Which key on a keyboard is used to access special functions like volume control or brightness?

Keyboards group keys by the job they do. Letter keys type text, number keys enter digits, and arrow keys move the cursor around a document, but none of these groups is designed to control hardware settings on the computer itself.

A dedicated row of keys, usually placed above the number row and labelled F1 through F12, is built specifically to trigger built-in shortcuts. On laptops in particular, several of these keys are shared with icons for volume up, volume down, mute, and screen brightness, activated either directly or by holding a modifier key such as Fn. This is why the key used to access special functions like volume control or brightness is the function key.

A useful way to remember this: any keyboard action that changes a system setting rather than inserting a character almost always lives on the function-key row.