How do I use the function keys on Windows 8?

How do I use my function keys (F1, F2, F3, etc) in games that I play on my Windows 8 computer? Whenever I try, it just changes my brightness or opens help (or even worse, in steam games when I press F12 it turns off my Internet instead of taking a screenshot)! I really want to be able to screenshot and vote on votekicks, but I can't find out how!

PS I believe my laptop is an HP envy, but I can't check until I get home

The Ugly

Posted 2013-09-26T14:13:50.387

Reputation: 113

5This is nothing to do with Windows 8, please advise the make and model of your laptop so somebody can lookup which key combination will toggle function keys – Flyk – 2013-09-26T14:16:43.117

2@TheUgly this is about the design of your laptop and nothing to do directly with gaming, your laptop has laptop setting keys in the place of function keys, and another key to toggle what this row of keys do. – Flyk – 2013-09-26T14:19:34.820

@kalina I self answered this but couldn't accept my answer yet. Do you have any evidence that this does not apply to all windows 8 computers. If you can provide proof I will change it, but I want to make sure that I don't incorrectly change this when the advice I was given might be faulty, no offense. – None – 2013-09-26T14:20:55.333

2@TheUgly Applying to every game you've used on Windows 8 is a very good indication your problem has nothing to do with any of them. – dlras2 – 2013-09-26T14:21:01.993

5@TheUgly I have a Windows 8 PC that this never applied to. I also had a Windows 7 laptop it did. This is 100% about your hardware/BIOS and manufacturer. – dlras2 – 2013-09-26T14:21:56.670

@TheUgly Yes - I use Windows 8 and I'm very experienced with the nuances of laptops and manufacturer's love for hiding the function keys behind multiple key presses. On your keyboard you will have an FN key which will temporarily toggle the top row of keys, but there will also be a key combination that makes the top row behave like function keys all the time, based on the make and model of your machine – Flyk – 2013-09-26T14:22:31.583

Alright, I didn't know about this. However, I have to say that it does apply to the games, with [tag:technical-issues], because this kept me from using many features of these games for a long time. I will edit this to include my specific computer model, but I think it's worth keeping up, even if only as a bad example – The Ugly – 2013-09-26T14:30:53.843

1@TheUgly - It has nothing to do with "games" those same problems would have surfaced with ANY software. – Ramhound – 2013-09-26T15:00:25.623

@techie007 I'm sorry if this is a duplicate, I didn't plan on having it here, so I didn't check this site for existing questions. – The Ugly – 2013-09-26T15:06:32.387

1@TheUgly No problem, dupes happen all the time. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2013-09-26T15:07:04.677

@Ramhound it may apply to other programs, but a half-dozen other things on gaming also apply not only to games but other things as well. If you posted similarly on those, thank you. But I'd say check first, before you post. Also, this question is no longer on gaming, so it no longer must apply to games alone, in any case – The Ugly – 2013-09-26T15:09:48.357

@TheUgly - You made the comment I replied to after it was moved to Superuser. I dont need to check because this problem would have surfaced in any browser. – Ramhound – 2013-09-26T15:26:02.873

@Ramhound I don't understand, what browsers? I've never used function keys in any browsers, what can they do? – The Ugly – 2013-09-26T15:28:44.563

@TheUgly - CTRL +F5 forces a refresh. There are other shortcuts mapped to the function keys also. – Ramhound – 2013-09-26T15:35:04.223

How do I use the function keys on Windows 8?

Answers