How do I turn backlit keyboard on a SGIN 18.5 Windows 11 home OS keyboard

Question

I just purchased a SGIN 18.5 Laptop advertised as having a backlit keyboard but I can't find a dedicated key. Are there other options I How do I turn it on or does it not have the backlight?

Answer 1

Hi Felicia,

I checked some specs for this laptop

and can't find anything that indicates

it has a backlit keyboard option.

Answer 2

On Surface and many other Windows 11 laptops, the keyboard backlight is controlled by a function-row key that cycles through brightness levels, not by a separate “Backlight On/Off” button.

For newer Surface devices, the F5 key cycles through four levels of keyboard backlighting (for some older models it was F7). The usual pattern is:

1. Make sure the keyboard is attached and Windows is running.
2. Press the F5 key once to turn the backlight on at a low level.
3. Press F5 repeatedly to cycle through higher brightness levels and then off again.
4. If nothing happens, toggle the Fn key (turn it on or off) and try F5 again, because the top-row keys can act either as function keys (F1–F12) or as special keys like backlight control.

If pressing the expected backlight key (such as F5/F7) with different Fn states never changes the keyboard lighting, the device may not actually include a backlit keyboard despite the advertisement, or the vendor may have mapped the control to a different key not documented in this context. In that case, check the device’s manual or support site for the exact key combination, or contact the manufacturer to confirm whether the specific SGIN 18.5 configuration includes a backlit keyboard.

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References:

• Special keys and function keys for Surface Keyboards or Type Covers
• Backlit keyboard - Microsoft Q&A