What does f3 do on a mac

The Delete key in Windows technically, the forward delete key, because it deletes the character to the right of the insertion point is a different story. On small Mac keyboards like laptop and wireless keyboards , this key is missing. You can still perform a forward delete, however, by pressing the regular Delete key while pressing the Fn key in the corner of the keyboard.

Most full-size Windows keyboards have two Enter keys: one at the right side of the alphabet keyboard and one in the lower-right corner of the number pad.

On the Mac, the big key on the number pad still says Enter, but the key on the alphabet keyboard is labeled Return. The current keyboards , where the keys are flat little jobbers that poke up through square holes in the aluminum Figure The older, plastic desktop keyboards , or the white or black plastic laptop ones.

What it does , though, is quite clear: It changes the purpose of certain keys. For example, Fn turns the key into a Page Up key, which scrolls upward by one screenful. On most Mac keyboards, the Fn key is in the lower-left corner.

The exception is the full-size Apple desktop keyboard the one with a numeric keypad ; there, the Fn key is in the little block of keys between the letter keys and the number pad. Figure On the top row of aluminum Mac keyboards, the F-keys have dual functions. Pressing the Fn key in the corner changes their personalities, though. Numeric keypad.

The number-pad keys do exactly the same thing as the numbers at the top of the keyboard. Apple has been quietly eliminating the numeric keypad from most of its keyboards, but you can still find it on some models.

These keys control the brightness of your screen. This one fires up Mission Control, the handy window-management feature described in Chapter 4. Tap the key to open Dashboard, the archipelago of tiny, single-purpose widgets like Weather, Stocks, and Movies.

Chapter 4 describes Dashboard in detail. On recent Macs, the F4 key bears a logo instead. Tapping it opens Launchpad, which is described on Launchpad. Tap either or to skip to the previous or next track or chapter. A setting in System Preferences, in the Keyboard pane, controls default behavior for function keys. The setting is a checkbox labeled "Use all F1, F2, etc. When unchecked, function keys will perform as described in 1 above. If you check the checkbox, F1 - F12 will behave standard function keys, and you will need to press Fn in order to perform the actions indicated by special icons.

In general, unless you are using Excel all day on a Mac, you will probably find it more convenient to leave the default behavior alone and learn to use the Fn key for certain shortcuts in Excel. This is because it's nice to be able to access the Mac dashboard, brightness, and volume without having to press Fn at the same time.

You can change the keyboard shortcuts that are assigned to function keys in the Keyboard Shortcuts pane. For example, you could un-assign F9 from Mission Control so that F9 can be available in other applications. Skip to main content. How to use Mac function keys with Excel If you want to master Excel keyboard shortcuts on a Mac, you need to take a moment to understand how the Mac keyboard is arranged, and how it can be configured through system preferences.

Your iMac's function keys are not removable and using the keys is completely optional. You can also perform each of the options preprogrammed into the keys via menu options off of the Apple menu as well as within applications, if desired. Nick Davis is a freelance writer specializing in technical, travel and entertainment articles.

He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Memphis and an associate degree in computer information systems from the State Technical Institute at Memphis. He is currently living in Albuquerque, N. What Is the Lenovo Smile? Share on Facebook.