How to Reset an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad (Troubleshooting Pairing and Other Common Problems)

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890 thoughts on “How to Reset an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad (Troubleshooting Pairing and Other Common Problems)

  1. Apple should implement a soft keyboard option at the password login screen so you could use the mouse to click out your password! I have been locked out of my mac mini as the Apple bluetooth keyboard and trackpad are ignored now because I was playing with new bluetooth devices in the same room. I bought a new Digitech AA2104 bluetooth transmitter/receiver to get audio out from the television audio out to my new bluetooth headset and that worked fine. Problem is it seems to have hijacked my apple bluetooth peripherals’ pairings and without getting past the login, I cannot cleanup my bluetooth pairings! A wired USB mouse was easy to find and the Mac Mini responds to that but a wired apple keyboard is harder to get my hands on. I had a still shrink wrapped extra apple bluetooth keyboard but that has not helped even though the neon indicated pairing attempts… any ideas?

  2. I have read your bog but it does not seem to be the solution for me.. I have the new wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries. Only slider switch for on/off. Just a few keys on right side of keyboard do not work. Tried everything. Next thing is just to return to factory setting and start over again. My 5th day with problem.

    Any last min suggestions

  3. OMG, I was ready to buy a new keyboard and luckily I ran across this article. Turns out my keyboard was paired with another nearby device, hence wouldn’t connect with my Mac. Thanks for the article!

  4. I FINALLY figured out what was wrong with my Apple A1255 keyboard that I have used with my Mac Mini for years. Yesterday, it just stopped working. I couldn’t get it to pair with the Mini or any other device, including an iPad Mini and my son’s Mac Mini (although there was one device I ignored in this process, which turned out to be the problem). I reset, restarted, deleted, and was ready to order a new keyboard and right before giving up, I saw in the comments above to make sure the keyboard wasn’t paired with any other device. Finally had a lightbulb moment and checked the dinosaur iPad sitting on the counter and sure enough the keyboard had connected to that! Now everything is back to normal! Be sure to check all devices for this, especially if the light on the keyboard won’t blink when you’re trying to pair it!

  5. I have tried dozens of ideas over a few years to make this stupid, overpriced thing work again. I have not been able to even get it to TURN ON before. Now I am able to use it again.

    Thank you.

  6. Thank you so much for this helpful hint. It worked perfectly when I held down the power button throughout the procedure!

  7. None of these solutions worked for me (no devices were showing up in the bluetooth preferences pane) until I turned off WiFi! Then everything worked as expected.

  8. I’ve tried everything! I have a new wiped clean computer ready to be registered iMac wireless keyboard, put new batteries in mouse and can’t even get past the first step to register by the keyboard won’t work,mono thing, not even numbers, I’ve tried shift option Bluetooth keys and all other combos and nothing. There is no power switch on the keyboard, so not sure what you are talking about. I need help.

  9. Just a tip, you might still run into issue after holding the power button on the keyboard for a few seconds. Even though you get the blinking green light it might still pair with a different device or wahtever.

    To get around that you can literally KEEP holding the power button and then in the Bluetooth menu of your machine pair it, whilst still holding down the power button of the keyboard. This is the only way to prevent it from automatically pairing with devices.

    Hope that helps!

  10. Dave, the Apple bluetooth keyboard started dropping its connected. I removed it. Repaired it. I’ve done this several times. Then the keyboard was “seen” by my laptop, but couldn’t pair. Then I removed it again to repair, and now it cannot even been “seen”. Further, the green light doesn’t blink the way it used to when turned on. Yes, put in fresh batteries. Yes, went through the steps here. Is the keyboard just dead?

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