What does the fn key do on Mac? New viral TikTok video is blowing people's minds

11 February 2021, 12:52

Tessica Brown goes viral after Gorilla Glue hair accident

By Sam Prance

The function button on Mac will change your life when you know what it does.

Ever wondered what the fn key does on your Mac? It turns out that it's actually way more useful than you ever even realised.

TikTok really is the gift that keeps on giving. Over the course of 2021 alone, the video sharing app has already entertained us in more ways than we could imagine. First things first, there was the Buss It Challenge, then TikTok came through with the Silhouette Challenge and now everyone's talking about Tessica Brown and how she got Gorilla Glue stuck in her hair.

However, TikTok isn't just for laughs. It can be incredibly informative too and a brand new TikTok video about the purpose of the fn key on Mac computers is blowing people's minds. With that in mind, here's what the function button actually does.

How do I use the fn key on Mac?

For those of you that don't know, the fn key on Mac is a dictation device. All you have to do is click the button at the bottom lefthand corner of your keypad twice and a microphone pops up on your screen. It then records everything you say out loud and types what you say wherever your cursor is. In other words, you can use it to write whole essays without typing a word.

The fn key went viral on social media right after TikTok user @tkthenignig posted a video in which he said: "what is the point of this button, like I'm literally clicking it and in doesn't even do anything", in reference to the mysterious fn key. TikTok user @janiyaapryor then posted a video explaining that "it has a purpose" by showing how it works as a dictation device.

Janiyaa's explanation went even more viral when TikTok user @ceiranevins posted a reaction video. In it, she opens a Word document and double taps fn. She gasps when a mic appears and says "surely it doesn't work" only for her Mac to then transcribe "surely it doesn't work". The video has since been like over 2.4 million times.

Thank you Janiyaa for changing all of our lives.