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Mac Keyboard Tester

Test every key on a Mac keyboard — MacBook and Magic Keyboard layouts with the real Command, Option and Control caps.

Simply press any key on your keyboard to test it — if it works it will turn green

0Keys Pressed0Total Keys0%Tested

QWERTY on the US ANSI shape: a wide flat Enter and a full-length left Shift.

Ctrl+W, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+N, Alt+Tab and the Windows or Command key are reserved by the browser and the operating system. No web page receives them, so they cannot be tested here or anywhere else in a browser.

At a glance

Key counts and layout facts
DetailValue
Common nameMacBook, Apple laptop keyboard
Testable key count76 keys
Physical keys78 including fn and Touch ID
Number padNo
Function rowYes — full height, with media glyphs
Modifier orderfn, control, option, command
Command reports asMetaLeft and MetaRight
Option reports asAltLeft and AltRight

A MacBook keyboard in numbers

Every figure describes the MacBook layout this page opens on.

76
Testable keys78 physical keys, of which Fn and Touch ID never report.
2
Keys that cannot be testedFn and the Touch ID sensor.
12
Function keysFull height on current MacBooks, half height on Magic Keyboards.
4
Modifier pairsControl, Option and Command, plus both Shift keys.

How to test a Mac keyboard

The modifier names differ from Windows, the codes do not.

  1. Pick MacBook or Magic Keyboard

    The macOS tab is already selected. Choose MacBook for a laptop board with Touch ID, or one of the Magic Keyboard options for an external board.

  2. Work the rows, then both modifier sets

    Function row, number row, three letter rows, then the bottom row. Press both Command keys, both Option keys and both Control keys — each sends its own code, and macOS software frequently binds left and right differently.

  3. Finish with the arrows

    MacBook arrows are an inverted T with half-height left and right keys. Press each at its centre; the half-height caps are easy to miss at the edges.

What to check on a Mac keyboard

Five checks specific to Apple hardware.

Everything about this layout

The shape, the trade-offs and what to watch for when testing it.

How the Apple layout differs

The bottom row runs fn, control, option, command, space, command, option — so the key in the far bottom-left corner, where a Windows board has Control, is fn. The Command keys sit either side of the space bar where a Windows board has Alt, and Option sits where a Windows board has the Windows key.

Because of that, browsers report Apple modifiers under their positional names: Command reports as MetaLeft or MetaRight, Option as AltLeft or AltRight, and Control as ControlLeft. Those are physical positions on a reference board, not statements about what the cap says, which is why the codes look Windows-ish even on a Mac.

The Delete key on a MacBook is what a Windows board calls Backspace, and it reports as Backspace. There is no forward-delete key on a MacBook keyboard; that function is fn plus Delete.

Touch ID and fn will not light up

Two keys on a MacBook can never be tested by a website. The fn key in the bottom-left corner is handled inside the keyboard controller and never becomes a browser key event, exactly as on a Windows laptop.

Touch ID at the top-right of the function row is not a key at all — it is a fingerprint sensor in a key-shaped housing. It sends no key code of any kind.

Both are drawn on the board here with dashed outlines and excluded from the totals, so a fully working MacBook keyboard reaches 100% on its 76 reportable keys. If your Mac does report fn as a key event, which some macOS versions do for the globe key, the on-screen fn lights up anyway without affecting the count.

Testing the function row

MacBook function keys default to their printed media functions — brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight, dictation, Do Not Disturb, playback and volume — rather than to F1 to F12. Pressing them in that mode usually sends the media command and no F-key, so nothing will light up on this test.

Hold fn while pressing them and they send real F1 to F12 codes, which will light up here. If you would rather have it the other way round, macOS has a setting under Keyboard preferences to use F1, F2 and so on as standard function keys.

Some media commands are intercepted by macOS itself before any browser sees them, so a key that does nothing here may still be working perfectly. Check it against the actual function — does the brightness change? — rather than against this test.

Butterfly keyboards and sticky keys

MacBooks built between 2015 and 2019 used a butterfly mechanism that became notorious for keys that stopped responding, repeated themselves, or felt dead under one corner. If you are testing a machine from that era and finding intermittent failures, that history is worth knowing.

The classic butterfly symptom is a key that works when pressed dead centre and fails when pressed off to one side. Test each suspect key several times, hitting different parts of the cap.

Machines from late 2019 onward use a scissor mechanism branded the Magic Keyboard, which does not share that failure mode. On those, a dead key is much more likely to be debris or liquid than a design fault.

Apple keyboards compared

Three Apple layouts, three different key counts.

Testable key count and features by Apple layout
LayoutTestable keysFunction rowArrow keysNumber pad
MacBook (14 / 16 inch)76Full heightInverted TNo
Magic Keyboard (no numpad)76Half heightInverted TNo
Magic Keyboard (with numpad)107Half heightInverted TYes

The full-size Magic Keyboard adds F13 to F19 and a number pad with its own Clear and equals keys, which is why its count jumps to 107.

Fixing a Mac keyboard

Four faults common on Apple hardware.

A key repeats or sticks on a 2016 to 2019 MacBook

On the test:The cap flickers here, or one press produces several characters.

  1. Test the key several times and note whether the fault is intermittent.
  2. Hold the MacBook at 75 degrees and spray compressed air across the key in a zigzag, which is Apple's own documented procedure.
  3. Rotate the machine to its right side and repeat, then to its left, and repeat again.
  4. Book a service appointment if the fault persists. Butterfly keyboards on those models were covered by an Apple service programme.
The function keys control brightness instead of sending F1

On the test:F-keys light here only when Fn is held.

  1. Open System Settings, then Keyboard, and enable the option to use F1, F2 and so on as standard function keys.
  2. Hold Fn otherwise, which makes the board send the real F-key code — which is why it lights here.
Touch ID never lights up

On the test:The Touch ID cap stays hatched no matter what.

  1. Expect this. Touch ID is a fingerprint sensor and sends no key event to anything.
  2. Test it in System Settings under Touch ID and Password instead.
  3. Note it is excluded from the total here, so its state never affects your score.
An external Apple keyboard is not detected

On the test:No key lights at all on a Magic Keyboard.

  1. Check the battery level in System Settings under Bluetooth.
  2. Connect the Lightning or USB-C cable, which both charges and forces a wired connection.
  3. Remove the device in Bluetooth settings and pair it again.
  4. Test on a second machine to separate the keyboard from the Bluetooth stack.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my Command key show as Meta?
Browsers name keys by their physical position on a reference keyboard, not by the legend printed on the cap. The position Apple uses for Command is the one a Windows board uses for the Windows key, which browsers call Meta. Your Command key is working correctly.
Why will Touch ID not register?
Because it is a fingerprint sensor, not a key. It sends no key code at all, so no website can detect it. It is drawn greyed out here and excluded from the total.
My function keys change brightness instead of sending F1 to F12.
That is the macOS default. Hold fn to send real function key codes, or change the behaviour in System Settings under Keyboard, where there is an option to use F1, F2 and so on as standard function keys.
Does this work in Safari?
Yes. The test uses standard keyboard events that every modern browser supports, and it runs entirely on your device in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge alike.
How do I test an Apple Magic Keyboard rather than a MacBook?
Use the Magic Keyboard test, which draws the standalone board including its F13 to F19 keys and, on the full-size version, the numeric keypad with its Clear and equals keys.

Every layout below opens with its own board ready to test.

See all keyboard layouts

Test your Mac keyboard now

The board above is already set to a MacBook layout with Touch ID drawn and excluded. Press every key and watch the score reach 76.

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