My laptop's Fn key doesn't work, what should I do?

Most laptops have a separate Fn key, which in combination with the keys on the top row of the keyboard (F1 – F12) generally performs actions specific to the laptop (turn Wi-Fi on and off, change screen brightness and other), or viceversa, without pressing it these actions work, and pressing it the functions of the keys F1-F12. A common hurdle for laptop owners, especially after a system update or manual installation of Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7, is that the Fn key does not work.

This tutorial details the most common reasons why the Fn key may not work, as well as the alternatives to fix this situation in Windows for the most common laptop brands: Asus, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Dell and, the most interesting, Sony Vaio (if you have any other brand, you can ask the question in the comments, i think i can help). It can also be useful: How to turn on the backlight on your laptop keyboard, Wi-Fi on your laptop is not working.

1. The main reasons why the Fn key does not work
2. Asus
3. HP
4. Acer
5. Lenovo
6. Dell
7. Sony VAIO
8. Possible problems and solutions

Reasons why the Fn key on your laptop is not working

First, on the main reasons why the Fn key on the laptop keyboard may not work. As a general rule, the problem is found after installation (or reinstallation) Windows, but not always; the same situation can occur after disabling programs on autostart or after some BIOS settings (UEFA).

In the vast majority of cases, the idle situation Fn is due to the following

1. Laptop manufacturer-specific drivers and software for function keys are not installed, especially if you have reinstalled Windows and then used a driver package to install them. It is also possible that there are drivers only for Windows 7, as an example, and you have installed Windows 10 (possible solutions will be described in the troubleshooting section).
2. Executing the Fn key requires the manufacturer's utility procedure to be running, but this program has been removed from windows autorun.
3. The behavior of the Fn key has been changed in the notebook BIOS (UEFA): some laptops allow you to change the Fn setting in the BIOS, they may also change when the BIOS is restarted.

The most common cause is the point 1, but let's look at all the alternatives for each of the mentioned laptop brands and the possible scenarios to fix the problem below.

Fn key on Asus laptop

The Fn key on Asus laptops is responsible for the operation of the Fn key on Asus laptops: the ATKPackage package: the set of ATKACPI drivers and software and the utilities associated with the access key available for download on the official Asus web portal. At the same time as the installed components, There must be the hcontrol.exe utility on autostart (is added to auto-start automatically when ATKPackage is installed).

How to Download Fn Key and Function Key Drivers for Asus Laptop

1. In an Internet search (I recommend Google) scribe “Portable su_modelo Stand”- as usual, The first result is the official driver download page for your model on asus.com
2. Select the correct operating system. If your version of Windows is not listed, Choose the nearest available, it is very important that you match bit by bit (32 O 64 bits) with the version of Windows you have, see How to know the Windows bit. for-bit (post about Windows 10, but also the previous versions of the operating system work).
3. Optional, but it can increase the chances of success from the point 4: Download and install the drivers from the section “Chipset”.
4. En ATK, download the ATK package and install it.

Thereafter, you may need to restart your laptop and, if everything went well, you will see that your laptop's Fn key works. If something went wrong, here is a section on the most common problems when fixing function keys not working.

HP Laptops

The following components from the official web portal are required for the Fn key and associated function keys on the top row of the HP Pavilion and other HP notebooks to function fully

• HP Software Framework, HP On-Screen Display and HP Quick Launch Software from the Software-Solutions section.
• HP Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Support Tools (UEFA) from the Utilities section – Tools.

Despite this, for a specific model, some of the specified items may not be available.

To download the necessary software for your HP notebook, Search on the internet “your_model_of_Notebook”; as usual, the first result is the official page at support.hp.com for your laptop model, Where, in “Software and drivers” just click “Ir” and then select the operating system version (if yours is not in the list, choose the closest one on the timeline, bit per version must match) and download the necessary drivers.

Optional: in the BIOS of HP notebooks, there may be an item to change the behavior of the Fn key. Is found in “System configuration”, the Action Keys Mode item; if it is off, function keys only work when you press Fn, if it is on, work without pressing (but to use F1-F12, you must press Fn).

Acer

If the Fn key does not work on your Acer laptop, in general it is enough to choose the model of your laptop on the official support site https://www.acer.com/ac/ru/RU/content/support (in “Choose device “you can specify the model manually, without serial number) and specify the operating system (if your version is not in the list, download the closest drivers in the same bit size as installed on the laptop).

In the download list, in “App”, download the Launch Manager program and install it on your laptop (in some cases, additionally you will need the chipset driver from the same page).

If the program was previously installed but the Fn key still does not work, Make sure Launch Manager is not disabled in Windows Autorun and also try to install Acer Power Manager from the official web portal.

Lenovo

For different models and generations of Lenovo notebooks, there are different software sets for the Fn keys to work. In my opinion, the easiest way, if the Fn key does not work on Lenovo, Do the following: enter the search engine “your_model_of_laptop + support”, go to the official support page (generally the first in the search for results), under ” Top Downloads “, click on” See everything “and check which from the list below is enabled to download and install on your laptop for the required version of Windows.

• Hotkey function integration for Windows 10 (32 bits, 64 bits), 8.1 (64 bits), 8 (64 bits), 7 (32 bits, 64 bits) – http://support.lenovo.com / ru / in / downloads / ds031814 (only for compatible laptops, listed at the bottom of the previous page).
• Lenovo Power Management: for most modern laptops
• Lenovo On-Screen Display Utility
• Power Management Interface Driver and Advanced Settings (ACPI)
• If only the Fn combinations + F5, Fn + F7 do not work, try to additionally install official Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers from Lenovo web portal.

Additional Information: on some Lenovo laptops, the Fn combination + Esc changes the Fn key mode, also this option is present in BIOS mode – Hot keys in the Settings section. In ThinkPad notebooks there may also be a BIOS option “Fn and Ctrl Key Swap” which swaps the Fn and Ctrl keys.

Dell

Dell Inspiron Function Keys, Latitude, XPS and other laptops generally require the following sets of drivers and applications:

• Dell QuickSet application.
• Dell Power Manager Lite application
• Dell Core Services: app.
• Dell Function Keys: for some older Dell laptops that ship with Windows XP and Vista.

To find the drivers you need for your laptop, you can do the following:

1. Please specify your laptop model in the support section of the Dell web portal http://www.dell.com/support/home/ru/ru/ (you can use automatic detection or through the "Product View").
2. Please select “Drivers and Downloads”, change operating system version if necessary.
3. Download the must-have applications and install them on your computer.

Note that you may need the original wireless adapter drivers from the Dell web portal for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth keys to work properly.

More information: In BIOS (UEFA) of Dell laptops, There may be a Function Key Behavior item in Advanced that changes the way the Fn key works: enables multimedia functions or Fn-F12 key actions. Additionally there may be settings for the Dell Fn key in the standard Windows Mobility Center program.

Fn key on Sony Vaio laptops

Although Sony Vaio laptops are no longer in production, there are many questions about installing the drivers in them, inclusive to enable the Fn key, because very often the drivers from the official web portal refuse to install even on the same operating system as the laptop. shipped after reinstallation, much less Windows 10 u 8.1.

The following three components from the official site are generally required for the Fn key to work on Sony (some may not be available for a specific model):

• Sony Firmware Extension Analyzer Driver
• Sony Shared Library
• Sony Notebook Utilities
• Sometimes – Vaio event service.

You can download them from the official page https://www.sony.ru/support/ru/series/prd-comp-vaio-nb (or you can search for “your_portable_model + support ”in any search engine, if your model is not on the Russian site). On the official Russian site:

• Select your laptop model
• In the tab “Software and Downloads”, select your operating system. Even though Windows 10 Y 8 may appear in the list, sometimes the drivers you need are only available if you select the operating system your laptop originally came with.
• Download the necessary software.

But later you may have problems: Sony Vaio drivers don't always want to install. There is a separate post on this topic: How to install drivers on a Sony Vaio laptop.

Possible problems and solutions when installing software and drivers for the Fn key

In conclusion, some typical problems that can arise when installing the necessary components for the laptop function keys:

• The driver does not install because it writes that the version of the operating system is not supported (as an example, if it is only for windows 7 and you need the Fn keys in Windows 10) – try unzipping the exe installer using the Universal Extractor program and inside the unzipped folder, look for the drivers themselves to install manually or a standalone installer that doesn't do the system version check.
• Despite installing all the components, the Fn key still doesn't work; check if there are no options associated with the operation of the Fn key, HotKey in BIOS. Try to install the official chipset and power management drivers from the manufacturer's web portal.

We hope the instructions are helpful. Opposite case, and more information is needed, you can ask the question in the comments, but specify the exact laptop model and the version of the installed operating system.