My MacBook Pro only recognizes a external mouse as a keyboard

People are saying it's a bad mouse, return it and get another one from a reputable company. But so far it looks like 68 people are having this problem including me - and I'm using a SteelSeries Rival 3 wireless. Yes, it has a dongle and is a wireless mouse. Why should that confound a Macbook? And SteelSeries is supposed to be fully compatible with Mac's, I purposely bought this brand because of that. They claim to be a leading brand in the competitive gaming industry (for whatever that's worth), but the Macbook still thinks the stupid thing is a keyboard. I've gotten it to work alongside my keyboard by the way (System Settings>Privacy & Security>Input Montoring). You just allow input monitoring from the SteelSeries software on the keyboard. Weird right? BECAUSE IT'S A MOUSE. But you have to allow SteelSeries to access keyboard privacy in this way to get the mouse to work correctly.

The reason why I'm ticked off though is because I can't remap the mouse buttons to keyboard buttons. Like I can't make "mouse button 4" be any key on the keyboard. I want mouse buttons 4 & 5 to be modifier keys (like Shift, Command, Option or Control). In this way I can map three times as many buttons in games like WoW to keys close to my left hand. So I've got a spell in WoW mapped to 1. Another spell mapped to "Shift-1". Another spell mapped to "Command-1". But I've got small hands and a half-working brain, so I don't want to actually press Shift-1.. that's awkward as **** for me. I want to press mouse button 4 and 1. I used to be able to do that easily on my Windows computer back in the day - you just remap the mouse buttons to modifier keys. And it's not that the SteelSeries software doesn't have the option on the Mac to do that - it does. I actually remap the keys in the software - but it doesn't register.

And I'm pretty **** sure it's because my Macbook thinks my mouse (which comes from a supposed very reputable company) is a keyboard. Why do I care so much about this.

Sounds like a perfect candidate for a return. Mice shouldn't look like a keyboard to a Mac.

smbernard07 wrote:

People are saying it's a bad mouse, return it and get another one from a reputable company. But so far it looks like 68 people are having this problem including me

No, it means that 68 (69 as of this writing) people have clicked the "Me too" button. That could mean that this tiny number of people out of all the people using wireless mice or having this problem. Or, it could mean that some people are clicking that button as if it were a "Like" button.

Regardless, the fact that it is such a small number and there are such a large number of brands of mice out there makes it far more likely to be a mouse issue than a Mac issue. However, if you think it's a problem with your Mac, you should contact Apple and arrange for diagnostics.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Which MacBook Pro do you have? What type of ports? Are you using this mouse with an adapter? If so, that could be causing issues. But, My previous advice stands. By a mouse from a reputable dealer, preferably one that says it's Mac-compatible. That shouldn't matter but..... It appears that the Belkin mouse is less than half the cost of this one.

Is the user absolutely certain the Keyboard Setup was launched

Depending on if this computer is Apple Silicon

If Not, disregard the following and sorry about that

Refer to Link Below from Apple on this very topic

If your Mac asks you to allow an accessory to connect - Apple Support

Excerpt from link above

When you use a new or unknown USB accessory, Thunderbolt accessory, or SD card with your Mac laptop with Apple silicon and macOS Ventura or later,

macOS, from Apple, is designed around and built upon the premise that Apple Mice / Apple Keyboards / Trackpads are used in conjunction with macOS

macOS can and does accommodate simple mice with a two button functions.

It also does work well if the mouse may even have a Roller Wheel

I know because I keep a cheap McAlly mouse and USB-A keyboard as a backup, incase.

It is when the User introduces a Specialized Mice and Keyboards ( USB or Bluetooth variety ) that disappoints arise

All too often there will be some Third Party Software that is needed to expand the functionality of this Mouse or Keyboard

That is when the wheels come off.

The exceptions with Third Party Accessory maybe be it will work or should work

Sadly, this is not alway what happens.

