Mac Keyboard Test

This Mac keyboard test shows the layout of a MacBook and a Magic Keyboard: esc and a short F key row with Touch ID at the end, Control, Option and Command on both sides of a narrow space bar, and half height arrow keys. Press a key and it lights yellow while held and green once released, so after one run across the board any dead key stands out. It works with MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac keyboards, wired or over Bluetooth, in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge on macOS. A Mac handles some keys differently from a PC, so the sections below explain the keys that may stay dark on a healthy keyboard and how to tell them from a real fault.

How to test a Mac keyboard

1. Keep the Mac layout selected. For a Magic Keyboard with a number pad, pick Full size, or check the pad on its own in the numpad test.
2. Press every key once, row by row: letters, numbers, both Shift keys, Control, both Option and both Command keys.
3. Hold fn and press F1 to F12. Without fn, macOS uses them for brightness, volume and other features, and the page never sees them.
4. Look for dark keys, keys marked ×2 in orange, and keys that stay yellow after you let go.
5. Avoid Command + W and Command + Q: the browser closes the tab or quits, and no web page can stop it.
6. Press Copy results for a list of untested and faulty keys to bring to a repair.

What the results mean

Option combined with a letter types a special character on a Mac, such as å for Option and A. The Last key readout shows that character, which is normal.

F1 to F12 do not light up

On a Mac the top row controls brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight, dictation, playback and volume, and macOS acts on those keys before any app sees them. Hold fn to send the F key instead. To make F1 to F12 the default, open System Settings, choose Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts, select Function Keys and turn on Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys. On macOS Monterey and earlier the same tick box sits in System Preferences, Keyboard.

The fn or Globe key does nothing in the test

The fn key, shown with a globe on recent Macs, changes what other keys send and is never reported to a browser. To check it, hold fn and press F1. If F1 lights up rather than the screen dimming, fn works. Pressing the Globe key on its own can open the emoji viewer, switch the input language or start dictation. You choose which in System Settings, Keyboard, under Press Globe key to.

Keys stay lit or let go together with Command

macOS does not report key releases for keys pressed while Command is held. The test handles this by letting go of every key when Command comes up, and it explains this the first time it happens. A Command key that never lights up, or keyboard shortcuts that stopped working, can also come from a modifier key that was remapped. Check System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Modifier Keys, where Caps Lock, Control, Option and Command can be swapped for each keyboard.

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Many MacBook Pro models from 2016 to the 13-inch M2 of 2022 have a Touch Bar instead of a row of F keys. Hold fn and the Touch Bar shows F1 to F12; tap them and they light up here like normal keys. To keep F keys on the Touch Bar, open System Settings, Keyboard, Touch Bar Settings and set Touch Bar shows to F1, F2, etc. Keys. The 13-inch and 15-inch models from 2016 to 2019 also put esc on the Touch Bar, and it registers as a normal Escape key.

Butterfly keyboard problems (2015 to 2019)

The butterfly keyboard was used in the 12-inch MacBook from 2015, the MacBook Air from 2018 to 2019 and the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2016 to 2019. Its very thin switches are known for three faults, and each one shows up in this test:

• Letters repeat, so "hello" becomes "helllo". The key turns orange with ×2.
• Letters do not appear. The key stays dark, or only registers when pressed hard.
• Keys feel sticky or stay down. The key stays yellow after you let go.

Dust under a key is the usual trigger. Apple's own cleaning method is to hold the MacBook at a 75 degree angle, almost upright, and spray compressed air across the keyboard from left to right, then repeat with the Mac turned onto its right side and its left side. Retest after each pass.

Apple ran a free Keyboard Service Program for these models from 2018, covering each Mac for four years after its first retail sale. Apple now lists that program as ended, so a repair today is paid unless the Mac has AppleCare. Apple dropped the butterfly design with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in late 2019 and the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro in 2020, which use scissor switches.

Magic Keyboard not responding

If no key lights up on a Magic Keyboard, check the connection before the keys:

1. Slide the switch on the back edge so green shows.
2. Connect it to the Mac with its cable. It pairs on its own and charges at the same time.
3. Unplug it and press a key. If it stops, open System Settings, Bluetooth, find the keyboard, choose Forget This Device, then connect it with the cable again to pair afresh.
4. Check the battery level in the Bluetooth settings and charge it if it is low. Low batteries cause missed and repeated keys that look like hardware faults.

The bluetooth not working guide covers Macs whose Bluetooth will not find any device.

Using a Windows keyboard on a Mac

A PC keyboard works on a Mac, with the Windows key acting as Command and Alt as Option. They sit in swapped positions compared with a Mac keyboard, so many people swap them back under Modifier Keys in the keyboard settings. Pick Full size above to test a PC keyboard with a number pad, or use the full keyboard tester.

What a Mac keyboard test cannot read

For gaming, the n key rollover test shows how many keys your Mac keyboard registers at once, and the keyboard latency test reads its timing. A MacBook trackpad can be checked with the trackpad test, and Windows laptops have their own laptop keyboard test.

Mac keyboard test questions