Apple Wireless Keyboard Won't Pair With Apple TV

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Level 1

140 points

Apple Wireless Keyboard Won't Pair With Apple TV

A bit confused about the instructions for doing this.

I followed the instructions here: Bluetooth: How to set up your Apple Wireless Keyboard - Apple Support

Which states: "First unpair the keyboard If the unpaired Mac is within 33 feet (10 meters) of the computer your keyboard is currently paired with:"

Since my keyboard is paired with a Mac well over 33 feet, I went ahead and skipped this step -- I'd like to be able to use the keyboard on my Mac and then use it on the Apple TV as needed.

The Apple TV sees the keyboard when I turn it on, then when I select Pair, it flashes briefly then says Not Paired. When I click it again, I get the spinning disk for several seconds, then the keyboard disappears.

So, Im confused about something -- will the keyboard not pair with the Apple TV even if its "home" Mac is more than 33 feet away? Is it possible to have my cake and eat it too here, by using one Wireless Keyboard with both my Mac and the AppleTV? The instructions seem to indicate I can. But the Apple TV doesn't seem to be co-operating.

Posted on Nov 14, 2014 5:33 PM

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Answer 1

Brett L

Community Specialist

Nov 16, 2014 2:33 PM in response to Woodwyn

Hi Woodwyn,

In order to use a Bluetooth keyboard with multiple devices it is better, and may be necessary, to delete the pairing from one device before pairing it with the other. See this article for how to delete the pairing from your Mac -

Bluetooth: How to Delete a Paired Device

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Best,

Brett L

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Answer 2

Woodwyn Author

Level 1

140 points

Nov 21, 2014 3:51 PM in response to Brett L

Thanks, I tried pairing my Desktop keyboard with an Apple TV in another room at the other end of the building. Pairing was successful, so I can now use the keyboard with that ATV and my desktop. The first TV I tried is further than 33 feet away from my desktop, but I guess it's not far enough away. So, I guess the rule here is, take Apple's distances with a grain of salt.

Too bad. I wish there were a way to pair a keyboard with multiple devices. Kind pif sad to have a keyboard for my desktop and one for my iPad, and another one for my Apple TV when I only use them one at a time. I understand I can unpair and re-pair them each time, but that's kind of a pain. But it's less of a pain than trying to enter my iCloud information using the Apple TV remote. Ha!

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