Keyboard not working on MacBook Air (M2) 2022

Keyboard_M2_macbook wrote:

my keyboard stopped working after 5 days ? its not working at all, JKLNMOP are not responsive and i freak out ?! what to do ??

If it happens to actually be 789uiojkl not working, see

Fix for 789uiojkl keys or numeric keypad … - Apple Community

Analiz23 wrote:

the spacebar stoped working and the tab Key also stoped working, and other keys,

There is a setting which can cause this, so double check that you have Full Keyboard Access in your Accessibility Settings turned OFF.

When Keys Don't Behave Correctly - Apple Community

I thought my keyboard is not functioning but I followed the instruction and now it's working fine :) I realized I accidentally change the settings earlier ! great help!

I haven't had a problem at all since then however I think mine got jammed because of The Voice over program... so honestly I think it would be great that I can dictate what I'm saying but I'm not going through that again ... I've always text all the time on my Android so I agree $1,000 Plus should not have any hiccups and if it does put it in simple no two weeks it should be come in we want you to spend $1,000 here when it's time to upgrade I'm going to remember the little glitches and the two week cut off.

So, just brought home a brand new M2Max. Worked fine, let me set it up. Then suddenly lost a bunch of keys, not all. The reboot did not help, but the keys DID work in the password field that shows up after reboot. Then after it loads the same keys stop working. I wanted to post here as I did not get to customize the settings, the voice over was not enabled, not by me. The only thing I did do was install Chrome, Rosetta and then WhatsApp. I am restoring it and reinstalling the macOS Ventura. For the amount of money this costs this is really, really poor @Apple, need to get this fixed!

Apple is big and affects many economies in the world. I agree this is unacceptable but we must band together as a group. I am traveling outside the US which caused me to rely on my Android phone for access to many accounts I figured out a way around the keyboard dysfunction temporarily. By creating another account. But this crippled me for days and had a high cost. Posting here is not enough. So check other forums like Reddit (not my favorite) to announce the issue and keep posting in the other visible spaces. You might as well if you can't get much work done!

Update. The issue was resolved.

Ventura 13.2.1

I narrowed it down. I connected a BT keyboard. When it connected Mac asked to set it up by identifying the keys to the right and left of the Shift keys. Right after the Mac keyboard keys, some of them, stopped working. My Mac has multilingual keyboard. This is the keyboard actually has two languages on it from the factory. The second language was pre-installed at the factory. The solution was to switch from English to the other language and back in Settings. This restored the Mac keyboard functionality. Hope this helps some one in the same predicament. @Apple this is a bug!

I have the same issue with macbook air m2 ( keyboard and trackpad) after 2 weeks off using and the device in Apple maintains from 50 days!!! , I asked replacement they disagree i asked also to refund because it's 50 days in maintenance till now !!, and I already bought a new device because I can't wait all this time and they disagree also !!

It's the first time I use apple products and the really disappointed me.

