My surface keyboard does not ligjt up when i start typing or touch the touchpad

Question

Hi, I have surface pro 8 and matching keyboard without the pen slot. since a few weeks back, my surface keyboard isnt lighting up when its being used. I tried updating windows, restarting, cleaning the connection, nothing has worked. I should also mention, that the "caps lock" light works completely fine.

Answer 1

Hi Bára,

Thank you for posting, I am here to help. Possible reasons your Surface keyboard's backlight does not turn on when you start typing include misconfigured brightness settings, software issues, connection problems, and low battery.

Let us try this step to fix the problem:

To turn on the backlight of your keyboard, please make sure first that the Fn key is OFF (not lit up).

Kindly check then if the F7 key on your keyboard has a half sun icon or Prtscrn. If it is the sun icon, try to press it several times and check if the keyboard backlight lit up.

If the F7 key is for Prtscrn, please use then the F1 and F2 keys to adjust the keyboard backlight.

Let me know how this goes. Looking forward to helping you out.  If you need more help please feel free to let me know. If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer".

Best regards,

Jansher

Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing an issue with the backlighting on your Surface Pro 8 keyboard. Since the caps lock light works, it indicates that the keyboard is receiving power. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Check Keyboard Settings: Ensure that the keyboard backlight settings are enabled. Sometimes, the backlight can be turned off in the settings.
2. Update Drivers: Make sure that you have the latest drivers for your Surface keyboard. You can download the latest Surface driver updates from the Microsoft website.
3. Reset the Keyboard: Disconnect the keyboard and reconnect it to see if that resolves the issue. If possible, try using the keyboard with another Surface device to check if the problem persists.
4. Firmware Reset: If the keyboard still does not light up, you might need to reset the firmware. This can sometimes resolve issues with peripherals not functioning correctly.

If none of these steps work, you may want to consider reaching out to Microsoft support for further assistance or service options.

---

References:

• Top support solutions for Surface devices