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Press the top-row key marked with the dimmer sun to lower your MacBook’s screen brightness. On Apple’s documented MacBook Air and MacBook Pro layouts, that is F1; press it repeatedly to dim the display one step at a time. Apple’s Mac keyboard guide describes the display-brightness keys and alternatives.
Lower screen brightness with the dedicated key
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Find the top-row key marked with a small or dimmer sun. Apple’s documented MacBook Air and Pro layouts use F1 to decrease display brightness and F2 to increase it, though key markings can vary. Look for the symbol rather than relying only on the key number.
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Press the dimmer-sun key once to lower brightness by one step. Press it again to dim further.
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These keys adjust the display, not the keyboard’s backlight.
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If the brightness key acts like F1
Your top row may be set to use standard function keys. Hold Fn/Globe while pressing the dimmer-sun key to use its brightness function. On macOS Ventura or later, you can also review the setting at System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Function Keys. Apple explains how to use the function keys on Mac.
Other ways to adjust display brightness
Use Control Center
Open Control Center from the menu bar and drag the Brightness slider down. This works on any Mac, including when the brightness key is unavailable or behaves differently. To open Display settings directly, hold Option while pressing either display-brightness key. Apple’s brightness instructions cover these controls.
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Make a smaller adjustment
For a finer change than a normal key press, use Option-Shift with the display-brightness decrease or increase key. Apple lists these as smaller-step brightness shortcuts. See Apple’s Mac keyboard shortcuts.
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MacBook Pro models with a Touch Bar
On a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, hold Fn to display F1–F12 in the Touch Bar, then tap the brightness-decrease function key.
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Display brightness and keyboard backlight are different
Display brightness controls the screen. Keyboard brightness controls the keyboard backlight. To change the latter, use System Settings > Keyboard, a keyboard-brightness key if your Mac has one, or add the Keyboard Brightness control to Control Center. Apple documents keyboard-backlight controls separately from display brightness. Apple’s keyboard-backlight guide has the steps.
Quick Recap
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