Today is Feb. 23, 2023 for reference. I also think the Voice Control is the issue. I had my new Macbook Air M2 delivered 3 days ago. I did not do a transfer of data from my 2015 MA because it was too cluttered. I wanted it to start clean. I only installed Chrome on my M2 as far as Apps & used it to look up Google's voice search & how to add it to my search bar. But it took me down another rabbit hole which led me to Apple's "Voice Control". I have tennis elbow so I thought it would be very cool & useful. I went in to the Accessibility settings & turned it on. The little command window popped up & it said "sleep". I spoke sleep & it did nothing. I repeated a few times & it changed to "wake up". I repeatedly said wake up & nothing happened. I went in to the settings to turn on the "play a tone when command recognized" or something like that. Nothing was being recognized or responding so I went back in to the settings & turned the Voice Control off as well as the play a tone setting. After this, the right side of my keyboard stopped responding. Really it was about 6 or 7 alphabet keys. WHAT?? Also, when I tried random computer commands, it was still playing the Voice Control "command recognized" sound? So it somehow is still activated partially even though I turned it all off completely. I tried Apple's 3 recommendations to no avail. Now what?? Rebooting didn't do a thing either but I could log in & all keys worked from the login screen. Not with the fingerprint, but with my password using the keyboard. Then, the SAME issue once logged in. Ok so hard reboot right? EVERY HARD RESET REQUIRES A PASSWORD that if you can't type, you can't do it. I scoured the internet on my old 2015 MA & found a way to put a virtual keyboard on my M2 screen. Go to System Settings, Choose Keyboard, Input Sources, Select Show Input menu in the menu toolbar, Click the Input menu bar Icon and choose Show Keyboard Viewer. Now you have a functioning keyboard on your screen. Praise the lawd! Go to General in Settings & try to update your software & ONLY use the virtual keyboard to input anything. Mine updated to the current 13.2.1, but with the same keyboard issue (Apple may resolve this between now & when you read this), so I decided to hard reset (in General Settings). If you are doing this DO NOT use your regular keyboard for anything, including enter, & also watch for the hard shift sign when you input. If it's showing up even though you didn't press it, you can turn it off with the regular shift key. Now you can enter your PW & get back to a factory reset. My first attempt failed (error said failed but try again later after about 2 minutes of resetting). Don't know why but I think it takes time for your WIFI to establish a new connection & maybe I didn't wait long enough? I tried again using the same method & it worked as you can see because I am typing this to help others. You also need to use your ORIGINAL PW if you had change it to a new one on set up. So no matter what, if your keyboard is partially not responding & you need to input your PW (assuming you can get past the login screen), you have this option. If nothing on your keyboard is working, I don't think you can even get to Settings except maybe with an external keyboard. Also, STAY AWAY from Voice Control for now. This Apple purchase is THE MOST upsetting & disappointing I have ever experienced in 20 years & seeing how Apple is responding so poorly to this issue is equally as disgusting. NO ONE should be required to have Apple Care when Apple releases Software that tanks their laptop. NO ONE. EVER. On top of that, their "geniuses" apparently aren't even smart enough to guide people to a resolution like I just described above. I hope that this helps a LOT of people & also that I am not in store for a bunch of heartbreak with my brand new purchase :(((((( Hey Apple, ARE YOU LISTENING?????? DO BETTER!!!

Today is Feb. 23, 2023 for reference. I think the Voice Control is the issue. I had my new Macbook Air M2 delivered 3 days ago. I did not do a transfer of data from my 2015 MA because it was too cluttered. I wanted a clean start. I only installed Google Chrome on my M2 as far as Apps & used it to look up Google's voice search & how to add it to my search bar. It took me down a rabbit hole which led me to Apple's "Voice Control". I have tennis elbow so I thought it would be very cool & useful. I went in to the Accessibility settings & turned it on. The little command window popped up & it said "sleep". I spoke sleep & it did nothing. I repeated a few times & it changed to "wake up". I repeatedly said wake up & nothing happened. I went in to the settings to turn on the "play a tone when command recognized" or something like that. Nothing was being recognized or responding so I went back in to the settings & turned the Voice Control off as well as the play a tone setting. After this, the right side of my keyboard stopped responding. It was about 6 or 7 alphabet keys. WHAT?? Also, when I tried random unassociated computer commands, it was sounding the Voice Control "command recognized" sound? So it seems it's still activated partially, even though I turned it all off completely, which is perhaps affecting the keyboard. I tried Apple's 3 recommendations to no avail. Now what?? Rebooting didn't do a thing either but somehow I could log in & all keys worked from the login screen. Not with my set up fingerprint (no option), but with my password using the keyboard. Then, the SAME issue once logged in. Ok so hard reboot right? EVERY HARD RESET REQUIRES A PASSWORD but if you can't type, you can't do it. I scoured the internet on my old 2015 MA & found a way to put a virtual keyboard on my M2 screen. Go to System Settings, Choose Keyboard, Input Sources, Select Show Input menu in the menu toolbar, Click the Input menu bar Icon and choose Show Keyboard Viewer. Now you have a functioning keyboard on your screen. Go to General in Settings & try to update your software & ONLY use the virtual keyboard to input anything. Mine updated to the current 13.2.1, but with the same keyboard issue, so I decided to hard reset (in General Settings). If you are doing this DO NOT use your regular keyboard for anything, including enter, & also watch for the hard shift sign when you input. If it's showing up even though you didn't press it, you can turn it off with the regular shift key. Now you can enter your PW & get back to a factory reset. My first attempt failed & the error said failed but try again later? I tried again & it went through setup options but gave me a WIFI error after entering WIFI password. Tried again & it was successful. Don't know why but I think it takes time for your WIFI to establish a new connection. You also need to use your ORIGINAL PW if you had changed it to a new one on set up. So no matter what, if your keyboard is partially not responding & you need to input your PW (assuming you can get past the login screen), you have this option. If nothing on your keyboard is working, I don't think you can even get to Settings except maybe with an external keyboard. Also, STAY AWAY from Voice Control for now. This Apple purchase is THE MOST upsetting & disappointing I have ever experienced in 20 years & seeing how Apple is responding so poorly to this issue is equally as disgusting. NO ONE should be required to have Apple Care or charged $$$ when Apple releases Software that tanks their laptop. NO ONE. EVER. On top of that, their "geniuses" apparently aren't even smart enough to guide people to a resolution like I just described above. People are reporting that Apple has NO IDEA & have never heard of the problem. That's infuriating because Apple HAS read the complaints, responded with nonsense fixes, & IS AWARE. I hope that this helps a LOT of people & also that I am not in store for a bunch of heartbreak with my brand new purchase :(((((( Hey Apple, ARE YOU LISTENING?????? DO BETTER!!! This thing is going back if you don't get it together & you'll be facing a class action if you ignore this very prevalent and documented issue. ~~signed, heartbroken Apple loyal & fanatic customer & stock owner since the 90's.

