Mac mini m1 bluetooth keyboard and mouse at startup

I had this issue too and spent about an hour with Apple tech support and figured out how to fix this problem. The issue is with FileVault. Bottom line is that you need to turn off FileVault, then reboot and your devices will connect on startup. And then when you turn FileVault back on, it will connect on startup as well. That’s what worked for me.

Now the next question is “why”? here is my theory:

I suspect that you connected the 3rd party Bluetooth devices after you turned on FileVault on initial setup. When you turn on FileVault, everything you do after that takes place on the encrypted part of the SSD. That means that the drivers for your device won’t get accessed until AFTER you log in, which is probably why it won’t connect to your 3rd party bluetooth device until after connection. It’s also probably why native Apple bluetooth devices will always connect on startup - because those drivers are stored on the same part of the SSD that houses the MacOS.

When you turn off FileVault, then everything on the SSD drive is accessible prior to login, including the drivers for the 3rd party Bluetooth devices.

I suspect that when you turn FileVault back on again, that 3rd party driver for your devices moves to the unencrypted part of the SSD and is accessible before the login screen and then the Mac can connect to your devices on startup.

That’s my theory anyway.

Hi, same Mac Mini M1 just received and same issue with Logitech K380 Bluetooth keyboard. At startup the Mac Mini doesn't pair with the keyboard (paired prior shutdown or reboot), only solution is to use a wired USB keyboard to login. Really bad. Really disappointing.

I guess, the idea is to force you to buy and use an apple keyboard.

In my case, this is not acceptable since I need one multi-device Bluetooth keyboard on the desk, for mac mini, smart tv and windows laptop.

Any solution?

Oh hi, Mark!

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities! Thanks for posting about the issue you're seeing with your Bluetooth accessories and your new Mac mini. We'd be glad to see how we can help.

You mentioned that your external Apple keyboard and mouse are connecting in some cases when you turn your Mac on after shutting down. Once things are up and running and your Logitech accessories are paired up and working, do you unpair the Apple keyboard and mouse? We just want to make sure that the Mac isn't choosing those by default if they're still paired but not in use. If not, give that a try using the steps in the "Remove a Bluetooth device from your Mac" section of Using a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, or trackpad with your Mac and see if that makes a difference in which devices are or are not recognized.

Let us know what you find out.

Take care.

Great question, Mark.

If your Mac boots up and doesn't detect a keyboard or mouse.trackpad, it'll let you know, so you can power on your Apple accessories and your Mac should search for and be able to pair with them. Or, if you prefer, you can just turn the Mac keyboard and mouse off using their power switches and try testing that way. Give that a try and see if the same results happen with pairing and unpairing.

Be well.

I have the exact same issue with a Matias bluetooth keyboard and a Logitec MX Anywhere 2s.

Have to use the Logitech Unifying Receiver for the mouse and plug in my Apple keyboard after reboot to enter my password and then wait for bluetooth to find the devices before manually starting the Logitech driver.

Hey, so are you saying if you don’t own a Mac mouse and a Mac keyboard, you can not use the computer? I have Both the mx master 3 and the mxkeys and it won’t connect as part of initial set up because no device is found. How do I proceed with that?

I think I may have an idea...

I believe that when FileVault is activated the bluetooth stack (or something needed for connecting generic bluetooth devices) is run on the user level. Therefore, no generic device can be mounted until the user has logged in and provided authentication. Without filevault, the background processes are allowed to start before someone logs in.

If this is the case, it also explains why it takes a while before the bluetooth menu bar item shows up after a restart and login. And why I have to manually start Logitech Options.

I might give it a go to disable FileVault. But it is generally a good idea to have it activated.

My Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse wouldn't pair with my Mac mini M1 until I plugged it into the USBC port for charging. It may have need to be charged - I don't know because the power light was coming on, but when I plugged it in, it paired right up. The Logitech software for that mouse may not be compatible with the M1, that's what I ran into on their support site, but who knows. I'm not installing it just to see if it will work. I like the mouse.

Appreciate the suggestions. I had an old Apple Bluetooth mouse A197 that paired up to the M1 Mini, after initially starting with a wired mouse and keyboard. Unpaired the A197 and now the mouse prefs don' even show a mouse, but the Logitech MX Master 3 mouse still works OK. I think Logitech needs to update their software for M1.

I have the same problem, On boot up the Mac mini M1 (16gb - 2T) it recognises Apple track pad (a bit slow) but won't recognise Satechi bluetooth keyboard until it is connected usb. Phase two testing shows if I connect with the Satechi turned off and apple bluetooth keyboard and trackpad "turned on" (both 8 years old) they connect fairly quickly.

A bit weird I think. Off to Apple to buy a new keyboard I wasn't planning on.

Im also having this problem.

i just updated to big sur 11.2, but when i try to connect my mx master 2s, the status jumped back and forth between connected and not connected. turning off FIleVault doesnt fix this. Can somebody help?

Getting frustrated

Hi All, I have an older MacBook Pro retina 2013 which I use together with my logitech mouse master 3s and keyboard MX keys and I have got the same issue. At each reboot they won't connect so I am forced to open my laptop and type the password using my MacBook Pro own keyboard, which is annoying as I have my macbook pro closed on a stand near the floor to make more space on my desk. I do have Filevault on .. so from my I read on this forum here and elsewhere the only possible solution is turning off FileVault. Not sure at this point if it is Apple or Logitech that should address the issue .. but I would rather prefer not to have to turn filevault off.