You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “How to Reset an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad (Troubleshooting Pairing and Other Common Problems)”.
Travelling Through Life
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “How to Reset an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad (Troubleshooting Pairing and Other Common Problems)”.
Legend. Thanks for the help.
Thanks, I was angry but now it works !
Holding down the power key to reconnect the keyboard solved my problem! Thank you so much!
Thanks very much for your tips. Worked first time after a frustrating couple of hours. I think the problem was that I had moved an older machine into the same room and there was a conflict.
Thanks once again
THANK YOU!! Took forever, nothing worked, THIS did it!
This helped me pairing a spare keyboard with my Apple TV, meaning that data entry, therefore use and flexibility, is much improved. Thank you.
I have a WIRED keyboard, (mac mini 10.8.3) with a Bluetooth mouse, which has been working fine for 6 months. All of a sudden the mouse just ‘disappeared’, so I plugged in a wired mouse, went to System Prefs > Mouse>set up Bluetooth mouse, it just aint’ there under available devices. (I put new batteries in the BT mouse)
Any suggestions?
Could just be a failed mouse.
I guess its possible that the Bluetooth controller on the Mac is no longer working. You could try seeing if it can see any other Bluetooth devices (mobile phone perhaps?). It’s also possible a PRAM reset might help, so try that too. Finally, go to System Report and look at the detailed hardware info for the BT device to see if there is any clue there.
THANK YOU! have been trying to pair this stupid keyboard for so long. such a simple solution too.
Seems to work right up till I enter the code. Then there is either no reaction to clicking return or I get the message, “pairing attempt was unsuccessful . Click continue to try again.” Nothing happens when I try again.
When I’ve seen this problem before its either because you still have the old pairing on the Mac, or it might be paired with another device still. Go to Bluetooth preferences on all devices that you may have paired with (or own) and remove any existing pairings, then try again, noting the trick with the power button.
Thank you, thank you! This worked perfectly.
after about 45 minute of trying all other options…I came upon this “trick” and it worked like a charm. Thank you so much for posting!
After trying all kind of stuff, this was the trick.
Thx a lot 😉
Hi Dave,
My problem, I think, is particularly unique, and unfortunately NOT solved by your suggestion. I’m trying to pair my wireless keyboard with a Mac Mini it has successfully connected to in the past.
However, in the past it connected to the Mac through a USB bluetooth extender. I had that setup in my previous home, because the Mac Mini was inside a big steel built-in Home Theater rack that caused the built-in bluetooth to not be able to detect my bluetooth mouse and keyboard reliably, especially not if I wasn’t close to the Mac. With the extender plugged in the back I was able to move the bluetooth signal outside the track and into the room. With that setup I was able to use the keyboard and mouse without any problems from anywhere in the room.
At the time, it was a HUGE PAIN to set that up. Somehow the Mac Mini stores the information for the internal bluetooth in a different location than for the bluetooth extender, and this caused all kinds of weird issues. I had to make sure that the devices were NOT paired with the internal bluetooth before trying to pair it with the external USB extended bluetooth. And what really added to the confusion is that the Apple UI only shows the bluetooth settings for the bluetooth device that is active (internal or external), but does NOT indicate that to the user in any way. Nowhere (if I remember correctly) is there an overview that explicitly indicates: there are two bluetooth devices on this computer, these are the devices paired with those, and this is the one that is currently active! Ultimately through guesswork and informed trial and error we were able to get it to work.
Anyway, now I have moved into a different setup, I no longer need the bluetooth extender. In fact, I lost it in the move. So, now I am stuck in this situation:
What do you think? Does my suspicion of what is going make any sense? Or would it be that my keyboard broke at the exact same time as I moved?
I’m not sure what to do. At this point I have spent so much time trying to get this to work that I think it’s more cost effective for me to just buy a brand new keyboard :-(((
Erik
Erik,
Thanks for the detailed history, really helps!
You could try deleting Bluetooth Preferences. There might be two, one in the main Library folder:
{HD}/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
And one in the user folder:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
Delete them both, the completely shutdown the machine (not just a restart) before booting again. You should then be prompted to start pairing again.
I’d make sure you have a USB keyboard and noise to hand in case you can’t pair the Bluetooth devices – at least you’ll be able to navigate the Mac. Just borrow ones from a friend, and from a PC will be fine.
If that fails, do the same again, but this time, on restart, do a PRAM reset (web search for the specific instructions). Go through the cycle at least twice before releasing the keys to allow the normal boot up.
The Mac probably stores the ID’s at least of the initial keyboard and mouse paired with the system, because that normally happens when you first setup the machine. The PRAM reset should clear that.
Let us know how you get on.
Trouble with key board not responding. First I changed the batteries, then I went to the web and added a small piece of aluminum foil, didn’t change anything. All along I can use the delete function but no keys to type. Found your site, was able to generate a new bluetooth code and resync my blue tooth, at least that was the message I got.
Nothing has changed. I’ve turned the whole computer on and off and really don’t know what else to try. What does it tell you that I can delete from my keyboard but nothing else?
You should verify with another keyboard to see if its a hardware problem with the existing keyboard.
Dave…….your a genius !
Thank You
Thank you for this! It is probably buried somewhere in apple-support-land, but your article was easiest to find with a google search 🙂
Thanks! My keyboard is paired!
Un Freaking Believable!! Not even Apple mentions this in their TROUBLESHOOTING docs.. Totally worked to allow me to pair with my Mac after my keyboard was paired with my apple TV.
Pretty sure what this does is force it back into pairing mode.
Very awesome work man. I can’t believe Apple doesn’t mention this at all. They seriously suck for that.
This works perfectly for me. Thanks a lot to solve my problem!!
One more happy guy. I was at the point of smashing the whole lot into the trash, but this has saved me.