Having difficulties adjusting the keyboard backlight on MacBook Pro? You might be looking for how to adjust the keyboard backlight on a Macbook Pro.
In this article, I’ll explain how exactly you can turn on, adjust, or turn off your MacBook Pro Keyboard light. Let’s get started!
Why Would MacBook Pro Keyboard Backlight Not Working?
Before you figure out the solutions for your MacBook Pro keyboard backlight, you should know the problem. Most of the time, the keyboard backlight does not work because of one of the following reasons.
- The Keyboard backlight hasn’t been turned on yet.
- You just bought a new MacBook Pro, and its keyboard backlight is off from the system settings.
- You are using your MacBook Pro backlight keyboard at the very least brightness setting.
- You have a hardware issue with the MacBook Pro laptop’s keyboard
In most cases, you have one of the top 3 problems regarding the MacBook Pro keyboard backlight not working.
However, if you find solutions for all the top three reasons and the keyboard backlight still doesn’t work, you probably have a hardware issue with the laptop.
I’ll let you know later what you can do about it.
But first, let’s learn to adjust or turn on the Keyboard Backlight on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.
So, How to Turn on Keyboard Backlight on MacBook Pro?
Just in case you haven’t found the easiest way to turn on the Backlight of your MacBook Pro, here is how you can do it.
To turn on the MacBook Pro laptop’s keyboard backlight, go to Settings>Search Bar> Search Keyboard> Click On Keyboard and Turn on Keyboard’s Backlight from there by Scaling or Dragging the Brightness Bar.
If this does not help, here is a short and easy process for turning on the Keyboard Brightness on a MacBook Pro with the help of screenshots. Have a look, please!
Click on Settings.

Click on the search bar and type Keyboard. Now, click on the keyboard, and you’ll have the following window.

As you can see, the Keyboard Brightness Bar is at zero reading. When you drag it to the right side, it will automatically turn on the backlight of your MacBook Pro Keyboard.
With this, you can even work in the darkest places and type continuously.
How To Turn On the Keyboard Light on MacBook Air?
Do you have a MacBook Air and are looking to find an easy way to turn on its keyboard light or brightness? It can be done with the same process we have described for MacBook Pro.
Yet, for an easy keyboard backlight turning on over your MacBook Air, you can click on the Control Center> Look for Keyboard Brightness Shortcut> Increase its intensity, and the brightness will automatically turn on.
However, sometimes, you cannot find the keyboard brightness shortcut in the Control Center of your MacBook Pro or Air.
Don’t worry; I’ll also tell you later how to add that. With that option, turning on, off, and adjusting the Keyboard Backlight is seamless.
How To Adjust Keyboard Backlight On Macbook Pro?
Found out turning on the Backlight of your MacBook Pro keyboard? Now, let’s work on finding how you can adjust this brightness level on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.
It does not matter what MacBook Air you have; the solutions for adjusting keyboard backlight brightness will be the same. Here are some easy ways to adjust the brightness of your MacBook Pro laptop.
Pro Tip: For this, ensure that you are working on the latest macOS version, “macOS Sonoma 14.”
Adjusting Keyboard Backlight on MacBook Pro Manually:
To adjust the keyboard brightness, turn it off or on, and follow the instructions below because these instructions are for every MacBook Pro and Air model unless you are using the most updated version of the Mac Operating System.
If nothing is helpful, there is a manual way of adjusting the keyboard backlight on your MacBook Pro and Air model. This is supposed to be done by following the below-given steps.
First, open the Settings app on your MacBook Pro or Air.
Look For the keyboard icon on the left sidebar. You can have it like this.

By clicking on the keyboard icon, you will see the settings related to the Keyboard. Here, Drag the brightness bar to increase or decrease the brightness of your MacBook Pro Keyboard.

This way, you’ll be able to adjust the MacBook’s keyboard backlight manually.
It is not a difficult job to do, and regardless of the fact that you have the MacBook Pro model or Air model, you will follow the same process for both!
Set Keyboard Backlight Brightness to Automatic Mode:
Your MacBook Keyboard has a built-in sensor that can adjust the brightness of the MacBook keyboard and display automatically.
To do that, you will see an option, “Adjust keyboard brightness in low light” in the same setting of the Keyboard.

Turn it on, and you won’t have to be worried about the Keyboard backlight brightness anymore.
The keyboard and MacBook will learn from the environment around you to ensure that you have the optimal level of brightness while typing those codes or words using the keyboard.
Set Keyboard Brightness To Turn Off in case of No Activity:
Sometimes, the keyboard brightness causes more battery usage if it stays on and you are not even typing on your machine.
To prevent that, you can also use the “Turn Keyboard Backlight Off after Activity” feature to adjust your MacBook Pro Keyboard Backlight.

With the help of this feature, the keyboard will turn its light off when you are not typing on it. But the light will again turn on in case you press any key on your MacBook Pro.
This feature helps you save battery, which is otherwise used by the MacBook Pro keyboard when the brightness is on and you are not doing anything on your machine.
Adjust Keyboard Backlight on MacBook Pro From Control Center:
It’s not always good to trouble yourself with the complex settings when you have a Keyboard Backlight adjusting shortcut in the Control Center of your MacBook Pro.
Do you know that you can also adjust the brightness on your MacBook with this shortcut? It’s pretty simple, and let me tell you how.
First, you’ll click on the Control Center of your MacBook to find out if you have this keyboard backlight adjusting shortcut.

By clicking on it, you can adjust the keyboard backlight brightness like this!

Adding Keyboard Backlight Adjustment Shortcut in Control Center:
But suppose you cannot find the Keyboard Brightness Shortcut in your Control Center menu.
In that case, how will you be able to add it there? It’s also simple, and let me show you exactly how it gets done!
Open Settings and use the search bar to search Control Center.
You will have it in the search appearance at the top. Click on it, and you’ll have a new window. Please scroll down a little until you see the “Keyboard Brightness Option.”
If it’s turned off, turn it on, and you can have this keyboard brightness shortcut in the Control Center of your MacBook.

Next time, whenever there is a need to adjust the brightness on an Apple MacBook Pro or Air or refresh it, you can adjust it through the Control Center brightness adjusting Shortcut.
So, these are some simple and easy methods of adjusting the brightness on the screen of your MacBook. I hope these will solve your problem regarding MacBook Pro keyboard light adjustments.
Last Words:
There are no hard and fast rules you need to learn for MacBook Pro or MacBook Air keyboard backlight adjustments. It’s pretty simple, and I believe that the article has been helpful in that regard. But if you still have queries to ask, you are most welcome. Thanks for being here today. Have a great day!