Just to add, Amazon also sells a Logitech USB mouse for under $10. I have it and the Belkin mouse. Both are fine and neither looks like a keyboard to a Mac. 😎

Without knowing more about the mouse, it's going to be very hard to troubleshoot remotely. The fact that it has a cable may or may not mean it's wireless. Depending on how it's configured, the cable could be a charming cable. Perhaps provide the Amazon link?

Also, if it was extremely cheap, it may not really be worth any extensive effort to figure it out. It may just be junk. I would suggest buying something from a reputable manufacturer such as Belkin. A quick search indicates that Amazon is selling Belkin mice for less than $10 USD.

I am having the same problem but with a Vson presentation remote. It worked before with the Macbook Air that I am using now, along with various other computers over the past few years. All of a sudden, the Keyboard Setup Assistant populates everytime I plug in the wireless dongle, at the same time disabling my Macbook built in keyboard. I have to unplug the dongle to resume functionality of my keyboard. This same thing occurs on my wife's Macbook as well. I just wanted to check on here to see if there was an easy fix before I venture out and purchase a new product. Thanks

I mean you're right.. it's not a TON of people. But a like button? The button literally says "me too". As in "I'm having this issue too". I doubt people are getting confused over that. If anything there's likely more people having the issue than 69. I doubt most people interact with articles; they just read them.

But that's neither here nor there. Here's some new info - I just went and bought a Logitech G502 Hero. $50 gaming mouse. Wired. Made sure to stick with the known brand and a wired mouse to play it safe. When I plug it in, the exact same thing happens - the Mac thinks it's a keyboard. After you "allow the accessory" the mouse technically works and functions from a hardware perspective - but the keyboard setup assistant pops up and says "Your Logitech device cannot be identified and will not be usable until it's identified." Exact same thing as the SteelSeries wireless mouse with a dongle.

You may think, well if the mouse is working what's the problem? The problem is that when you download the associated software (SteelSeries GG for the first mouse and now Logitech G Hub for this new mouse) - the software doesn't recognize the mouse. I finally got the SteelSeries software to recognize the mouse but when I tried remapping the buttons on the mouse to buttons on the keyboard - it didn't register. The software doesn't recognize the keyboard properly.

NOW, with the Logitech software, I can't even get the software to see that the mouse is active. The G502 Hero is showing up on the software but it's grayed out and says it's inactive. When I troubleshooted this the answer was that you just need to turn the mouse on. But it's a wired freaking mouse. There's no on or off button. I'm literally using the mouse itself to navigate the software, but the software thinks the mouse is off.

I can't necessarily blame this particular issue on the fact that the Mac thinks the mouse is a keyboard. It could be something else. But I've had this issues over the years gaming on MacBooks, it's always been the same. It's either the MacBook sucks at recognizing and logically syncing with external devices - or the companies that make the external devices suck at making their products fully compatible with Macs. I tend to think it's the former, but it's probably a little of both.

No idea what to do at this point other than buy a PC. But that ain't happening anytime soon.

Anyway, thanks for the response. I may do that - contact Apple. We'll see.

smbernard07 wrote:

I mean you're right.. it's not a TON of people. But a like button? The button literally says "me too". As in "I'm having this issue too". I doubt people are getting confused over that. If anything there's likely more people having the issue than 69. I doubt most people interact with articles; they just read them.

Go through some threads and see what people have voted for as "helpful." You'll see lots of threads in which the "Best Reply" is some variation on "Me too" and not at all helpful. Then consider again about whether or not people might be using it as some variation of a "Like" button.

Anyway, thanks for the response. I may do that - contact Apple. We'll see.

If it's happening with two different brands of mice, yes, you may have some sort of hardware or software problem. Problems happen. You have a comparatively rare one that is going to take quite a bit of troubleshooting to figure out.

If it were me, I'd just buy an Apple Mouse. It can't be that much more expensive than the cost of multiple third-party mice and your time. But, that's just me.

It would be helpful if you gave some additional details. What is the brand of the mouse, for example?

Also a trustworthy brand.