How to Keep Your Keyboard Backlit on a Surface 5 Laptop

Complete Guide to Fixing Keyboard Backlight Issues on Surface 5

Check Battery Settings

One reason the keyboard backlight may turn off is to save battery life, particularly when your laptop is running low on power. To make sure this is not the issue, check your battery settings. If your battery is low, the Surface 5 may automatically disconnect unnecessary features like keyboard backlighting. Charge your device fully or adjust your power settings to allow the backlight to stay on, even when the battery is low.

Use the Keyboard Shortcut

The simplest way to turn the keyboard backlight on is by using the keyboard shortcut. On most Surface laptops, as well as the Surface 5, you can press the F7 key to activate the backlight. Look for a key with a small icon similar to a lightbulb or sun. This key is normally located at the top row of the keyboard, and pressing it should toggle the backlight on or off. Sometimes,hold the Kn key and press F7.

Adjust Keyboard Backlight Settings

If pressing F7 does not work, or you want more control over the backlight settings, you can change them directly from your device’s settings. Follow these steps:

• Open the Start menu and select Settings.
• Next, go to devices, then select typing from the left sidebar.
• Under the typing settings, look for the keyboard backlighting section.
• Here, you should see an option to adjust how the backlight acts.
• You can set it to turn on automatically when the room gets dark or adjust the brightness level of the backlight.

Update Device Drivers

If the various methods do not solve the issue, the problem could be related to outdated or missing drivers. Device drivers control the functionality of hardware components like your keyboard backlight To update drivers, follow these instructions:

• Right-click on the Start menu and pick Device Manager from the list.
• Scroll down and find Keyboards in the list.
• Right-click on the listed keyboard driver and select the Updated driver.
• Follow the steps to check for and install any updates. Once your drivers are updated, try turning on the backlight again.

Enable Adaptive Brightness (Optional)

For those who want their keyboard backlight to adjust automatically based on the surrounding lighting, there are features called Adaptive Brightness. This will turn the backlight on when the atmosphere light is low and dim it when the room is well-lit. To enable variable brightness, you will need to make sure that your Surface 5 has the necessary sensors and settings enabled:

• Open Settings, then go to System.
• Under Display, find and enable Adaptive brightness or Automatically adjust brightness.
• This will ensure that your keyboard backlight adjusts according to the light in your environment.

Restart Your Laptop

If the previous steps did not work, restarting your Surface 5 could be a helpful solution. At times, restarting your device can resolve software issues that might be stopping the keyboard backlight from functioning properly. Restarting refreshes the System and ensures that all settings are correctly applied.