Some keyboard keys not working after Tahoe update on M4 MacBook Air

techwriter-mgr wrote:

• Specifically, ESC and F1-F6 "top-row" keys on my external USB Apple keyboard no longer work.

no, the keyboard itself is not at fault

• yes, I tried a different keyboard (with different but similar incorrect behaviors)

• yes, I already looked at accessibility and key remapping settings in case they were at fault

As part of troubleshooting and to work around this, I installed Karabiner; no keyboard event at all is sent for these keys so I'm extra confident it's not a remapping problem but an issue with the keyboard driver.

Is there a fix to the keyboard driver that I can install so my keyboard works properly again?

Did you try unpairing the keyboard, then add it back in...

Set up your Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, or ...

Mac keyboard shortcuts

Use keyboard function keys on Mac

How to use the function keys on your Mac

A SafeBoot Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support will sort many anomalies

Does a quick disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, third party system modifications and system accelerations are disabled temporarily.

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test.

This will also tell you if third party interference; most extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.

Assuming this is on a MacBook Air, as shown in your profile... does the built-in keyboard work correctly or does it have similar issues?

What is the active keyboard layout?

Does the same thing happen in Safe Mode?

From your description, I am afraid that this is simply a hardware failure of that external keyboard.

It is no coincidence that the failed keys all lie in the same part of the keyboard.

Nevertheless, here is how you check and/or change the "active keyboard layout".

Depending on your settings, the keyboard layout selected may be showing in the menu bar, for example:

In that case, you can click it and choose another option from the list.

If not, open System Settings->Keyboard, and look for "Input Sources".

For example, I have a few of those:

You may add or delete by clicking on the Edit... button

You can also, if you so wish, make it appear in the menu bar, by activating the option there. IMO you should turn this on, even if there is only one keyboard layout. On that menu you get the keyboard viewer and the "emoji & symbols" as well.