This is going to be useful if you’re using a non-Apple keyboard, such as the off-the-shelf standard 102-key variety, where the key layouts are different from Apple’s. Of greater interest perhaps, is the option to adjust your modifier keys. This way, adding external keyboards is a breeze. You can make volume adjustments and so forth, then the backlight will automatically turn off so it doesn’t distract you.Īt the bottom of the Keyboard tab, the “Change Keyboard Type…” button will open a wizard that will ask you to press certain keys so it can identify it for you. Setting the timeout is especially useful if you use your computer to watch movies in the dark. On that note, the backlight’s timeout can be adjusted from five seconds to never. If you just want to control that aspect of your computer yourself, you can uncheck this box.

By default, in low light, your keyboard’s backlight will turn on whereas in bright light, it will turn off. Of special note are the controls to adjust your keyboard’s backlight (such as on Macbooks).