👁 Image

Keyboard settings on Mac

On your Mac, use Keyboard settings to set keyboard shortcuts, adjust backlighting, add layouts for typing in other languages, and set up Dictation.

Popular topics

👁 Image
Connect a wireless keyboard

👁 Image
View and customize keyboard shortcuts

👁 Image
Use emoji and symbols

Browse through the options below for details about customizing your settings.

To open Keyboard settings, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Keyboard 👁 Image
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)

Open Keyboard settings for me

Keyboard

Option

Description

Key repeat rate, Delay until repeat

Set how quickly characters repeat when you press and hold certain keyboard keys, and how long to wait before repeating them. See Set how quickly a key repeats.

Adjust keyboard brightness in low light

If your Mac has a backlit keyboard, automatically adjust the level of backlighting in low-light conditions. See Turn your Mac keyboard’s backlighting on or off.

Keyboard brightness

Adjust the level of backlighting.

Turn keyboard backlight off after inactivity

If your Mac has a backlit keyboard, choose how long your Mac is idle before the keyboard backlighting is automatically turned off.

Press fn key to

or

Press 👁 Globe
key to

Choose what happens when you press the key on the keyboard:

  • Change Input Source: Switches between keyboard layouts for writing in other languages (known as input sources). See Write in another language.

  • Show Emoji & Symbols: Opens the Character Viewer for entering emoji, symbols, and more.

  • Start Dictation: Starts dictation when you press the key twice (you may be asked to enable dictation first).

  • Do Nothing: Nothing happens.

Keyboard navigation

Press keys to move the focus between controls on the screen. Press the Tab key to move forward and press Shift-Tab to move backward.

Touch Bar Settings

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, customize the Touch Bar and Control Strip. See Change Touch Bar settings.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Browse keyboard shortcuts, turn them on or off, or customize them.

Text Input

Option

Description

Edit

Add input sources that allow you to type in other languages, and change options for specific sources. See Change Input Sources settings.

Text Replacements

View the list of words and phrases you want to replace when you type them, and what to replace them with. See Replace text and punctuation in documents.

Dictation

Option

Description

Dictation

Turn Dictation on or off. See Dictate messages and documents.

Languages

Choose one or more languages. If you no longer want to use a language you downloaded, you can remove it.

Note: Dictation is not available in all languages. See the macOS Tahoe Feature Availability webpage.

Microphone source

Choose a microphone. If you choose Automatic, your Mac listens to the device you’re most likely to use for Dictation.

Shortcut

Choose a shortcut to start Dictation. See Set the Dictation keyboard shortcut.

Auto-punctuation

Automatically insert commas, periods, and question marks as you dictate.

Note: Auto-punctuation is not available in all languages. See the macOS Tahoe Feature Availability webpage.

About Ask Siri, Dictation & Privacy

Click to learn when Dictation may send things you say and other information to Apple to process your requests and how you can control what data is stored.

To learn how to share or stop sharing audio recordings with Apple, see Change Privacy & Security settings.

Thanks for your feedback.