Cannot Send F11 Function Keystroke To Apps On MacOS?
Have you been struggling to send F11 function keystrokes to some apps on macOS?
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While I was installing a new version of Rocky Linux on an HPE server via iLO, I had to press F11 at the BIOS screen in order to select the virtual cdrom boot device:
F11 comes with two preset functions by default: the first mode decreases the volume, and the second mode (Fn+F11) displays the desktop. These two modes can be reversed depending on your settings.
Even altering the function keys in the physical keyboard settings didn’t send the F11 key to iLO!
This behavior would be similar if F11 is needed to be sent to a virtual machine running in Parallel or VMWare Fusion.
This could be a problem for other function keys as well.
The Solution
You can easily fix the issue by disabling the mapping of the F11 function key.
On MacOS Ventura, start the Systems Settings app and search for “Desktop & Dock”:
Simply select the Shortcuts button. You will then have the option to either change the key or disable it entirely, as I did in the following example by setting it to the minus sign (‘-’).
The option to show the desktop may be desirable for some users. You can either customize the shortcut on the keyboard, or you can switch to using the hot corners instead.
I hope this has been helpful.
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