George Krompacky

Q: Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution

I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard and mouse with my MBP. Today when I arrived at work and set up everything, the laptop would not recognize the keyboard. I went through some troubleshooting steps as recommended by Apple, but to no avail. So I figured I would remove the keyboard from my bluetooth devices and go through the setup process again.

Not so good, because I soon realized that the keyboard wouldn't go into discoverable mode. Pressing the power button caused the light to glow for a few seconds--indicating the batteries were still charged--but it wouldn't blink. I tried removing the batteries, inserting new ones, all to no avail. Just kept pressing the button, getting the glow without blinks, and the keyboard wouldn't show up in the bluetooth setup list.

So I guessed that the keyboard still thought it was paired with the computer, even though the computer knew it wasn't. And then I read somewhere that the range for the keyboard was around 30 feet or so. So I walked out of our cubicle area and into a stairwell 50 feet away. Sure enough, after the initial glow, the light blinked! It was discoverable.

I ran back to my desk, hit "continue" in the bluetooth setup panel, and paired the keyboard again.

So, if your keyboard isn't paired with your computer, but still won't go into discoverable mode, maybe this trick will work for you.

MacBook Pro (early 2011); iMac (20-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.7), Wacom Intuos 3 tablet; HP Deskjet 6840; iPhone3GS

Posted on Mar 22, 2011 12:43 PM

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Q: Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution

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  • by meldavery,

    meldavery meldavery Apr 14, 2015 12:56 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 14, 2015 12:56 PM in response to George Krompacky

    I had this same issue. It took several tries of walking out past range, and holding down the power button, but when you start seeing the series of three blinks, you know it's working on connecting! All fixed now, thanks for the help!

  • by Nikette831,

    Nikette831 Nikette831 Jun 1, 2015 2:30 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 1, 2015 2:30 PM in response to George Krompacky

    More than 4 years later, this post helped me... Thank you, George, and all the others who posted their workarounds.  I couldn't get my keyboard light to blink, no matter how far I went, but then tried holding the power button on the keyboard for a few seconds, and then again when trying to pair it, and it finally worked!

     

    I so appreciate this community!  Thank you, all.

  • by bwilsonlrock,

    bwilsonlrock bwilsonlrock Jul 3, 2015 8:44 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 3, 2015 8:44 AM in response to George Krompacky

    I am SO glad I found this post 4 years later.  Same issue for me.  Green light would glow for a few seconds and then turn off.  I kept thinking my batteries must be old.  I changed batteries 3 times and then started looking for solutions online when I came across this.  I went into the garage with the keyboard and pushed the power button.  Green light started glowing so I didn't think it worked.  About 5 seconds later it started blinking and I brought keyboard back near computer to pair. THANK YOU!!  Hopefully this simple fix will help others as well. 

  • by shutyourpiehole was taken,

    shutyourpiehole was taken shutyourpiehole was taken Jul 12, 2015 6:37 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (21 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jul 12, 2015 6:37 PM in response to George Krompacky

    It is July, 2015 and over 4 years later, your advice solved my problem. It's kind of like my grandma's advice helping me out after many years. Thank you George.

  • by George Krompacky,

    George Krompacky George Krompacky Jul 12, 2015 6:45 PM in response to shutyourpiehole was taken
    Level 3 (858 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2015 6:45 PM in response to shutyourpiehole was taken

    Grandma is pleased that her advice has been of use. Please have a cookie before you go.

  • by SKBright,

    SKBright SKBright Jul 26, 2015 6:34 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 26, 2015 6:34 PM in response to George Krompacky

    This is a dictation so some of the words aren't quite right but I've read all of this discussion and then I did this…Is that I had another iPad with the keyboard. To it so I just want over to the iPad shut off the pairing for the keyboard on that iPad and it worked beautifully on my new Apple mac book air just look at your other devices maybe that the problem

  • by kaegon,

    kaegon kaegon Aug 19, 2015 11:56 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 11:56 AM in response to George Krompacky

    THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!

