No forward delete on Magic Keyboard?

Question

No forward delete on Magic Keyboard?

On my MacBook Pro, holding down the fn key while pressing the delete key performs a forward-delete. That doesn't happen on my Magic Keyboard - it performs a backward delete same as when I don't hold down the fn key.

Apple's "Mac keyboard shortcuts" support document states unequivocally that "Forward delete on keyboards that don't have a Forward Delete key" works by pressing "Fn-Delete". ("Or use Control-D", which does work on my Magic Keyboard.) Are others seeing this? Is there a way to turn Fn-delete on?

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11), and MacBook Pro (Late 2013)

Posted on Oct 16, 2015 2:48 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 16, 2015 3:17 AM in response to Bill Cheeseman

Bill Cheeseman wrote:

On my MacBook Pro, holding down the fn key while pressing the delete key performs a forward-delete. That doesn't happen on my Magic Keyboard - it performs a backward delete same as when I don't hold down the fn key.

Ah. Fn-Delete for forward delete does work on the Magic Keyboard when it is plugged into a USB port (on the back of one of my monitors, in this case). It only fails when the keyboard is unplugged -- same as multifinger gestures failing on Magic Trackpad 2 when it is unplugged. So, Apple has still more work to do.

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Answer 2

Nov 26, 2015 6:14 PM in response to Bill Cheeseman

Hi all,

I have a brand new Magic Keyboard, and the same problem: Fn + Delete does not do a "forward delete".

However, Bill's fix doesn't work for me: I have this problem whether or not the keyboard is plugged into the USB. I use forward delete all the time, so it's annoying. Control + D works on this webpage and some of my coding programs, but doesn't work in Word!

Any ideas on a fix?

Cheers!

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Answer 3

Dec 19, 2015 4:03 PM in response to lukeholman

lukeholman wrote:

Control + D works

I think that's the first time I've heard of that shortcut.

Always used fn+Delete on my MBPs and my 2012 mini.

Got a new 2014 mini with El Cap and it no longer works.

Doesn't seem as convenient now that I've tried it, but I guess I'll get used too it.

At least it can be done with one hand.

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