key functions in the game, you can perform the action with just one press, while the special functions become a secondary option that requires pressing the Fn key.
It may seem a bit complicated, so let's get straight to explaining how to disable the Fn key and use the F1-F12 keys as with traditional keyboards, and this is done in 3 different ways.
Method 1: Activate Fn Lock
Most keyboards have an Fn Lock feature which often has a dedicated button that acts like the Caps Lock key.
If you find this button on your keyboard, click on it and the keys on the top row will act as F1-F12 keys without having to hold down the Fn key all the time. Just like you use the Caps Lock key to always make letters capital without pressing the Shift key every time you want to type capital letters.
There may not be a dedicated Fn Lock key on your keyboard, but it is integrated with another key. For example, some keyboards show Fn Lock as a secondary action with the Esc key. To activate the feature, you need to long-press the Fn key and press the Esc key together. After that, the Fn key will be disabled, and you can use the upper keys on the keyboard as F1-F12 keys.
Not all keyboards have the Fn Lock feature, in fact, most mobile devices won’t have it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t disable the Fn key anymore, there are still some other methods that will definitely work! So read on.
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Method 2: Change BIOS settings
Many laptops often have an option to disable the Fn key in the BIOS setup screen. Restart your computer and press the key you are prompted to press during startup to access this screen – often F2, Delete, or F10. You can also refer to our previous article on the blog where we explained how to enter the BIOS settings on all devices
Once you enter the BIOS settings screen on your laptop, use your keyboard to navigate to the Configuration section where there is an option called "HotKey Mode" and after clicking on it, choose from the list "Disabled". Finally, go to the Exit section and click on the Save option to save the settings on that and restart the computer.
Note that the steps vary from device to device with the variety of BIOS screen shapes. For example, the previous steps apply to Lenovo laptops, while we found this option in the Advanced section called Function Key on a modern Dell laptop. So, you will have to search carefully on this screen for the correct option to disable the Fn key.
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Method 3: Change Control Panel Settings
You may also see the option to disable the Fn key in various places in Windows, for example, Dell includes this option in the Windows Mobility Center tool and some other computer manufacturers may do this as well.
To access this tool on Windows 10 or 8.1, all you have to do is right-click on the Start menu or press Win + X together to bring up a menu containing the Mobility Center option. Alternatively, you can find this tool in the Control Panel.
Either way, after opening the tool, look for the Fn Key Behavior or Function Key Row option and choose Function key from the drop-down menu instead of Multimedia key. This way, the F1-F12 functions become the default for the keys on the top row of the keyboard.
In general, you can switch between F1-F12 keys and special functions via the Fn Lock key or the hidden Fn Lock shortcut as we mentioned in the first method. While in many laptops, this feature is available as an Option in the BIOS settings screen which you can access during startup. If all else fails, search in the Control Panel on the operating system itself as we mentioned in the previous paragraph.
If you still can't find this option, do a quick online search for the manufacturer of your laptop or keyboard and add the word "fn lock" or something similar. The information you find online may guide you to the correct way to disable the Fn key on your keyboard.
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