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User profile for user: BillHahn
BillHahn Author
User level: Level 1
30 points

Bluetooth Problems on Yosemite (Solution: 'Turn Wifi Off' then on again)

Bluetooth Problems on Yosemite (Solution: 'Turn Wifi Off' then on again)

(There are sooo many discussion threads/posts on this topic, I decided to create a new one with a potential solution. Please reply if this solves your problems with bluetooth connection, reconnection, and/or pairing problems on Yosemite.)


If you can not connect/reconnect your bluetooth devices, try "Turn Wifi Off". It seems to 'wake up' the bluetooth and then my devices reconnect.


In my case, after sleep/wake of my MacBook, my bluetooth keyboard & speaker would NOT reconnect. When I 'Turn Wifi Off" my bluetooth starts working again and my bluetooth keyboard & speaker immediately reconnect. I also read on some non-Apple.com forum that sometimes 'Turn Wifi Off' on yosemite makes bluetooth start working again. Other times, 'Turn Wifi Off' followed by 'Turn Wifi' On makes bluetooth start working again.


In my case, whenever I can not get my bluetooth devices to connect/reconnect to my MacBook, I simply "Turn Wifi Off" and it immediately connects.


Please REPLY if 'Turn Wifi Off' fixes your bluetooth connect/reconnect problems!


Thank You.


P.S. I'm guessing that with the 'Handoff a.k.a. Continuity' enhancements to Yosemeti, which uses Bluetooth to dynamically enable iOS devices to coordinate workflows with MacBooks, that Handoff's dynamic explolitation of bluetooth behind the scenes, which introduces a somewhat new style of load/usage on Bluetooth, that it has messed up the way Bluetooth is managed in Yosemite. I'm guessing that Apple is aware of this and will fix it eventually. Until then, "Turn Wi-Fi Off" seems to do the trick for me when I want to 'wake up' my MacBook's bluetooth and get my external devices connected again.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 26, 2014 8:45 AM

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21 replies
User profile for user: Allium2
Allium2
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 11, 2017 2:36 PM in response to BillHahn

Bill, you are a lifesaver! My MacBook Air has been communicating via Bluetooth with a large speaker I have to use at church. Suddenly, no Bluetoth connection and church in just a few hours! Resetting PRAM etc., restarting, waiting several minutes after reset, none of it worked. Turned off the wi-fi and the laptop instanly hooked into the Behringer speaker perfectly. Than you so much, yours, Pastor Mike.

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User profile for user: djr72
djr72
User level: Level 1
0 points

Nov 27, 2014 1:19 AM in response to BillHahn

every thing was fine with my mac mini until 10.10.1 came along.

Ive never turned wifi on as always wired.

My magic mouse and magic pad connect like always but are completely un usable.


have resorted to usb devices.


Must note that even a usb mouse is next to useless without completely disabling bluetooth as well.

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User profile for user: TheOneAndOnlyRon
TheOneAndOnlyRon
User level: Level 1
0 points

Feb 17, 2015 3:07 AM in response to BillHahn

I never experienced any issues on my Macbook air Early 2014, until Yosemite 10.10.2 came along. This patch caused my bluetooth to connect/disconnect mouse and keyboard regularly. Resetting PRAM didn't help.

Now i found out it's related to the WIFI indeed, thanks to the post above. Although for me it works slightly different. I only experience this connect/disconnect issue when i share my (inter)network connection and use my Macbook. Shutting that down and/or restarting it, solves the issue. If i don't use my Macbook as an hotspot, then i'm not experiencing this issue.


So thank you for putting me into the right direction looking for a solution 🙂

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User profile for user: somerian
somerian
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 19, 2015 8:05 AM in response to BillHahn

This worked for me as well! I had an Evoluent VerticalMouse that stopped working, and I sent it in for a replacement, but even the new one has been flaky ever since I upgraded to Yosemite. I've tried resetting the PRAM as well as removing 

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
, but that only works until I need to unplug my laptop for meetings and conference calls, after which the mouse would stop pairing. Turning off the Wifi and removing/re-pairing the mouse worked beautifully.

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User profile for user: eupharia
eupharia
User level: Level 1
3 points

Jun 1, 2015 9:38 PM in response to BillHahn

Guess what? The bluetooth just couldn't turn off after it loses connection! OS X 10.10.3, It happened twice today. I had to restart the computer to get it work.


By "couldn't turn off" I mean the turning off option is there in the menu but I click it and nothing happened. And it is not working either. So I couldn't restart the bluetooth but had to restart the whole computer...

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Bluetooth Problems on Yosemite (Solution: 'Turn Wifi Off' then on again)

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