What the fn and Globe key does on a Mac
The fn key, marked with a globe (🌐) on recent Macs and Apple keyboards, does two kinds of job. Held down, it changes other keys: the top row sends F1 to F12, the arrow keys become Page Up, Page Down, Home and End, and Delete deletes forward. Pressed on its own, it does whatever you choose in System Settings > Keyboard: change the input source, show Emoji & Symbols, start Dictation, or nothing. It also opens things, such as Globe-E for emoji and Globe-Q for a Quick Note.
Here is each job, where to change it, and what to do when the key keeps doing something you did not ask for.
fn and Globe are the same key
Older Mac keyboards print “fn” on the key, which sits in the bottom-left corner on laptops and compact keyboards. Newer MacBooks and Apple keyboards print both “fn” and a globe on it. macOS treats them as one key, and Apple’s own shortcut list calls it the “Fn (Function) or Globe” key. The setting described below reads “Press 🌐 key to” or “Press fn key to”, depending on your keyboard.
On many keyboards not made by Apple, the Fn key is handled inside the keyboard and never reaches macOS, so the shortcuts in this post may not work with it. The keyboard’s own Fn layer, printed on its keys, applies instead.
Pressed on its own: the “Press 🌐 key to” setting
A single press of the Globe key, with no other key, does one of four things. To choose:
- Open System Settings and click Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Find “Press 🌐 key to” (or “Press fn key to”).
- Pick one: - Change Input Source switches to your next keyboard layout or language. Useful if you type in more than one. - Show Emoji & Symbols opens the emoji picker where you are typing. - Start Dictation (Press 🌐 Twice) starts dictating when you press the key twice. - Do Nothing turns the single press off.
If the emoji picker or a language switch keeps appearing when you only meant to hold fn for a shortcut, choose Do Nothing. That only changes the press on its own; every combination below still works.
Dictation has its own shortcut too, under Keyboard > Dictation, where the Shortcut menu offers pressing 🌐 twice along with choices such as pressing either Command key twice.
Held with the top row: F1 to F12
By default, the top row of an Apple keyboard does what its icons show: display brightness, volume, media playback and so on. Hold fn or Globe and press one of those keys, and it sends the plain function key instead. Fn-F11 shows the desktop, for example, and apps that use F-keys for their own commands get them this way.
If you use F-keys more than brightness and volume, flip it:
- Open System Settings > Keyboard.
- Click Keyboard Shortcuts…, then choose Function Keys on the left.
- Turn on “Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys”.
Now the keys send F1 to F12 on their own, and you hold fn or Globe for the printed features. On a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, holding fn shows F1 to F12 on the Touch Bar by default, and Touch Bar Settings… in Keyboard settings lets you change that. Function keys on a MacBook goes deeper into the top row.
Held with the arrows and Delete
A MacBook keyboard has no Page Up, Page Down, Home, End or Forward Delete keys. The fn key stands in for all five.
| Keys | Acts as | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| fn ↑ | Page Up (⇞) | Scrolls up one page |
| fn ↓ | Page Down (⇟) | Scrolls down one page |
| fn ← | Home (↖) | Scrolls to the start of the document |
| fn → | End (↘) | Scrolls to the end of the document |
| fn ⌫ | Forward Delete (⌦) | Deletes the character to the right |
One thing surprises people coming from Windows: in most Mac apps, Home and End scroll the view without moving the insertion point. To move the cursor itself, use Command-Left Arrow and Command-Right Arrow for the start and end of a line, and Command-Up Arrow and Command-Down Arrow for the start and end of the document. Control-D is another way to delete forward. The keys a MacBook leaves out covers these in more detail.
Globe shortcuts that open things
Since macOS 12 Monterey, the Globe key works with letters too, whichever app is in front:
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| 🌐E | Opens the Character Viewer for emoji and symbols |
| 🌐Q | Starts a Quick Note |
| 🌐N | Shows or hides Notification Center |
| 🌐C | Shows or hides Control Center |
| 🌐A | Shows or hides the Dock |
| 🌐H | Shows the desktop |
| 🌐F | Enters or leaves full screen in most apps |
| 🌐⇧A | Shows or hides Launchpad (Apps on macOS Tahoe 26) |
Globe-F is the full screen shortcut you will see next to Enter Full Screen in many menus; Control-Command-F still works too. Quick Note is listed in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts…, under Mission Control, so you can change it there. Globe-E is the same as Control-Command-Space or Edit > Emoji & Symbols, and type an emoji, symbol or arrow on a Mac covers the picker itself.
macOS 15 Sequoia added window tiling shortcuts built on Globe and Control: Globe-Control with an arrow key moves the front window to that half of the screen, Globe-Control-F fills the screen, Globe-Control-C centers the window, and Globe-Control-R puts it back to its previous size. Add Shift to an arrow to split the screen between the active window and the next one, side by side or one above the other. These are not in Sonoma.
Showing fn in a recording or a lesson
fn is the easiest key to miss in a tutorial. Your viewer sees the page jump or a character vanish, but not the finger holding fn in the corner. Sticky Keys, the built-in option that shows modifier symbols on screen, puts them in a corner and changes how the modifier keys behave, so it suits practice more than an ordinary recording.
Typebar shows the whole keyboard on screen, and every key you press lights up on it, so a held fn is as plain as the arrow beside it. The keystroke pill names each shortcut you press using the name from the app’s own menus. In its cheatsheet packs for apps such as Figma, Photoshop and Blender, holding fn shows each app’s single-key tools on the board.
Typebar’s own default for showing and hiding its overlay is a triple tap of fn, alongside Control-Option-Command-K. If you have the Globe key set to switch languages or open emoji, and the two get in each other’s way, change either shortcut in Typebar’s Settings > Shortcuts. Typebar is $9 once, with a 24-hour free trial.
Questions
Is the Globe key the same as fn?
Yes. Newer Apple keyboards print both on one key, and macOS treats it as one key whichever symbol your keyboard has.
How do I stop the Globe key opening the emoji picker?
In System Settings > Keyboard, set “Press 🌐 key to” to Do Nothing, or to Change Input Source if you switch languages. Globe-E still opens the picker when you want it.
Why does fn not work on my non-Apple keyboard?
Many keyboards handle their Fn key inside the keyboard, so macOS never sees it. Use the keyboard’s own Fn functions, or remap another key if the keyboard’s software allows it.
Do Globe shortcuts work on older Macs?
The letter shortcuts need macOS 12 Monterey or later, and the window tiling ones need macOS 15 Sequoia. On a keyboard labeled only fn, press fn where this post says Globe.