Change Keyboard settings on Mac
On your Mac, use Keyboard settings to:
Set options for keyboard and function keys, keyboard backlighting and keyboard shortcuts
Customise the Touch Bar and Control Strip (if your Mac has a Touch Bar)
Add input sources that allow you to type in other languages and change options for specific input sources
Change options for replacing text
Turn on Dictation and choose a language and keyboard shortcut to use when you dictate
To open Keyboard settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Keyboard settings
Option | Description | ||||||||||
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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. | ||||||||||
Adjust keyboard brightness in low light | If your Mac has a backlit keyboard, automatically adjust the level of backlighting in low-light conditions. | ||||||||||
Keyboard brightness | Adjust the level of backlighting. This option only appears if you turned off “Adjust keyboard brightness in low light”. | ||||||||||
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. See Turn your Mac keyboard’s backlighting on or off. | ||||||||||
Press fn key to or Press key to | Choose what happens when you press the key on the keyboard:
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Keyboard navigation | Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls. See Use your keyboard like a mouse with Mac. | ||||||||||
Touch Bar Settings | Customise the Touch Bar and Control Strip. See Change Touch Bar settings. | ||||||||||
Keyboard Shortcuts | Choose and customise keyboard shortcuts. See Use macOS keyboard shortcuts. |
Text Input settings
Option | Description | ||||||||||
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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 | The Replace list shows words and phrases you want to replace as you type them; the With list shows the replacement words and phrases. Click to add a new word or phrase to the list, and click to remove the selected word or phrase. To change a word or phrase in either list, click it, then type a new word or phrase. See Replace text and punctuation in documents. |
Dictation settings
Option | Description | ||||||||||
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Dictation | Turn Dictation on and off. | ||||||||||
Language | Choose a language. Dictation is not available in all languages. If you don’t see the language you want in the pop-up menu, choose Add Language or Customise to download it. You can download multiple languages. If you no longer want to use a language you downloaded, you can remove it. Click the Language pop-up menu, choose Customise, then deselect the language you don’t want to use. | ||||||||||
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. Note: When you choose a dictation keyboard shortcut, depending on your Mac model, the “Press fn key to” or “Press key to” option in Keyboard settings may change automatically. For example, if you choose Press Fn (Function) Key Twice as your dictation shortcut, the Keyboard settings option changes to Start Dictation (Press Fn Twice) automatically. | ||||||||||
Auto-punctuation | Automatically insert commas, full stops and question marks as you dictate. This option is only available for certain languages. | ||||||||||
About 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 set up a wireless Bluetooth keyboard to use with your Mac, click Set Up Keyboard.
You can share or stop sharing audio recordings with Apple at any time. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, click Analytics & Improvements (you may need to scroll down), then turn Improve Siri & Dictation on or off. See Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac.