How to Turn On Keyboard Light on Laptop (Asus, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer)
Working in a dim room or late at night becomes infinitely easier when your laptop keyboard lights up. Almost all modern gaming, business, and premium consumer laptops come with built-in backlit keyboards. However, finding the specific key combination to turn it on or adjust the brightness can vary drastically depending on the brand of your laptop. This guide will show you how to enable the keyboard light for all major laptop brands.
Quick Reference: Backlight Keyboard Shortcuts
If you need a fast answer, check this table of the most common key combinations used by different manufacturers to toggle the keyboard light:
| Laptop Brand | Common Shortcut Key Combinations |
|---|---|
| Asus | F7, or Fn + F7, or Fn + Up Arrow |
| HP | F5, F9, Fn + F5, or Spacebar |
| Dell | F10, F6, F5, or Right Arrow |
| Lenovo | Fn + Spacebar |
| Acer | F9, Fn + F9, or Fn + Right Arrow |
Asus Laptops (Vivobook, Zenbook, ROG, TUF Gaming)
Asus laptops typically feature two arrows pointing upwards and downwards on the function keys, representing brightness steps. On newer Asus Vivobook models, pressing the F7 key cycles through backlight brightness levels (Off, Low, Bright). On gaming series like ROG or TUF, you may need to press Fn + Up Arrow to turn it on, and Fn + Down Arrow to dim it.
Asus Vivobook Video Tutorial
Watch our step-by-step video guide on how to turn the keyboard light on or off on Asus Vivobook laptops directly on our YouTube channel.
Watch Video TutorialHP Laptops (Pavilion, Envy, Spectre, EliteBook)
On HP laptops, search for a keyboard icon that looks like three squares with rays of light coming out of it. It is usually located on the F5 or F9 key.
- Press F5 or Fn + F5 to toggle the light.
- If it's not on F5, try pressing F9 or Fn + F9.
- On some HP Spectre models, you must press the Spacebar while holding Fn.
Dell Laptops (Inspiron, Latitude, XPS, Vostro)
Dell uses a similar light icon, commonly mapped to the F10, F6, or F5 key.
- Press F10 to toggle the backlight. Repeated pressing will switch between 0%, 50%, and 100% brightness.
- If F10 does not work, try F6 or F5.
Lenovo Laptops (ThinkPad, IdeaPad, Legion)
Lenovo has standard, uniform controls across almost all of their laptops. Look for a light icon printed on the side of the spacebar.
- Press Fn + Spacebar to turn the light on.
- Pressing it again changes the brightness, and a third press turns it off.
Acer Laptops (Aspire, Swift, Nitro, Predator)
On Acer laptops, the light control is usually on the F9 or F10 key, or on the arrow keys.
- Press Fn + F9 to toggle the light.
- On Acer Nitro gaming laptops, use Fn + Right Arrow to turn up the backlight and Fn + Left Arrow to turn it down.
Is Your Keyboard Functioning Correctly?
Use our real-time interactive keyboard utility to test key rollover, response rates, and ensure all your laptop keys work perfectly.
Start Keyboard TestWhat if the Keyboard Light Still Won't Turn On?
If pressing the correct key combination does not light up the keys, try these troubleshooting steps:
- Check Device Manager: Ensure the keyboard drivers are fully updated.
- Manufacturer Companion App: Install or open your laptop's official software hub (e.g., MyASUS, HP Command Center, Lenovo Vantage, or NitroSense) to toggle keyboard lighting from the software settings.
- BIOS Settings: Some laptops allow disabling the backlight entirely inside the BIOS to save battery. Boot into BIOS (usually by pressing F2 or Del on startup) and check the "Hardware Configuration" tab.