Change the Time to Turn Off Keyboard Backlight on a Dell Laptop

by Elizabeth Kricfalusi, Tech for Luddites

This is a super specific tip, but it was something that was driving me crazy. So for those people with the same situation, hopefully this will be of help.

A few laptops ago, I didn’t realize when I bought it that it didn’t have a backlit keyboard. It didn’t take me long to realize I would *never buy another laptop without that feature.

Earlier this year I bought a Dell XPS 13 laptop, which does have the backlight. However, it kept turning off after 10 seconds if I hadn’t interacted with it during that time. That was way too short for my liking.

I couldn’t find a setting to change it so I Googled for a solution. I learned that apparently earlier versions of Windows had the setting built into the Mobility Setting but at some point, that was no longer the case. I also learned about an application called the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack you can install that includes a variety of settings, including one to change the length of time the keyboard backlight would remain on.

This application was last updated in March 2014 and according to the description is intended for the 64-bit Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. But I tried it with my Windows 10 system and it worked perfectly.

Note: I have a 64-bit version of Windows 10. I have no idea if it will work with a 32-bit version.

Get the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack download. >>

Once you’ve downloaded the application, double-click the .exe file to open the installation wizard.

After you’ve installed the pack, click the Windows button on your taskbar and start typing Keyboard. When Keyboard (Control Panel) comes up in the search results, click that to open the Keyboard settings dialog box. It will now have two Dell tabs including one for the Backlight. You can change the timeout setting there.