  • by bpka,

    bpka bpka Aug 24, 2015 12:39 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2015 12:39 AM in response to George Krompacky

    The trick may work, I did not try it. But if you want to avoid the walking exercise, just reset your keyboard bluetooth pairing and pair it again with the MacBook by the following way.

    1. Switch off the keyboard by holding down the power button for at least 3 seconds
    2. Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar
    3. Click on “Set Up Bluetooth Device” or “Open Bluetooth Preferences”
    4. Turn on the keyboard by holding down the power button, BUT DO NOT LET GO OF THE POWER BUTTON. It must be kept held down through the entire process.
    5. The Setup Assistant will find the keyboard, so click the name of the keyboard, and then click on “Continue”. Make sure you are still holding the power button down.
    6. 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 seconds)
    7. The keyboard will now be Paired.

    So just to clarify, the trick is to continually HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON.

  • by cositadmin,

    cositadmin cositadmin Sep 10, 2015 10:21 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:21 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Saved my day!!!!  THANK YOU!!!!!!

  • by josephfromoceanside,

    josephfromoceanside josephfromoceanside Nov 30, 2015 11:20 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2015 11:20 AM in response to George Krompacky

    No need to take a walk to complete this procedure. Just make sure all other bluetooth devices are turned off. This walking procedure wasn't working util I realized that my phone was in my pocket with bluetooth on. Once I turned it off, reconnected no problem.

  • by barryfromrigaud,

    barryfromrigaud barryfromrigaud Dec 9, 2015 8:47 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 8:47 PM in response to George Krompacky

    Thanks so much George . I was trying to pair my apple keyboard with my new Chromebit and it was making me crazy , you saved the day .

    Barry (Dinosaur)

  • by bradmarkley,

    bradmarkley bradmarkley Dec 11, 2015 7:07 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 7:07 AM in response to George Krompacky

    I add my thanks to everyone else's. Your situation gave me the hint I needed. In my case, I had my iPad with me, and it had picked up the iPad and paired with it. So, no matter what, couldn't get it to pair with computer. Saw your note, and it got me thinking. Turned off Bluetooth on iPad, and bingo. Thanks again.

  • by bluzdoctor,

    bluzdoctor bluzdoctor Jan 25, 2016 12:01 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 12:01 PM in response to George Krompacky

    I had this trouble. I tried the walking beyond range, which allowed the keyboard to become discoverable (flashing light), but as soon as I came back into range, it stopped. The easiest for me was to do this:

     

    1. Open Bluetooth Preferences (Opening System Preferences or clicking the bluetooth icon top of your screen).
    2. Highlight your keyboard in the list of devices and delete it. (It will ask you if you want to delete. Press delete).
    3. Hold down the power button on the keyboard until the green led flashes continuously. Continue to hold the button down – KEEP THE BUTTON HELD DOWN DURING THE PAIRING PROCESS
    4. In the Bluetooth Preferences window, the keyboard shows up as an unpaired device. AS YOU CONTINUE TO HOLD DOWN THE KEYBOARD POWER BUTTON, type in the pairing code indicated.
    5. After the keyboard shows up under Devices as connected, you can let go the power button.

    Worked for me. Maybe need to do a "clean re-pair" to solve this? (Like rebooting your device when you are having trouble....)

  • by Simon Parker2,

    Simon Parker2 Simon Parker2 Apr 27, 2016 5:46 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 27, 2016 5:46 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Worked for me, I thought my kb had died, then went downstairs and was able to get the led to flash!

     

    Thanks

  • by royleen,

    royleen royleen Jun 8, 2016 2:52 PM in response to Simon Parker2
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPod
    Jun 8, 2016 2:52 PM in response to Simon Parker2

    Just a quick note. I had an old keyboard I wanted to pair with new macbook air. Tried everything above, but no dice. Once, for a few seconds, in another room, I got the green light to pulse. By the time I returned to the room with the macbook it had stopped and would not pair.

     

    Finally, I took both the macbook air AND the keyboard into the other room, shut the doors, and voila! Thanks for your help!

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