Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Tip 398
Turn Off the Caps Lock Key
Some people find they accidentally hit the Caps Lock key while typing. Under
OS X you can turn it off so that pressing the key does nothing—you won't
even light up the key's indicator light. To do so, open System Preferences
(Apple menu→System Preferences), and click the Keyboard icon. Then make
sure the Keyboard tab is selected, and click the Modifier Keys button. In the
drop-down list next to Caps Lock Key, select No Action. The change will take
effect immediately.
To reactivate Caps Lock later, repeat the steps to access the modifier keys
dialog box, and select Caps Lock from the Caps Lock Key drop-down list.
Tip 399
Make Keyboard Lighting Work
If your Mac's keyboard has backlighting, you can adjust it using the keyboard
hotkeys (usually on the F5 and F6 keys, above the
5
and
6
keys on the key-
board). However, sometimes the lighting might refuse to activate—you'll see
a “no entry” sign when you tap the hotkeys no matter how many times you
press them.
Don't worry—nothing is broken. It's simply that your Mac has detected that
the ambient light in the room is bright enough to illuminate your keyboard
naturally and so backlighting isn't needed. Place your finger over the
iSight/FaceTime HD camera above the screen; this should fool your Mac into
thinking it's dark and should restore your ability to adjust the keyboard
backlighting.
If you want to avoid this confusion in the future, open System Preferences
(Apple menu→System Preferences), and click the Keyboard icon. Make sure
the Keyboard tab is selected, and then remove the check next to Adjust Key-
board Brightness in Low Light. You should now find yourself able to adjust
the keyboard backlighting no matter what the ambient conditions are,
although beware that using the backlighting drains battery life more rapidly.
