Any way to keep the Fn key enabled?

[lewinr]

I didnt find a solution and I doubt there is one. I believe the Fn key is a hard-key, I've had cases where the whole notebook crashed but the Fn key continued to toggle.

I recently bought a $19 Logitech multimedia keyboard for my desktop which has a similar Fn key, and was pleasantly surprised when I installed the drivers and found a setting to disable the Fn key toggle. (So F1.F12 keys work as F1..F12 and you key multimedia functions only when Fn is held down.) I wish the Surface Book had the same feature.

 

[Hugo Minney1]

Hold down FN key for 10 seconds. It toggles the top row. To test, see if F6 increases volume or does something else, or see if F1 brings up help.

 

[lewinr]

I'm not sure what you mean... just touching the Fn key for any amount of time toggles the top row... that's the problem!
It tried holding the key down for 10 seconds but did not see any difference. If it would lock the Fn key when holding it down for 10 seconds, that would be good! (And if it could be set in the BIOS to have Fn always on, it would be perfect.)

 

[T Castle]

I get it. Fn does not seem to generate a keycode but merely modifies the effect of certain keys. With Fn lit, the F4 key is F4; with Fn unlit, the F4 key is mute volume.

I've just started testing, but this AutoHotKey command keeps Alt/F4 working whether or not the Fn key is lit: !Volume_Mute::!F4

You could add similar commands for whatever additional function keys you routinely rely on (typically, F2 and F5).

Of course, in order to mute volume or trigger any of the other functions that share with the function keys, the Fn key needs to remain unlit.

 

[lewinr]

T Castle, thanks for the tip. As I understand this effectively makes the "mute" key map to the F4 function, correct? So it makes the mute function (or any other multimedia function key for which I setup the same mapping) unavailable on the keyboard and only accessible via the standard windows interface, correct? If so this will work but it is not ideal... sometimes it is still nice to be able to hit a key to mute the sound...

 

[ninja2]

I am also looking for a way to default the FN key to the ON state my Surface Book keyboard.
Currently when I toggle Fn key (so the key LED is now ON) it will time out and revert to OFF state, meaning i have to push Fn key again ... (and again, and again)

This very annoying as (for example) I use F2 all the time to change focus to edit mode (and have done since Windows 95 !!!)

So my question is similar to lewinr's - how can I have the computer boot up with the FN key already in ON state, and no time out? (and stays like this if I reboot or logout). Of course I will need to toggle it off occasionally, e.g to use End or Home

 

[ninja2]

OK so I've had my surface book for a few days now, and since posting above I've learnt how to use the function key properly. So to correct some of my statements above:

1) the Fn key state is automatically remembered through a shutdown & reboot.

2) if the keyboard backlighting has dimmed (due to timeout) press any key OTHER than the Fn key to see if Fn is ON or OFF. (pressing Fn key always toggles it's state, even if keyboard is dimmed)

Attention Microsoft:

A) All this confusion would be avoided if the Fn key indicator LED did not dim when rest of keyboard dims (and same for CAPS lock indicator) .

B) Add an option to turn keboard dimming OFF (especially when plugged into power pack)

C) make the function key toggle less accesiible, so it can't be accidentally knocked (per lewinr's comments)

 

[T Castle]

Correct to lewinr 12/18 post. Still an incomplete solution. This issue is so aggravating, compounded by the proximity of the ctrl key (which I use a lot) to the fn key, that I'm actually thinking of selling my surface book. Going to check out the new DELL XPS 13 that has a 360deg QHD screen and pen.

 

[hopmedic]

Correct to lewinr 12/18 post. Still an incomplete solution. This issue is so aggravating, compounded by the proximity of the ctrl key (which I use a lot) to the fn key, that I'm actually thinking of selling my surface book. Going to check out the new DELL XPS 13 that has a 360deg QHD screen and pen.

I also find the placement of the FN key rather irritating. I've become accustomed to it being on the right side, with the SP3 keyboard I used for two years, and the Logitech Wave keyboards that I have probably been using for a decade, and now I have to use two hands to get to Home and End, two keys that I use almost as much as I use F5.

 

[Simon McAuliffe]

It is staggering how many people don't even understand this problem and reply with information about the Surface Pro, which is totally different.

The problem here is that the Fn key acts both as a modifier and as a toggle (instant, no 10 seconds). In normal usage, most people want the Fn key on so that F1 is F1, F2 is F2, etc. You can simultaneously hold Fn and press F4 to mute the audio, or you can toggle Fn off and press the F4 key alone (which will now mute the audio instead). The problem is that the state of the toggle is pretty damn random. It toggles for all sorts of accidental and unknown reasons. So you're going around trying to be productive and suddenly the keys flip to the complete opposite behaviour and you wonder why the hell, for example, you jumped somewhere else in your code instead of executing a statement because F8 suddenly changed its behaviour to Home without telling you.

It is INCREDIBLY annoying and very disruptive to work flow.

This is the biggest fault I have with the Surface Book (the confused sleep mode unsleeping and being in an unknowable state, is the next biggest problem).

