Enable Lenovo Keyboard Backlight Not Working (Easy)

Is your Lenovo keyboard backlight not working? If so, there are a few steps you can take to resolve the issue and get the keyboard to light up.

To turn on the keyboard backlight on Lenovo,
Press the Fn + Spacebar keys together to turn on or off the keyboard backlight. Alternatively, use Lenovo Vantage to manage the keyboard backlight.

Keep reading as I explain some of the causes or reasons why your keyboard backlight is not working and how to fix them.

Many Lenovo laptops come configured with a backlit keyboard but not all, so it’s important to understand if your model does. In addition, the issue could be hardware or software-related.
I’ll try to start with the easy fixes first and work up to more advanced options.

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Lenovo Keyboard Backlight Not Working

Step #1 Verify Backlight Is Installed

The first step is to verify your Lenovo laptop is configured with a keyboard backlight. As mentioned above, many Lenovo laptops are preinstalled with a backlight, and some offer it as an option.

To check your model of laptop, simply look at the keyboard for a light symbol on the space key. This indicates the ability to turn on and off the backlight.

Optionally, you can always check the user manual or user guide that came with the Lenovo laptop.
Find the associated info guide online at the Lenovo support website. You simply enter your model information or let it auto-detect your system.

Step #2 Use The Function Keys To Enable Backlight

After you have verified a backlight is indeed installed, the next step is the easy-to-use keyboard shortcut. Use this to turn on/off the light pretty much always. Note, you can also use the Lenovo Vantage application to do this.

How To Turn On Keyboard Backlight Lenovo:

Press and hold the Fn key and then tap the Space bar to toggle the backlight from Low, High, and Off.

Some Lenovo laptops such as the newer Legion series have an installed program called iCUE. This allows you to pre-configure RGB backlight settings for your use.

Step #3 Use Lenovo Vantage For Backlight

In Windows 10, your Lenovo should come installed with the Lenovo Vantage program.

Open the Lenovo Vantage program and locate the icon for the keyboard backlight. Use this to turn on/off the backlight.

If you do not have Lenovo Vantage, download it from Lenovo. It is a useful tool and can resolve some issues with the backlight not working. Note too that if your version is old, you should go ahead and upgrade it to the latest release as this fixes some issues.

Looking for a new cool gaming keyboard? Read my article:
Best Gaming Keyboards Under $100

Step #4 Reboot The Laptop

A simple reboot of the laptop often fixes or resolves many issues, such as a keyboard backlight not working. Sometimes software gets screwed up and rebooting flushes out the cache, closes programs, etc.

Reboot the operating system of your laptop to resolve many backlight issues.

Go ahead and try it, you might be surprised how often this clears up problems you’re having with your computer.

Also, try to stop the ImControllerService process from Task Manager. This process is associated with Lenovo Vantage, stopping it might indicate if it is causing the no backlight issue. This is a temporary fix though, usually, a BIOS update will be a more permanent fix.

If none of these steps have worked for you yet, it is time to see if the backlight will come on and work outside of the OS.

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Step #5 Use BIOS To Test Backlight

Enter the BIOS/UEFI by turning on the laptop and pressing F1. This is just a good way for us to test the functionality of the Lenovo keyboard light outside of the software or operating system.

Once in the BIOS, press the Fn+Spacebar to check if the keyboard backlight comes on.

If the keyboard backlight comes on and works properly then it indicates the hardware is okay. The issue lies somewhere while in the OS.
Update the system BIOS as well as software such as Lenovo Vantage. Make sure everything is up to date.

Note: A lot of users have seen their Lenovo keyboard light not working issue resolved with the latest BIOS. The release contained fixes directly applied toward the backlight issue.

Step #6 Reset Laptop With A Power Drain

It may seem odd, but draining the system can fix some hardware issues. We need to unplug and remove the battery if possible.

Power off the laptop. Unplug the AC adapter. Remove the external battery if present. Hold down the power button for at least 10 seconds. Reconnect everything and boot up.

Just like rebooting the OS solved software issues, doing a power drain can solve hardware issues.

Run A Hardware Diagnostics Test

It might be useful at this point to run a diagnostics test on the hardware to find out if any problem is detected.

Use Lenovo Vantage to run diagnostics or run a scan from Lenovo support.

I also have an article on Lenovo Hardware Diagnostics Tools that might be useful to scan your components. Check it out if you are looking for some tools.

In addition, I wrote a whole article on fixing issues with your laptop. It is a step-by-step process to help you resolve most issues.

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Lenovo Legion 5 Keyboard Backlight Not Working

As I mentioned above, the newer Legion series has an installed program called iCUE. To get your Legion keyboard backlight working, first, open the iCUE app and configure a new profile for your use. Click the + at the top of Profiles.

Note: Be sure the “enable plugins” and maybe “enable SDK” are checked in iCUE settings.
Next, quit the iCUE software, which puts the keyboard lighting into default mode, then press “Fn + space” which will cycle through the presets, find the one you want.

For Legion, use the iCUE app: Press Fn+ Space to select your preset.

This table contains some of the popular Lenovo laptops sold in the U.S.
Note that most but not all have a backlit keyboard. Also, some models are configurable at the time of order allowing you to add on a backlit keyboard.

Model	Product	Backlit Keyboard
82AU0013US	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU0014US	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU00B8US	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU00BTUS	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU00BVUS	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU00CGUS	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
82AU00CXUS	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05	White Backlit, English (US)
81Y60004US	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H	White Backlit, English (US)
81Y6000ACC	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H	White Backlit, English (US)
81Y6000BCC	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H	White Backlit, English (US)
81Y6000DUC	Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H	4-Zone RGB LED backlight, (US)
81YT0000US	Lenovo Legion 7 15IMH05	RGB LED Backlit, English (US)
81YT0002US	Lenovo Legion 7 15IMH05	RGB LED Backlit, English (US)
81YT0003US	Lenovo Legion 7 15IMH05	RGB LED Backlit, English (US)
81YT0004US	Lenovo Legion 7 15IMH05	RGB LED Backlit, English (US)
82B80006UX	IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05	White Backlit, English (US)
82B8000AUS	IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05	Non-backlit, English
82B8000BUS	IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05	Non-backlit, English
81VW000TUS	IdeaPad S340-15IIL	White Backlit, English (US)
81VW001MUS	IdeaPad S340-15IIL	White Backlit, English (US)
81VW0020US	IdeaPad S340-15IIL	Non-backlit, English

There is no specific driver for the keyboard backlight because it is a physical switch. If none of the above steps resolved or helped with your issue, it is probably time to call Lenovo support for either a keyboard replacement or whole laptop repair.

In Summary

I’ve included several actionable steps for you to take to resolve a Lenovo keyboard backlight not working. I hope one of them has worked for you. As I mentioned above, the newer BIOS release has solved many users’ problems with this backlight issue. Follow the steps and run diagnostics if you need to, but if all else fails it may be time to contact support.

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