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Is there a way to disable to Dictation function on F5 key on new Touch ID keyboard

I just switched from an older white wireless Apple keyboard to a new black Touch ID one. The old one has no Apple function icon above the "F5" on the key and thus was available to use in apps like Adobe Creative Cloud. I could use F5 in other applications while still using F8 for pause and play, and F10-11-12 for volume control.


The new keyboard has a microphone icon for dictation and cannot be used in other applications as a function key. I know I can disable ALL of the F keys in System Preferences, but I like using some of them as previously stated, for volume, etc. Is there any way to customize the F5 key so it behaves like the same key on the previous keyboards?


Thanks!

Mac Studio (2023)

Posted on Sep 7, 2023 8:41 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 8, 2023 11:36 AM

Correct. Unfortunately there is no real way to turn off just one of the function keys. Its all or nothing.

4 replies

Sep 7, 2023 9:09 AM in response to Teenbeat

You can turn off Dictation entirely and then the key but that will just cause the Enable dictation dialog to pop up.

System Settings ➜ Keyboard ➜ Dictation


You can switch the function keys around so the special functions require the pressing of the fn key, and instead the function keys will perform the regular function key functions. System Settings ➜ Keyboard ➜ Keyboard Shortcuts ➜ Function Keys, and turn on the "Use F1,F2 etc... keys as standard function keys" switch. Then the F5 key will not enable dictation unless pressed together with the FN key.


Is there a way to disable to Dictation function on F5 key on new Touch ID keyboard

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