There really needs to be a way to lock the Fn button on and stop the completely insane toggle feature entirely, so that it just works like a regular Fn modifier key and has a consistent and predictable outcome.

I sincerely hope this isn't a pure hardware implementation and somebody can find a way to lock it, or I will have to throw the damn machine out a window.

 

[Simon McAuliffe]

By the way, the Fn key produces no scan code so it can't be intercepted (the only other other key that produces no scan code is the screen detach button).

It appears that this is probably an entirely hardware feature that can't be overridden.

Somebody really should be strung up for the massive and probably unfixable nuisance and lack of productivity this causes. What the hell were they thinking?

Grrr....

* mutes audio instead of closing window.

 

[lewinr]

* mutes audio instead of closing window.

By the way this highlights something that MS could have done to make it work more intelligently... if I push CTRL or ALT combo with a Fn key, they should automatically assume that I want the Fn function and not mute (or whatever) because there's no sense in pressing ALT-Mute.

 

[Peter Bowers]

If you're like me you want the right side of the keyboard function keys to be home/end/pgup/pgdn and the left side you want to be f2/f4/f5/etc.

If you install AHK and put this script in:

; I like f1-f6 to be function keys and f7-f11 to be special (home/end/etc)
; https://gist.github.com/shasderias/e92cf0581c4977c30eabb2bba754de9d
F7:rintScreen
F8::Home
F9::End
F10:gUp
F11:gDn
F12::Ins

PrintScreen::F7
Home::F8
End::F9
PgUp::F10
PgDn::F11
Ins::F12

Then you have negated the normal fn key functionality but ONLY FOR THE RIGHT SIDE. Thus I can comfortably rename with f2 and immediately press home/end without messing with the fn key at all.

Obviously you can change your remapping to your preference, but by using this inversion you still have access to the entire capability - you just have to wrap your mind around the fact that fn being "on" will mean somethign different f1-f6 and something different for f7-f11.

This has solved my problem which I believe was the same as the issue you were having.

Good luck!

 

[anon(5327127)]

A key on a keyboard is there to be touched. Basically learn not to touch it... What other answer is there? Maybe there's a small application that can stop the key from working?

 

[johnny345]

I am having the same problem. Totally frustrating! Seems like Microsoft has no one working there with business experience. Just a bunch of kids right out of college who have only used computers for gaming. I guess volume or screen brightness is much more important than use of the F-keys. Keys that have been in use for decades now and are still very necessary. I know, lets just omit them...

 

[mihloff]

A key on a keyboard is there to be touched. Basically learn not to touch it... What other answer is there? Maybe there's a small application that can stop the key from working?

I have the same problem with the FN Key. It has nothing to do with accidently hitting the wrong key. Sometimes you want to mute the sound, sometimes you want to close an application with Alt + F4.
In both cases you need the same physical button to achieve this via keyboard, so there is the need to switch the function from "F4" to "Mute".
Problem is: I don't know in which state the key currently is. The only way to know is to remove my hand from the keyboard and take a look at the small light from the Fn-Button. Because with my hands on the keyboard I cannot see the button.

The best solution would be: If I hit the button without any other key it works as "F4" - if I press F4 AND Fn at the same time it works as "Mute". If I release the FN key the button will immediately revert to "F4" without the need of hitting Fn again.

Yes, you could try to remember if you enabled Fn the last time - and yes it is possible to move the hand away to take a look at the button. But it would be a lot faster if the user could choose the way he wants it to work. Other Notebooks can configure this - would be a great solution here too.

 

[lewinr]

just went and had a look at the Surface Laptop 3 and MS still haven't addressed this. :unhappy:

I see that Dell and many other brands already understood the need to solve this, and their model give the user control over the Fn key. It's a pity that MS still hasnt understood it...

 

[kpranav]

I use F1-F12 quite often and it annoys me when the Fn key gets turned off, which happens quite often because I use it with the Fn+Arrow Keys to get access to PgUp/PgDown/Home/End without having to toggle Fn each time.

Does anybody know any to tell SB and/or Win10 just to keep the Fn key enabled/locked all the time and never to disable it?

It will make dealing with F1-F12 keys much less frustrating as now when I push a F1..F12 key about 1 time in 5 it turns out the Fn key has been turned off and I end up pressing "End" instead F9 in excel (for example...)

Thanks to anybody who has a solution for this...

Once you turn the Fn key ON, it always stays enabled. The confusion is the light goes off after sometime but the Fn functionality itself is always enabled. Ignore the light, just use whatever Fn key (F1 or F2) you want to use and the light will come back on.

 

[kpranav]

just went and had a look at the Surface Laptop 3 and MS still haven't addressed this. :unhappy:

I see that Dell and many other brands already understood the need to solve this, and their model give the user control over the Fn key. It's a pity that MS still hasnt understood it...

MS should address "keeping the light on all the time" but the functionality itself is always ON.

Once you turn the Fn key ON, it always stays enabled. The confusion is the light goes off after sometime but the Fn functionality itself is always enabled. Ignore the light, just use whatever Fn key (F1 or F2) you want to use and the light will come back on.