You're sitting in a dark room, trying to watch a movie or maybe just save some precious battery life on your MacBook Air, and that glowing keyboard is just... there. Staring at you. It’s distracting. Sometimes, the auto-brightness sensor gets a bit confused by a nearby lamp and decides you need a stadium-lit typing experience when you really don't. Knowing how to turn off Mac keyboard light settings isn't just about aesthetics; it's about taking control of your hardware so it stops acting like it knows better than you do.
Apple likes to hide things. They’ve moved the controls for backlighting around so many times over the last few years that if you're jumping from an Intel Mac to a M3 Max, you might feel like you're learning a new language.
The Control Center Method (The Modern Way)
If you’re running anything remotely recent, like macOS Sonoma or Ventura, the physical keys you used to rely on might be gone or repurposed. You’ve gotta head to the Control Center. Look at the top right of your screen. It’s that icon that looks like two tiny toggle switches stacked on each other. Click it.
Once that panel slides out, you’ll see a bunch of icons for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Look for Keyboard Brightness. If you don’t see it, don't panic. Sometimes it’s tucked away. Click the Keyboard Brightness icon and just drag that slider all the way to the left. Boom. Darkness. It’s actually pretty satisfying to watch the glow fade out completely.
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But wait. What if that icon isn't in your Control Center? Apple lets you customize this. You have to go to System Settings, then Control Center in the sidebar, and find the Keyboard Brightness toggle. Switch it to "Show in Control Center." Honestly, it’s worth keeping it there if you find yourself toggling it often.
Using the Function Keys (If You Still Have Them)
Not every Mac is a Touch Bar survivor. On many MacBook Air models and the newer 14-inch and 16-inch Pros, Apple brought back the dedicated function row. Look at the F5 and F6 keys. Usually, F5 lowers the brightness and F6 raises it. To turn off Mac keyboard light entirely, just tap F5 repeatedly until the little onscreen display shows the bars hitting zero.
It’s tactile. It’s fast. I prefer it.
However, there is a weird quirk. If your Mac is set to use "Standard Function Keys," hitting F5 might just trigger whatever shortcut you have mapped in a specific app like Photoshop or Chrome. If that’s happening, you’ll need to hold the Fn key (the Globe key) in the bottom left corner while you hit F5.
The Death of the Touch Bar (Rest in Peace?)
If you have one of those MacBook Pros from the era where Apple thought a tiny screen above the keyboard was the future, you don't have physical F-keys. This is where people get frustrated. Your Touch Bar usually shows a collapsed version of the "Control Strip."
Look for the little sun icon that has rays pointing inward (that's the "dim" icon). If you don't see it, tap the left-facing arrow to expand the strip. Tap that dimming icon until the lights go out. Some people find the Touch Bar laggy, especially if the Mac is under heavy load, so you might need to give it a second to register your taps.
Stopping the Mac from "Helping" You
Here is the thing: your Mac is trying to be smart. It uses an ambient light sensor (usually hidden right next to the FaceTime camera) to decide if the keyboard should be lit. If you turn the light off and it suddenly kicks back on a minute later, it’s because Adjust keyboard brightness in low light is turned on.
You need to kill this setting if you want manual control.
- Open System Settings.
- Scroll down to Keyboard.
- Look for the toggle that says "Adjust keyboard brightness in low light."
- Flip that switch to OFF.
Now the Mac will stay in whatever state you put it in. If you want it off, it stays off. No more ghostly glowing keys popping up in the middle of a dark flight.
The Battery Saver Trick
There is another setting in that same Keyboard menu that most people ignore. It’s the "Turn keyboard backlight off after [X] amount of inactivity." If you're someone who forgets to turn it off, set this to 5 seconds or 10 seconds. It’s a great middle ground. You get light when you're typing, but as soon as you stop to read a long article, the keys go dark to save juice.
Why Won't My Keyboard Light Turn On at All?
Sometimes the problem is the opposite. You want the light, but it won't budge. This usually happens because of the sensor I mentioned earlier. If you are in a very bright room or sitting in direct sunlight, macOS will often lock the keyboard backlight to "Off" to save power. It thinks you don't need it because, well, the sun is brighter than a few tiny LEDs.
If you try to use the F6 key and you see a little "lock" icon or a circle with a line through it on the screen, your Mac is telling you it's too bright for the backlight to work. Cover the camera area with your hand to trick the sensor into thinking it's dark, and you’ll see the keys light up instantly. It's a quick way to test if your hardware is actually broken or just being stubborn.
What About External Keyboards?
If you're using a Magic Keyboard from Apple, here is the bad news: they aren't backlit. No, seriously. Even the expensive ones. If you have a third-party mechanical keyboard like a Keychron or a Logitech MX Keys, the macOS system settings won't do a thing. You’ll have to use the specific buttons on that keyboard (usually a lightbulb icon or a specific "Fn" combo) or download the manufacturer's software like Logi Options+.
Advanced: Using Terminal for the Brave
I wouldn't normally suggest this for a simple task, but if you’re a power user and you want to script your keyboard lighting, you can technically interact with the "illumination" files in the system. However, since the introduction of Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3), Apple has tightened security on these hardware controllers. Most third-party "Labtick" style apps don't work anymore.
Stick to the System Settings. It’s safer and won't require you to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP), which is a huge security risk just to dim some lights.
Next Steps for Your Mac Setup
Once you've mastered the backlight, take a look at your Display Settings. If you find the keyboard light annoying, you’re probably also someone who hates the "True Tone" feature shifting your screen colors to a weird yellow tint at night. You can find that toggle right next to the brightness slider in System Settings. Also, if you're on a MacBook with a notch, consider downloading an app like TopNotch—it makes the menu bar completely black, hiding the camera cutout and making your workspace look much cleaner while you're working in the dark. Finally, check your "Battery" health in settings; if your keyboard light is constantly draining your power, it might be time to check which background apps are actually the real culprits.