How do I press the Fn key using a PC keyboard on a Mac?

How do I press the Fn key using a PC keyboard on a Mac?

I am in a bit of a pickle. I am using a Dell keyboard with Mac OS X, and I would like access to my function keys while I'm using Terminal. A friend of mine has a new Mac keyboard which has a Fn key right on it, but when I press the same location on my keyboard my cursor simply turns into a question mark, apparently this is treated as the 'help' key from older model mac keyboards.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 424

Total answers/comments: 4

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bert [Entry]

You can use an application like ControllerMate to assign custom actions/scripts to keys and controllers.

bert [Entry]

"The Fn key on mac keyboards is a hardware driven feature.

What are you trying to accomplish?

I have a Microsoft Wireless keyboard attached to my MacBook Pro and can do much of what the function keys do from this -- once I installed the drivers.

For example, I can:

hit the volume, mute keys and play/pause to control audio
hit the ""mail"" key to go back to mail
I have F keys for Exposé features (e.g. F9 for all windows display, F10 for application windows

(Note that in Keyboard Preferences, I have ""Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys"" checked)

I think the only feature that Fn provides that I cannot duplicate on the Microsoft keyboard is brightness control"

bert [Entry]

"To simulate MAC keyboard clicks:

Command (%) is Alt (left of space bar)

Option (\~) is Windows key (left of alt)"
"To simulate MAC keyboard clicks:

Command (%) is Alt (left of space bar)

Option (\~) is Windows key (left of alt)"

bert [Entry]

In your microsoft keyboard simply press what ever key you intend to press. For example, on my Mac If I need to suspend Java script on a page, I need to press Fn + F8 key combo. Now a microsoft windows logitech key board attached to the mac, which is working fine, all I need to type is a single key F8 alone. It is working like that for me.