unfortunately I too. I have been using another keyboard to use my computer. I wish I knew how to disable the keyboard so it won't type keys for me. this is frustrating and they will not help me. is it true the whole computer needs to be replaced after paying a price as such? I thought they fixed those issues, but I guess not. I guess I came across a rotten Apple.

What now? My M2 is only 4 months old what the heck is going on here Apple?

I look back at the issue I had and the solution, or rather a bandaid fix. It was the language issue. Switching from English and back to English fixed it for me. What if you try to set yr MB to another language, the one you know!, and then back to English?…just pulling at straws here. If the language is somehow the underlying cause of the keyboard failure here, switching the language back and forth just might do it…?🫣🥴

I reached out to Apple support a few times with my phone and then the new Mac. I can say from my side that I am happy at least they are there and human. Some times they helped, others they did not. One thing is for sure that they are not the know it all Apple inside and out tech gurus kind of group. Their go to with my MB issue was to take it back.

New M2 MacBook Air. My keyboard worked fine initially then I transferred all the data from my old M1 MacBook Air with the migration assistant after which keys on the right side stopped working when I was logged into the computer. If I logged out those keys would work on the password screen before logging in. I had to activate on screen keyboard functionality in accessibility settings to allow me to wipe all my data and settings from the computer. Once I did that and restarted the computer the keyboard works fine. Never had issues with new Apple products or even old ones until now. OS on new iPhone 13 is also a bit buggy. They're trying to maintain their prices and margins in the setting of high inflation and quality is suffering. Unfortunately there is no better option upmarket from Apple.

That also happened to me. I took it to Apple and I was told that it was a malfunction and that I could either return it and purchase a new one or they could send it out to be fixed but I would have to leave it and it would be mailed back to me. Mine was about a month old. It was covered so I didn’t pay for the repair. It works great now. They replaced the key board. They need to let people know that this could happen as it is definitely a defect with the computer. Hope this helps.

When mine stopped working I went through the steps listed in this thread, then called Apple support. I explained the situation. She asked what brand of keyboard I was using. I explained that I am talking about the keyboard that is part of my laptop; it is not an external keyboard. "I see. Thank you. Could you tell me how old is the keyboard?"

I explained that it is the same age as the laptop because it is part of the laptop. It is not an external keyboard. "Yes, I see. Thank you very much. If you can, I would like you to unplug the keyboard, and then plug it back in."

Super helpful, Apple.