How to Turn Off or On and Troubleshoot the Backlit Keyboard on Your Dell Laptop

Depending on the model of your Dell computer and the features that are installed, it may or may not have a backlit keyboard.

The easiest way to determine whether your computer is equipped with a backlit keyboard or not is to look for the Backlit () key, commonly found on the F5, F6, F7, F10, or right arrow key (located in the lower right corner).

For additional information about locating the Backlit key on your computer, see your Dell computer documentation.

To cycle through the brightness options on your keyboard, press and hold the Fn key and then press the Backlit key.

When the key combinations still do not cycle through the options, ensure that the computer has the latest System Setup (BIOS). For more information, see Dell Knowledge Base article Dell BIOS and UEFI Updates.

After updating the BIOS and the keyboard backlight still does not cycle through the options, perform the steps below to ensure that the Keyboard Illumination is enabled in the BIOS.

1. With the computer powered off, press the power button.

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2. Immediately start pressing the F2 key once per second (if the computer boots into Windows, shut down the computer and try again).

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3. Once in the BIOS, click Keyboard.

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4. In the Keyboard Illumination section, select the wanted options (Figure 1).
   
   Figure 1: Keyboard Illumination Settings
   NOTE: When Keyboard Illumination is not an option, your computer does not have a backlit keyboard.

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5. Click APPLY CHANGES, and then EXIT.

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