Where is the “Num Lock” Key on a Mac Keyboard?
There isn’t a dedicated Num Lock key on the Apple Wired Keyboards, and that applies to many of the third party USB keyboards built for Macs too. However, you can achieve the same function by hitting the CLEAR button on the numeric keyboard. You may need to hit Shift+CLEAR instead, depending on your individual keyboard and settings.
Numbers Still Not Typing? Check for Mouse Keys
If you tried Clear and Shift+Clear to no avail, you probably have a setting enabled in the accessibility options of OS X that is preventing the numeric keypad from acting exclusively as a means of typing numbers. This setting is called Mouse Keys, which allows a user to control the onscreen cursor using the number pad on an extended keyboard.
- Open Apple menu and choose “System Preferences”, then go to “Accessibility”
- Select “Mouse & Trackpad” and look for an option called “Enable Mouse Keys” – uncheck this if it is checked to regain usage of the number pad.
The most obvious indicator that Mouse Keys is the reason the numeric keypad is not working is that when you type a number, the mouse cursor moves very slightly, thus if you try to type a bunch of numbers the mouse cursor on screen may seem to jiggle around a bit in a small area. This is not always very obvious though because the Mouse Keys feature is intended to be precise and allow for fine manipulation of onscreen elements, thus you should always check for the setting when troubleshooting the matter.