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New iMac Bluetooth mouse not connecting

I’ve had my system for three months now and my iMac Bluetooth mouse is not connecting. I have charged it two different methods for 24 hours. My iMac says there isn’t a wireless mouse connected.

I have looked up ways to get to my system to ‘check things’ but nothing works. I’ve tried to reboot, can’t, so I’ve just turned off the power button several times. I do not have a usb mouse to try.

Short of throwing the hole thing at the wall, any suggestions for me?

Thanks.

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 23, 2019 8:03 AM

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9 replies

Oct 23, 2019 4:01 PM in response to Apple1234Apple1234

Sorry to hear about your loss. Dealing with a computer issue is probably the last thing you want to be doing. Since this is a relatively new iMac I suggest calling Apple directly so you can chat with a support person who has probably dealt with this type of issue more times than any of us on this discussion board.


Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support


Before you call them there are a couple items to try. Make sure that after powering on the iMac you are clicking on the mouse to wake it up. Try a minimum or two or more clicks.


Turn the mouse over and you'll see a small ~1/4 inch hole with a clear lens in it just to the left of the power switch. Make sure there aren't any fibers, pieces of dust, or a trapped piece of hair on or near the lens or it could prevent the mouse cursor from moving. It's likely not the issue, but it is easy to check just in case. In my case I once had a piece of hair on the lens which prevented the mouse cursor from moving side to side. Removing the tiny hair resolved the issue immediately. If you are able to locate your old mouse or borrow one from a friend that will quickly determine whether the problem is the result of a mouse issue or an issue with the iMac.


Try resetting the NVRAM which is a small amount of non-volatile memory that stores some variables. Resetting the NVRAM has been known to resolve issues and is easily done by powering on the iMac and then pressing these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R for ~20 seconds. More info can be found in this Apple article:


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063


Good luck, and please let us know if you need additional assistance, and especially when you get your iMac back up and running.

Oct 23, 2019 9:27 AM in response to Apple1234Apple1234

Definitely follow the steps in the article that den.thed suggested.


You mentioned that you charged the mouse two different ways. Did either of those two ways involve connecting the mouse to one of the USB ports on the back of your iMac? If not, turn the mouse on and connect it to the back of the iMac using the USB to Lightning cable. Not only does this charge the mouse, but it will also pair and connect it automatically if for some reason the pairing/connection was disabled.


With the mouse connected to your iMac turn the mouse power switch off. Does a dialog pop up telling you the mouse is off? If it does then this indicates that the mouse is powering on/off properly and the iMac sees it. Leave the mouse powered on and disconnect the Lightning cable to and check whether the mouse begins working properly.


Are you using an Apple Wireless keyboard? Is it working properly? If the keyboard is connected to your iMac using a USB-Lightning cable then try disconnecting the cable to verify that it will also work wirelessly. If it stops working then that is an indication you might be having problems with Bluetooth in your iMac rather than a problem with your mouse. The article den.thed has a table showing the various Bluetooth icons you might encounter. What does your Bluetooth icon look like? It may provide clues about the issue you're trying to resolve.

Oct 23, 2019 3:00 PM in response to ProbsRus

Thank you for the tips. I turn my mouse off and it tells me mouse off. My keyboard says connected.

I don’t know what my Bluetooth icon looks like because I can’t get past the log in screen. The mouse arrow is in the top left corner. The right corner shows my WiFi is connected.

I cannot get the curser to move to click to log in. Trying to get to anything just isn’t possible.

The bottom of the screen has three icons that I can’t get to either... sleep, restart, shut down.

I will now look at what the other person suggested.

Oct 23, 2019 3:12 PM in response to den.thed

We recently moved. I have a USB mouse somewhere but it isn’t unpacked. My iMac was old and we couldn’t update anymore. My husband became ill and bought me a new system so he could get it set up for me before he passed away. I have used it for six weeks with no problem until yesterday. I wish he were here to help me figure it out. Sigh-


So my system sees my mouse. When plugged in and I turn it off, it says mouse off. When I unplug my keyboard it says connected. My problem is I am at the log in screen and the curser won’t move to allow me to click to type my password. I can’t get any keys to function to get me to the control panel.

My curser is in the left corner. My WiFi symbol and time are in the right corner. At the bottom are three icons, sleep, restart, and shut down. I can’t get to those. As I have stated, all I can do is turn it off with the power button.

Short of packing it up and driving an hour to an Apple store, what else can I try?

thank you for your help.

Oct 23, 2019 3:31 PM in response to Apple1234Apple1234

Click on the Apple Support article in blue lettering that I posted above and see if anything in the first section helps you get your keyboard and mouse working.


If not, then you actually may want to dig out your USB mouse or buy an inexpensive USB Logitech keyboard and mouse combo from your local Best Buy, Staples, Target or Walmart, etc. see > https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/desktop-mk120


Which is a whole lot easier, than packing up the iMac and driving to the Apple Store.

Oct 24, 2019 8:00 AM in response to ProbsRus

Update... I called Apple support. Reagan was very kind and helpful. Not only did I need to turn off the computer, I needed to unplug it and wait 30 seconds. Then everything restarted. The computer ran a test to find my mouse, and it did! All is well with my new iMac now.

Thank you all for you gracious help and time taken to offer it to me.

New iMac Bluetooth mouse not connecting

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