Q: How to UNpair keyboard without original computer

I had the same problem, and after following all the intructions for each post, then only one that worked was walking into my back yard!. After turning on my computer I noticed that the keyboard wasnt working so I tried to unpair it, which it wouldnt do. I'm running windows 8 and it was telling me that it could not unpair the device. I had to go into "Services" by typing "services.msc" in the run window. Then i had to double click on "Bluetooth Support Service" and activate the service. Something must have turned it off. But this was effecting my being able to remove any bluetooth devices. After I had activated the service and unpaired the device it would still not let me reconnect it. I powered down my pc and took the batteries out of the keyboard, replaced them, and then held the power button to force paring mode. Again, this did not work. Even with my PC being powered down it still was effecting my keyboard in some way. So my last resort was walking into my back yard and force pairing again, and this worked. Then i walked back to my PC, powered up, searched for BT devices and it had found it and connect within seconds.

+1 on the backyard trick.  None of the others worked (holding down pwr, cmd+pwr, etc.)

I am willing to bet this process will work for most BT keyboards.

I have struggled with this and found a consistant solution.

1. take keyboard and laptop/desktop to an isolated place where you know there are no bluetooth signals.
2. turn off bluetooth in control panel
3. take off battery cover to keyboard to make sure its off
4. screw battery cover back on (dont turn on keyboard yet!)
5. turn on bluetoothin control panel and then press power on keyboard
6. when you see the green light blinking on the keyboard top right corner click PAIR on the control panel

This works for me every time. Hope it helps others.

solnetweb.com

duplicate entry

c76mb wrote:

 

I had similar problms.  I suspect the keyboard noticed the mac it was previously paired with, so refused to go into pairing mode.  Steps to fix:

 

1. Remove keyboard batteries.

2. Turn off bluetooth on your mac.

3. Replace the batteries and turn on the keyboard.

4. This made the keyboard go into pairing mode.

5. Turn on bluetooth on the mac.

6. Follow your nose.

I didn't have exactly this problem - ie my keyboard was always linked to my imac but one day decided to stop working. I did all the usual stuff and more - including trashing bluetooth plist and resetting SMC - all to no avail. However, this simple little gem worked first time! Thanks c76mb

If you have an aluminum apple wireless keyboard that won't pair (mind didn't all of a sudder after a year when I changed the batteries) read Colin Holgate's reply.  After countless hours of reading posts this was the true fix. 

Seems to be critical that you first turn off set up assistant,then hold in power button until blinking on keyboard and don't let go and finally click bluetooth icon and set up bluetooth device. 

Thanks Colin!

THANK YOU! Problem solved when I found this post.

This procedure works fine if you are logged in and have access to System Preferences.  But if your keyboard is not bluetooth connected when you startup your mac, all you have is the login screen and the only thing that works is the walking into the backyard procedure (getting more than thirty feet away from your computer until the green light starts flashing.

I had similar problems with unpairing the 2009 alum bt keyboard. None of the solutions I saw here worked but this one did:

1. Switch off the keyboard by holding down the power button for at least 3 seconds
2. Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar
3. Click on “Set Up Bluetooth Device”
4. Turn on the keyboard by holding down the power button, BUT DO NOT LET GO OF THE POWER BUTTON. It must be kept held down through the entire process.
5. The Setup Assistant will find the keyboard, so click the name of the keyboard, and then click on “Continue”. Make sure you are still holding the power button down.
6. You will be prompted for the Pairing Code. You can now release the power button, type the pairing code on the keyboard and then press return. There will be a slight delay whilst the pairing completes (a few seconds)
7. The keyboard will now be Paired.

So just to clarify, the trick is to continually HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON.

Good Luck - Urban Cowgill

Hey Lee,

I have an issue where my number keys 1-9 are not working, How to setup a Paaskey to just have "000000" (zeros) in them so that I can pair it with my imac.

Appreciate your help.

The solution that I found comes from:

http://davemeehan.com/technology/how-to-reset-an-apple-wireless-bluetooth-keyboa rd-mouse-or-trackpad

Here my interprestation:

Hold for tree seconds the power button until the mini led turns off

Press and Don't release the power button, the secret was to not let go (Keep pressing until you finish next step)

Do the pairing "Tap Connect". Keep the Keyboard as much as closer to the iPad (or the device your are trying to pair it too)

My problem was that the keyboard was pairing to some other device, rpobably my Apple TV but this worked for me

Thanks Colin. It's really incredible how this simple solution took so many time from me and others. This information should be available in an easier way.

Amazing tip, this worked for me, thanks!!

Hi all,

I have a newer Magic keyboard where I can't remove the batteries, and there is no button to hold down.

Does anyone know how I can do a hard reset with this keyboard?

Cheers

Derek.

My problem is inverse

I have a mac mini and an iMac in the same room, and the iMac keeps connecting to my Mac Mini bluetooth keyboard, despite already being connected to the iMac bluetooth keyboard

When i try to remove the extra keyboard on the iMac, by clicking the 'X' button which appears in Bluetooth settings when i mouse over it, it tries to pair instead of removing it. Right clicking on the keyboard in Bluetooth settings does not offer 'remove' as an option, and only offers to pair it. I cant seem to find a way to get the iMac to forget this keyboard, and clicking the X button does not remove it, rather, begins the connecting process. Every hour or so im typing on my Mac Mini, and all of a sudden i see the iMac typing itself away too. Absolutely incredible that there is no option to completely forget or remove the keyboard from the iMac registry