Technology How to Reset an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad Troubleshooting Pairing and Other Common ProblemsIf you are having problems with getting an Apple Wireless Bluetooth keyboard, mouse or trackpad from connecting to your Mac i.Mac, Macbook or Mac Pro, you can try this trick.Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard Black Usb Stick' title='Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard Black Usb Stick' />The following mentions the keyboard, but it should work for other wireless devices that have a onoff switch of the contact type i.If your keyboard is not responding to alpha numeric keys letters and numbers, and the arrow keys cause the on screen cursor to move, then you have inadvertently enabled the Mouse Keys Accessibility feature.Follow the instructions here to disable Mouse Keys.If your keyboardmouse will not connect via Bluetooth, or appears completely unresponsive, then the following instructions may help you resolve the issue.NB This trick works especially on the original Bluetooth Wireless keyboards, mice and trackpads.New keyboards and trackpads were released in late 2.This may not work for those devices.Please let me know if it does so I can update this.Switch off the keyboard by holding down the power button for at least 3 seconds.Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.Click on Set Up Bluetooth Device or Open Bluetooth PreferencesTurn on the keyboard by holding down the power button, BUT DO NOT LET GO OF THE POWER BUTTON.Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard Black Usb Stick' title='Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard Black Usb Stick' /> USBclarifyFull.MD5. f and usb. ids included inline just.FILEDEVICEKEYBOARD 0000000c constant.Microsoft device interface.Problems pairing your Apple Wireless a Bluetooth Keyboard Here is the one trick that few people know that sorts it out and gets you working again in seconds.It must be kept held down through the entire process.The Setup Assistant will find the keyboard, so click the name of the keyboard, and then click on Continue.Bears, theyre just like us.And Im not referring to a subset of hairy humans, but to some furry critters in Wisconsin whose diets contain a staggering amount of.Make sure you are still holding the power button down.You will be prompted for the Pairing Code.You can now release the power button, type the pairing code on the keyboard and then press return.There will be a slight delay whilst the pairing completes a few secondsThe keyboard will now be Paired.So just to clarify, the trick is to continually HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON.What if this doesnt work for you Is this the problem you are searching for As stated above, this is for when you have problems pairing, specifically with a Mac.I dont have other non Apple devices I want to pair my keyboard with, so have no idea if the steps outlined above will help you if you are on Windows, Android, Linux or anything else.There are some generic tips that might point you in the right direction.I dont wish to point out the obvious, but sometimes in frustration these things can be overlooked.Are you working with a fresh set of non rechargeable batteries Apples keyboards are known not to work well with rechargeable batteries as the voltage they supply is too irregular.Battery life on alkalines is in the order of 6 months plus, so there really isnt any reason to use rechargeables.Any battery that is providing low voltage or irregular current will result in all sorts of weird behaviour.Dont assume that batteries fresh out the packet are good, try another to be sure.Have you unpaired the keyboard with any previously paired Mac, i.Phone or i. Pad Apple specifically state this in their instructions, and pairing and connection behaviour is undefined if there is a previously paired machine within communication range up to 1.If you no longer have the machine, or it is well out of range, you may be able to skip this step, but if you can, remove the pairing from the old machine.On the old machine, just go to System Preferences Bluetooth and highlight the keyboard you want to pair elsewhere, and click the at the bottom of the list to remove the pairing.Unfortunately you do need to identify any other paired machines, as you cant tell the keyboard to forget the pairing that is stored on the old machine.This can be big issue in large offices perhaps IT took your old machine away, gave you a new one, and then reissued your old machine to someone else, perhaps even on an adjacent floor.If they forget to remove the Bluetooth pairings, this can create all sorts of strife, and of course your co workers may not be happy for you to go digging around in their machines changing settings they dont understand.Is there any other device causing interferenceBluetooth keyboards use the same 2.Wifi and Cordless telephones, not to mention that you may have numerous other Bluetooth devices within the vicinity, paired with the target machine or with others nearby.Bluetooth is a great technology, but it cant work miracles when there is a lot of electronic noise nearby.If you cant eliminate interference, you may have to go back to a corded keyboard.Are you getting incorrect characters, symbols or non functional keys when using the keyboardLets face it, tech breaks.Even tech by reputable companies like Apple.The only way to check is to unpair the keyboard with your machine, pair it with another, test, and if it works, unpair and pair again.Something of a pain in practice.Also, there are multiple places on OS X where keyboard behaviour can be modified, i.Mac. You need to check System Preferences Keyboard Input Sources are correct for your locale.Check System Preferences Keyboard Keyboard Shortcuts dont have incorrect behaviours defined.Individual applications can also modify behaviour, so if youve recently installed new software, check there.Also, check System Preferences Language Text Text to see if there are any substitutions that could be causing problems.Use the Restore Defaults button where provided to be sure, although bear in mind any legitimate customisations youve already made may be lost.Can you even reset an Apple keyboard There is actually no evidence that the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard even supports a reset function.Apple state in their troubleshooting documents that you reset the keyboard by turning it off, then on again.Does that fix the problem outlined above nope but the steps above do. Aol Money Stock Quote here. Go figure. As far as Bluetooth technology is concerned, there is no requirement for the device, such as a keyboard, to have any settings that might need resetting.The device can essentially be dumb.When you make a pairing between a device and its host computer, it is the host the remembers the pairing by noting the hardware identifier supplied by the device during the pairing process.Just because during pairing on an Apple keyboard you type a pairing code onto the keyboard doesnt mean the keyboard remembers that it only needs to pass it to the host during the pairing to confirm that you have the correct physical keyboard, in case there are others nearby also in pairing mode.Whilst this article is titled how to reset Im not intending to confirm that there is some hidden reset function that Apple forgot to mention.I only use the reset word in the title because that is the common term used by people when they want to make something work when all else appears to fail.I spent a fair amount of time trying to resolve this problem for myself, digging through plenty of irrelevant articles before I found what I was looking for.None of them suggested that there was an official, documented or even undocumented way of doing a reset on an Apple keyboard.Now it is apparent that the trick outlined above does seem to do something that just and offon doesnt do.That doesnt mean the Apple keyboard remembers something.There may be some state that is preserved that merely means it doesnt pair to a new device reliably, but its not clear what it is.If you dont consider that a reset, then fine, but for all intents and purposes, it is.Resetting the OS X Bluetooth Device List and the Bluetooth Controller.This is a bit of a last resort, and will affect other Bluetooth connected devices, including your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, which may have been working fine.Depending on if your keyboard or mouse is currently not working, you will need to use a USB wired keyboard or alternate Bluetooth keyboardmouse to perform these steps, so borrow one from a friend if necessary.If you follow these instructions, after rebooting you will be asked to setup the Bluetooth keyboard andor mouse as if you were starting up a new Mac.NB This will remove all existing pairing information for Bluetooth devices, so each will need to be reconnected.You need to have the Bluetooth icon showing in the menu bar.If it is not there, open System Preferences Bluetooth and enable the option Show Bluetooth in Menu Bar.Hold down the Shift and Option keys Alt on some keyboards and at the same time click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
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