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Make Apple keyboard function keys work properly on Windows 10 non-Apple pc

I have been using an Apple keyboard on a non-Apple pc but at some point the Function buttons stopped working properly. For example, when I used to press F1 it would register an F1 button press, but now it only changes the brightness. I wish to rectify this. I think I tried Boot Camp to no avail. I also use this Apple keyboard on another non-Apple pc. It works fine on that one. Any help appreciated.


By the way, I couldn't find an appropriate topic in the list: hence my selection.

Posted on Jan 17, 2020 11:26 AM

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Posted on Jan 18, 2020 8:51 PM

bluesh34 wrote:

I could use the probook that the keyboard is for, yes, if it's to check something, but wouldn't want to do so in general.

Download and install Windows support software on your Mac - Apple Support to a USB2 Flash drive. Do not install the drivers yet.

If Windows replaced the driver, wouldn't it be possible to roll it back? (There's no option to roll back).

You should have an Apple Keyboard driver in the HID tree, similar to the following. If you do not, the driver is not available for a rollback. On the USB, under Drivers -> Apple, find the Keyboard driver executable and only install it. Do not run setup.exe from the Bootcamp folder.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 18, 2020 8:51 PM in response to bluesh34

bluesh34 wrote:

I could use the probook that the keyboard is for, yes, if it's to check something, but wouldn't want to do so in general.

Download and install Windows support software on your Mac - Apple Support to a USB2 Flash drive. Do not install the drivers yet.

If Windows replaced the driver, wouldn't it be possible to roll it back? (There's no option to roll back).

You should have an Apple Keyboard driver in the HID tree, similar to the following. If you do not, the driver is not available for a rollback. On the USB, under Drivers -> Apple, find the Keyboard driver executable and only install it. Do not run setup.exe from the Bootcamp folder.


Jan 19, 2020 9:33 AM in response to Loner T

I checked under Human Interface Devices to see if there was a driver there for the keyboard, but there wasn't (previously I only checked under 'the Keyboards section). I probably won't try the 'Download and install Windows support software on your Mac - Apple Support to a USB2 Flash drive' route, but thanks for the info. If i do more on this, it will probably be to try the remapping software suggested by someone else above and if that doesn't work, just to buy a new quiet keyboard.

Jan 17, 2020 2:46 PM in response to bluesh34

While there may be a way to re-map the keyboard, if it were not defective(?) since the same

keyboard provides correct function with another non-Apple computer, one may have to try

and find out IF the keyboard has a sample defect within its circuitry. ~ I'm thinking this is so.


• Keyboard mappings using PC keyboard on a Macintosh - microsoft support

While this only points one-way to show which keys translate, there had been another one too.

• How to Remap Keyboard in Windows 10, in 2020(guide) | Beebom


There is no key specific to this between PC and Mac keyboards; that you've one that does

this, is an anomaly. Could be a defect. ~ A third Apple keyboard may be a decisive factor.


{The other 'keyboard re-map idea' is possibly an answer.}


Which Apple keyboard model is the one with issues?

Some part numbers had occasional failures.

(asked this thread be relocated)



Jan 18, 2020 7:07 AM in response to Loner T

Not sure of the exact pc or keyboard, but it's a non-wireless keyboard for a probook (a fairly ancient one). I don't know where the driver came from. It just worked as soon as I started using it, until it went wrong. The driver has no option to roll back so I guess I've never updated it. Also, just to clarify, when I press F1, nothing happens: neither the primary (F1 button press) or secondary function (adjust brightness) of the button work.

Jan 23, 2020 1:07 PM in response to Loner T

By the way, just to clarify, it's not that it's impossible to register a button press for the F1-F12 keys. It's that the only way to do so is to press Fn + F1 in order to register an F1 press, for example. If I could lock (or unlock: not sure which) the Fn key, this ought to solve the problem, but I've as yet been unable to do so, since I see no 'Fn lock' key (or icon above any key), haven't found a key combination (such as Fn + Caps Lock) which does it and haven't found a way to lock or unlock it or the F keys in any of the pc settings. I do plan to search for (function keys) or something in control panel and/or settings if I get on the pc again.

Jan 24, 2020 7:26 AM in response to Loner T

I haven't expressed the problem very clearly yet. They work on the mac and the non-mac, but not in the way I want them to. For example, when I press F1 on the mac, it adjusts the brightness and on the non-mac, nothing happens at all. In order for an F1 button press to be registered, i have to press Fn + F1, whether on the mac or the non-mac. As I understand it, current macs have an 'Fn lock' button which enables the user to reverse the function of the F keys, so that one is able to switch between having an F1 button press registered and the brightness adjusted when F1 is pressed, but on this ancient mac keyboard, there doesn't seem to be such a key or secondary function of any key, but this what I want to achieve. I have looked into this locking or unlocking of the function keys by various means, such as through Control Panel, but as none of the potential solution people have posted on the web have worked in this case.

Make Apple keyboard function keys work properly on Windows 10 non-Apple pc

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