Page Down on Dell Laptop: A Complete Keyboard Guide

You want the next screen of a long page, and the Dell keyboard under your hands has no full-size Page Down key where a desktop board puts one. On the Inspiron 15 3535, page down on Dell laptop keyboards is a two-key press: hold Fn and press the key marked PgDn.

That press is separate from the top row of F keys, which is the part most shortcut lists spend their time on. This guide covers the page-down combo for this model, what F11 and F12 do instead, how function key behavior is set, the other Fn shortcuts, and what to test when the page does not move.

The Fn Plus PgDn Combo on an Inspiron 15 3535

The keyboard function keys in the owner’s manual name Fn + PgDn as page down and Fn + PgUp as page up. The same table lists Fn + Home as Home and Fn + End as End. Those four presses are navigation, and they are not the icons printed on F1 through F12.

Use the combo in the window you are already reading. Click the document, the browser page, or the sheet first so the keystroke lands there, then hold Fn and tap the PgDn legend once for each screen you want to move.

1. Click the page, document, or sheet so that window is active.
2. Hold Fn, which Dell’s keyboard guide places on the lower left between Ctrl and the Windows key.
3. Press the key that carries the PgDn legend, then release both keys.
4. Repeat the same press for the next screen, or use Fn + PgUp to move back one screen.

FIND THE SMALLER LEGEND

• The mark: PgDn is the extra legend on a key, so look for the smaller label rather than a full-size key with only those letters.
• The language: Lettering changes with the keyboard language, and the manual says the keys used for these tasks stay the same.
• The shift key: Shift types the alternate character, such as @ when you press Shift and 2, and it does not call up page down.

If the PgDn legend sits on the down arrow on your unit, that arrow is the key you press with Fn. The manual names the combo as Fn + PgDn rather than by a fixed spot, so the printed legend is the check, not a guess about which arrow it shares.

What Page Down Does in a Document

Page Down moves you forward by one page, and Page Up moves you backward by one page, which is how the Windows keyboard shortcuts for cursor movement describe those keys. The down arrow steps a line at a time in a document, so it is the slow tool when you meant a whole screen.

Ctrl + End moves the cursor to the end of the document, and Ctrl + Home moves it to the beginning. Home and End on their own are shorter moves in a lot of editors, often to the end or start of the line, which is why a Home key will not replace page down when you are trying to read the next screen.

On this laptop you still send Page Down as Fn + PgDn before you add another modifier. Shift held with that same page-down press selects one page of text forward from the cursor, instead of only moving the insertion point. Ctrl held with it is the page move some apps use for a longer jump, and the app decides what that longer jump is.

Default Function Keys on the Inspiron 15 3535

A plain press of a top-row key follows the action printed on the keycap while multimedia keys are the default. System setup lets you choose function key or multimedia key as that default, and the default it lists is Multimedia key. Hold Fn with the same top-row key when you want the software action, such as a refresh, an F-key command in a game, or a menu shortcut that calls for F5 or F11.

The manual’s primary column matches that multimedia default. F11 is Home and F12 is End on a plain press, which helps when you want those moves, and neither one is page down. Page down never appears in that column.

Read the two gaps as the manual prints them. The secondary table has no Fn + F7 row, and the primary table has no F9 row, so those two spots are not given a second job in the chapter. If you have already switched the laptop to function key as the default, swap the two F-row columns in your head: a plain press becomes the software key, and the icon needs Fn. PgDn does not swap with them.

The keyboard chapter also lists the hardware the shortcuts sit on. This model ships with a QWERTY board in carbon black, either backlit or not backlit, which is why F5 is marked optional. A non-backlit unit has nothing for that backlight toggle to turn on.

• United States and Canada: 99 keys.
• United Kingdom: 100 keys.
• Japan: 103 keys.
• Key pitch: 18.70 mm across and 18.05 mm from front to back.

Those counts are a compact laptop board, not a desktop keyboard with a guaranteed six-key navigation block. That is why the manual teaches page down as Fn + PgDn instead of telling you to hunt for a standalone key with only those letters on it.

How to Change Function Key Behavior

FN LOCK LEAVES PAGE DOWN ON FN

• The toggle: Fn + Esc toggles Fn-key lock, which swaps the top row between the printed icons and the software F keys.
• The limit: Page down stays Fn + PgDn in either lock state, and so do page up, Home, and End on their Fn combos.
• The check: After you press Fn + Esc, tap F2 or F6. Volume or brightness means the icons are primary; a software action means the F keys are primary.

People who page through long documents all day want a single key, then flip this lock and wonder why paging still takes two fingers. The lock was built for the top row. It was never the control for PgDn, so the second finger does not go away when the lock flips.

To keep one mode after a restart, set it in system setup rather than only with Fn + Esc. The Function Key Behavior setting in system setup is the menu that chooses function key or multimedia key, and the manual lists Multimedia key as the default. You enter that setup screen with F2 as the computer starts.

1. Save your work, then turn the computer on or restart it.
2. Press F2 immediately. Dell’s support video on this switch says you do not need to hold Fn while the logo is up.
3. Open Function Key Behavior and choose multimedia key or function key.
4. Leave the screen. Esc from the main setup screen asks you to save unsaved changes before the computer restarts.

Dell’s own support clip shows the same choice from the keyboard, from BIOS, and from Windows Mobility Center on Windows 10. Watch it once before you change the default, then come back and test F2 and Fn + PgDn as two different presses.

On Windows 10, the video uses the Windows key with X to open Mobility Center, then the function key column if that column is present. When the column is missing, the same clip sends you back to Fn + Esc or to BIOS. Either path still leaves page down on Fn + PgDn.

Page Up, Home, End, and the Other Fn Shortcuts

Once page down works, the same Fn key covers the moves you usually need next to it. The manual puts them in one secondary list, separate from the mute and brightness icons, so you can learn the cluster without relearning the whole top row.

FN SHORTCUTS BESIDES THE TOP ROW

• Page up: Fn + PgUp moves up one page, the pair to Fn + PgDn.
• Home: Fn + Home moves Home, and a plain F11 also sends Home while multimedia keys are the default.
• End: Fn + End moves End, and a plain F12 also sends End in that same default.
• Fn lock: Fn + Esc toggles Fn-key lock for the top row only.
• Sleep: Fn + Insert puts the computer to sleep, so keep Insert out of a hurried page-down press.
• Wireless: Fn + PrtScr turns wireless off or on.
• Scroll lock: Fn + S toggles scroll lock.
• Pause: Fn + B is Pause/Break.
• Status lights: Fn + H switches between the power and battery light and the drive activity light.
• System request: Fn + R sends system request.
• App menu: Fn + Ctrl opens the application menu.

Sleep and wireless are the two easy mis-hits while you are still learning the board. Insert and Print Screen sit near the keys people poke when they are hunting for a legend, and both do something you will feel right away: the screen goes dark, or the radios drop. If either happens, you found a documented shortcut, not a failed page down.

F11 and F12 remain useful while multimedia keys are primary, because Home and End are a plain press in that mode. They still do not page the document. Use them when you want the Home or End action the manual prints on those two keys, and keep Fn + PgDn for the screen-sized move.

What to Try When Page Down Does Nothing

Start with the window, not the keyboard. Click into a blank note and into a browser page, then send Fn + PgDn in both. A combo that moves one of them and not the other is being received, and the quiet app is the one to check, including whether a text box has the cursor.

Hold Fn the whole time the other key is down. Alt, Ctrl, or the Windows key will not substitute, and a tap of Fn alone does nothing. If you recently pressed Fn + Esc, test F6 next: a brightness change means the icons are primary, and page down should still be Fn + PgDn rather than a plain key.

Turn scroll lock off with Fn + S and test the page press again. The manual lists that combo as the scroll-lock toggle, and a stuck scroll-lock state is a common reason arrow keys and paging feel like they are driving the view instead of the cursor. One press of Fn + S flips it back.

An external keyboard is a clean comparison. On the external multimedia keyboards Dell documents, Page Up and Page Down are always primary, so a plain press on that board pages down even while the laptop still needs Fn. If the external board pages and the laptop combo does not, in every app, the laptop key is the part that is not registering.

Owners who get tired of the two-hand press use the spacebar to scroll a browser page when they are not typing in a box, and they use Shift with the spacebar to scroll back up. That behavior belongs to the browser. It will not move the cursor in a document, and it is not a substitute the Inspiron manual lists. For a document, stay with Fn + PgDn, or plug in a keyboard that has its own Page Down key if you page for hours at a time.

Newer Dell layouts are a frequent reason this feels new. People who typed for years on Latitudes with a separate Page Up and Page Down key now meet boards that tuck those legends behind Fn, and the Inspiron 15 3535 manual is written for that kind of layout. The fix is the combo in the manual, not a hunt for a key the key-count table never promised.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is the Fn Key on a Dell Laptop?

The Fn key sits on the lower left of a Dell laptop keyboard, between Ctrl and the Windows key. Hold it and press the PgDn legend for page down on the Inspiron 15 3535. Pressing Fn by itself does not move the page, and it does not lock the top row; the lock is Fn together with Esc.

What Does Shift Plus Page Down Select?

Shift plus Page Down selects one page of text forward from the cursor, which is one of the document cursor shortcuts in Microsoft 365. On this laptop you still make the Page Down half of that shortcut with Fn + PgDn, then hold Shift as well if you want the selection instead of a plain move.

Do External Dell Keyboards Need Fn for Page Down?

On the external multimedia keyboards covered in Dell’s support note, Page Down is always primary, and so are Page Up, Home, and End. A plain press pages down on those boards. You do not copy the laptop’s Fn + PgDn habit over to that external Page Down key.

How Do You Jump to the End of a Document?

Press Ctrl + End to move the cursor to the end of the document, and Ctrl + Home to move it to the beginning. That jump is the whole document, not one screen. Fn + PgDn remains the one-page move, and F12 is End only while the multimedia default is active, which is a shorter move than Ctrl + End in a long file.

Does Every Dell Laptop Use the Same Page-Down Combo?

No. The Inspiron 15 3535 manual specifies Fn + PgDn, while other Dell models print page up and page down on the arrow keys or give them keys of their own. Open the keyboard chapter for your exact model before you reuse this combo. Business Latitudes kept separate Page Up and Page Down keys for years, and thinner boards are where the Fn legend shows up instead.

Page down on this Inspiron is Fn held with PgDn, and the multimedia default only decides what a bare F key does. F11 and F12 cover Home and End while that default is on. Leave them there, and use the Fn combo when the next screen is the thing you actually wanted.