Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution

I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard and mouse with my MBP. Today when I arrived at work and set up everything, the laptop would not recognize the keyboard. I went through some troubleshooting steps as recommended by Apple, but to no avail. So I figured I would remove the keyboard from my bluetooth devices and go through the setup process again.

Not so good, because I soon realized that the keyboard wouldn't go into discoverable mode. Pressing the power button caused the light to glow for a few seconds--indicating the batteries were still charged--but it wouldn't blink. I tried removing the batteries, inserting new ones, all to no avail. Just kept pressing the button, getting the glow without blinks, and the keyboard wouldn't show up in the bluetooth setup list.

So I guessed that the keyboard still thought it was paired with the computer, even though the computer knew it wasn't. And then I read somewhere that the range for the keyboard was around 30 feet or so. So I walked out of our cubicle area and into a stairwell 50 feet away. Sure enough, after the initial glow, the light blinked! It was discoverable.

I ran back to my desk, hit "continue" in the bluetooth setup panel, and paired the keyboard again.

So, if your keyboard isn't paired with your computer, but still won't go into discoverable mode, maybe this trick will work for you.

MacBook Pro (early 2011); iMac (20-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.7), Wacom Intuos 3 tablet; HP Deskjet 6840; iPhone3GS

Posted on Mar 22, 2011 12:43 PM

Top-ranking reply

BocaDemarco

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Nov 22, 2017 6:40 AM

I had the same problem, and then realized that my iPad and iPhone were near the keyboard. My keyboard had connected to my iPad via bluetooth. I turned off Bluetooth on my phone and iPad and it began working immediately on my mac. I hope this helps!

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74 replies

Jan 16, 2015 2:10 AM in response to George Krompacky

An alternative to walking 50m is to just switch bluetooth off in System Preferences.

To force the keyboard into discoverable mode you just have to hold the power button for about 10 seconds, until it starts to flash. The moment you press the button no light should appear, so if the green light comes on the moment you press the button then it won't work this time.

Feb 5, 2015 5:49 PM in response to George Krompacky

Thank you George!

Mar 15, 2015 4:50 PM in response to brahmansky808

Thanks for posting this, I was struggling to get my keyboard discoverable - it just would not blink at all. The light turned on and then off again and that was it, even walking away and holding the button in did nothing. So I went to Bluetooth in System Settings, held the button in and kept re-pressing when the light turned off and it FINALLY connected and prompted me for the keypresses to connect. Thanks again... my mood dropped when I thought that I'd have to go in to Apple to get a replacement etc.

GabrielZ

Level 1

72 points

Mar 19, 2015 4:09 AM in response to George Krompacky

Great! That did the trick for me! Thank you so much!

Bacman

Level 1

4 points

Mar 22, 2015 1:50 AM in response to George Krompacky

Waw, perfect... Thank you George :-)

Mar 23, 2015 11:14 AM in response to George Krompacky

I came here to see if there was a better solution than having to re-pair my keyboard every few days (yes I do it by holding the power button). What the heck!? This has been going on for YEARS!? Why isn't this fixed yet? I don't think I can handle a few more years of this, lol.

GabrielZ

Level 1

72 points

Mar 24, 2015 2:19 AM in response to rengland77

For me, this has not been a problem - I only have to do this approximately once every 3 years.

Are you using an Apple Wireless Keyboard?

Could some other Bluetooth device divert your keyboard and make it connect with that other device?

Apr 14, 2015 12:56 PM in response to George Krompacky

I had this same issue. It took several tries of walking out past range, and holding down the power button, but when you start seeing the series of three blinks, you know it's working on connecting! All fixed now, thanks for the help!

Jun 1, 2015 2:30 PM in response to George Krompacky

More than 4 years later, this post helped me... Thank you, George, and all the others who posted their workarounds. I couldn't get my keyboard light to blink, no matter how far I went, but then tried holding the power button on the keyboard for a few seconds, and then again when trying to pair it, and it finally worked!

I so appreciate this community! Thank you, all.

Jul 3, 2015 8:44 AM in response to George Krompacky

I am SO glad I found this post 4 years later. Same issue for me. Green light would glow for a few seconds and then turn off. I kept thinking my batteries must be old. I changed batteries 3 times and then started looking for solutions online when I came across this. I went into the garage with the keyboard and pushed the power button. Green light started glowing so I didn't think it worked. About 5 seconds later it started blinking and I brought keyboard back near computer to pair. THANK YOU!! Hopefully this simple fix will help others as well.

Jul 12, 2015 6:37 PM in response to George Krompacky

It is July, 2015 and over 4 years later, your advice solved my problem. It's kind of like my grandma's advice helping me out after many years. Thank you George.

Jul 12, 2015 6:45 PM in response to reademandweep

Grandma is pleased that her advice has been of use. Please have a cookie before you go.

SKBright

Level 1

19 points

Jul 26, 2015 6:34 PM in response to George Krompacky

This is a dictation so some of the words aren't quite right but I've read all of this discussion and then I did this…Is that I had another iPad with the keyboard. To it so I just want over to the iPad shut off the pairing for the keyboard on that iPad and it worked beautifully on my new Apple mac book air just look at your other devices maybe that the problem

kaegon

Level 1

0 points

Aug 19, 2015 11:56 AM in response to George Krompacky

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!🙂

bpka

Level 1

0 points

Aug 24, 2015 12:39 AM in response to George Krompacky

The trick may work, I did not try it. But if you want to avoid the walking exercise, just reset your keyboard bluetooth pairing and pair it again with the MacBook by the following way.

Switch off the keyboard by holding down the power button for at least 3 seconds
Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar
Click on “Set Up Bluetooth Device” or “Open Bluetooth Preferences”
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.
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.
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)
The keyboard will now be Paired.

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

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Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution