What F13 to F19 do on a Mac, and how to use them
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
Out of the box, nothing. F13 to F19 are real keys that macOS knows about, but no app gives them a job, which is exactly what makes them useful: a key that does nothing can be given one big job without ever clashing with a shortcut you already use. Single keys are easier on hands like mine than three-key shortcuts. A free app such as InputConfig can make each one open an app, run a macro or start dictation, and a MacBook, which has none, can borrow other keys for the job.
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Find out whether your keyboard has them
- Full-size keyboards with a numeric keypad. Apple's own keyboards with a keypad have them along the top row, over the navigation keys and the keypad. So do many third-party full-size keyboards.
- Not a MacBook. The built-in keyboard, and Apple's compact Magic Keyboard, stop at F12.
- A Windows keyboard. On a Mac, Print Screen, Scroll Lock and Pause usually arrive as F13, F14 and F15.
- Macro pads, foot pedals, gaming keypads and mice. Many can be set, in their own software or onboard memory, to send F13 to F20, and Elgato's Stream Deck app can send F13 to F19.
F20 works in macOS as well. F21 to F24 do not: macOS does not pass them to apps, so skip them when a device offers them. The key code finder shows what your key sends when you press it. F13 is HID code 104.
Assign them in macOS for free
- A system shortcut. Open System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts. Pick any shortcut in the list, such as Mission Control or a screenshot, click its key, and press F13.
- A menu command. App Shortcuts, in the same window, gives a menu command in any app a new key, and F13 to F19 work there too.
If you only need a system shortcut or a menu command on a spare key, this is enough and costs nothing. What macOS will not do is open an arbitrary app, type a phrase, run a timed macro, change the volume, or give a key a second job when you hold it.
Give each key any job with InputConfig
- Install InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store, and allow Accessibility access when it asks.
- Make a preset, add a row, press Scan, and press F13.
- Pick the output: Open App, Open URL, Run Siri Shortcut, a key combination, a macro, Type Text, media and volume keys, Start Dictation, Lock Screen, Mission Control, and more.
- Activate the preset.
- You: Press F13 in any app.
- InputConfig: Runs the row's output. It works in every app, with no controller connected.
- Check: The output fires, and the front app does nothing else, because it receives F13 and almost every app ignores it.
A key that does nothing in any app is the cleanest place for a deck. Control Option Command period is the emergency stop if a preset ever gets in your way.
Put up to four jobs on every key
Each row can also have a hold action and a double-tap action, and since version 1.6 both can send full keyboard shortcuts, as can every step of a macro. Press F13 for Mission Control, hold it for Launchpad, double press it to open Mail: seven keys become twenty-one actions. Since 1.8 a triple tap adds a fourth job to each.
- Double tap waits. A row with a double-tap action waits for the window to close before the single press fires, so leave double tap off keys you want instant. The hold and double-tap page covers the timing.
- Repeat is off by default. If a key should repeat while you hold it, the way an arrow key does, turn on Repeat keys while held in the row's Options. It is off by default, because games expect a held key to stay down as one press.
Give a key a different job in each app
A preset can switch itself in when a given app comes to the front, so F13 can cut a clip in Final Cut Pro and reopen a closed tab in Safari, then go back to Mission Control everywhere else. Per-app keyboard shortcuts on a Mac sets it up step by step.
If you have no F13 key
Five ways to get one, from nothing installed to a different device:
- Turn a key you never use into F18. The built-in hidutil command remaps a key until the next restart. Caps Lock stops being Caps Lock while this is set.
- Hold a right-hand modifier. The built-in Modifier Holds preset gives Right Command, Right Option and Right Shift a job when held alone. See the right Command and Option keys.
- A mouse button. Button 4, Button 5 and any extra buttons up to Button 32 bind the same way. See mouse side buttons and extra mouse buttons.
- A controller or a MIDI pad. Their buttons type nothing until you bind them, and InputConfig can make them send F13 to F20 as keys, so any app with a hotkey field, such as OBS, can use them. The streaming deck guide does exactly that.
- Tap the Mac. A double knock on the MacBook's case can be an input. It was tested on M4 MacBooks; it did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing; the calibrator's status chip tells you whether yours listens. See Tap the Mac.
Terminal: Make Caps Lock send F18 until the next restart.
hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000039,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x70000006D}]}'What happens: Caps Lock now sends F18, which you can bind in InputConfig.
Terminal: Undo it.
hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[]}'What happens: Caps Lock is Caps Lock again.
Choose between F13 to F19 and a Hyper key
A Hyper key turns Caps Lock into Control, Option, Command and Shift at once, so Caps Lock plus any letter becomes a shortcut no app uses.
- A Hyper key. Needs Karabiner-Elements or the Hyperkey app, and takes two keys per action.
- F13 to F19. Need nothing installed to exist, one press runs one action, and with InputConfig each key can hold three.
On a full-size keyboard the F keys are the simpler place to start, and on a laptop a Hyper key or the hidutil trick fills the gap.
What it cannot do
- Take the key away. InputConfig listens alongside macOS, so the front app still receives F13. It does not block or remap the key itself, and every keyboard reports to it as one device.
- Fire in a password field. While you type a password, macOS hides keystrokes from every app that listens to the keyboard, InputConfig included. The row works again as soon as you leave the field. At the lock screen InputConfig sends no keys at all.
- Use F21 to F24. macOS does not pass them to apps.
The short version
- Free. System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts puts a system shortcut or menu command on F13.
- Any job. InputConfig gives each key an app, a macro, text or dictation, with hold and double tap on top.
- No F keys. Remap Caps Lock, hold a right-hand modifier, or use a mouse button or controller.
Seven keys nobody uses can each carry four jobs.
Questions
What does the F13 key do on a Mac?
Nothing by default. macOS recognizes it, and you can assign it in System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, or give it any job with an app such as InputConfig.
Does a MacBook have F13?
No. MacBook keyboards and the compact Magic Keyboard stop at F12. Full-size keyboards with a numeric keypad have F13 to F19. On a MacBook, a remapped Caps Lock, a held right-hand modifier, a mouse side button or a controller can do the same job.
Why does F14 or F15 change my screen brightness?
Some Macs assign display brightness to those keys. Check System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Display, and turn the shortcut off if you want the keys free.
Does binding F13 in InputConfig stop it reaching other apps?
No. InputConfig listens alongside macOS, so the front app still receives F13. Almost no app reacts to it, which is why these keys make a clean deck.
Why does my F13 row not fire in a password field?
While you type a password, macOS hides keystrokes from every app that listens to the keyboard, InputConfig included. The row works again as soon as you leave the field. At the lock screen InputConfig sends no keys at all.
Can I use F13 to F19 in a game?
Yes. InputConfig works in any app, including full-screen games, and a preset can switch itself in when the game comes to the front.
Can I use F20 or F24?
F20, yes: InputConfig binds and sends F13 to F20. F21 to F24 have no macOS key code, so macOS does not pass them to apps. Set a device to one of F13 to F20 instead.
Can I bind keys on an ISO, Japanese or gaming keyboard?
Yes. Since version 1.6 the § key on ISO keyboards and the Yen, Underscore, Eisu and Kana keys on Japanese keyboards scan and bind, listed under International Keys. The Live Visualizer's keyboard takes your keyboard's shape, ANSI, ISO or JIS, and labels each key as your layout types it. A key InputConfig has no name for still binds, shown as Key code and a number. Each key keeps doing its own job as well, so a key that types or switches input mode still does.
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