My external numpad was working as it should on Catalina but stopped working after I upgraded to Big Sur. The first number pressed will register as "2" and then all keys stop working, backlight also go off so I assume power delivery to the numpad got cut off. Numpad is connected to my MacBook pro via a usb-c hub, tried switching dongles but didn't make a difference.
MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
An update: I have tried another external numeric keypad and it works.
Varmilo keypad: worked on Catalina, doesn't work on Big Sur.
Rottay keypad: works on Big Sur.
Kinesis keypad: sort of works on both Catalina and Big Sur. (I say "sort of" because it has a physical bounciness problem... but it worked equally well/badly on both macOS versions)
I do not know what differences between those keypads might lead to different behavior on Big Sur, but hopefully this information helps others solve the issue.
Hey there r_3,
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having some issues with your external keypad. We're happy to provide some assistance.
Let's follow the steps outlined in this helpful resource under the "Your keyboard has one or more keys that don't respond" section:
If your Apple wireless mouse, keyboard, or trackpad isn't working with your Mac as expected
We hope this helps.
Have a great day!
I have a similar issue with an external USB numeric keypad. My equipment is a MacBook Pro 15-inch 2019, an external USB keyboard, and a separate external USB numeric pad. In Catalina, the keyboard and keypad both worked perfectly, but since upgrading to Big Sur, the keyboard works fine, but the numeric pad behaves exactly as r_3 described: regardless of what key I press, the computer shows a 2, and then no other presses on the numeric pad have any visible effect.
I tried looking at the Keyboard Viewer as described near the bottom of the support article, but the input sources panel and the Keyboard Viewer app both show a keyboard without numeric pad.
To see if any numeric keypad presses showed up in Keyboard Viewer, I detached and reattached the pad, but nothing appears in the Keyboard Viewer app when I press a key on the keypad. (though each time I detach and reattach, the "just one 2" behavior recurs)
I use Karabiner Elements to remap my keyboard, but even if I disable Karabiner, the numeric pad issue persists.
My exact issue is with a Varmillo keypad, I have found nothing online to help resolve the issue.
External numeric keypad not working on Big Sur
