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Can't sync Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse to my Macbook

I have a 13" Macbook (Aluminum) late 2008 running 10.11.6 (El Capitan) and am trying to pair with my brand new Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse but my computer isn't recognizing any devices. How do I get my computer to recognize the mouse?

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), late 2008 13" aluminum body

Posted on Aug 17, 2016 11:41 PM

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8 replies

Sep 21, 2016 8:21 PM in response to nickzappas

I have the same mouse, running OS X 10.11.6 on a MacBook Pro 13in (Unibody Mid 2009), and the same issue. Oddly the mouse shows up in bluetooth paring on my iPhone6+ but nothing on my Mac. Even more odd is that my iPhone6+ will show in the pairing on the Mac even though the mouse won't. I did try going into mice and seeing if it would show/pair there and it did not.


I see a few threads reporting bluetooth mouse issues with 10.11 and 10.11.6 ... thinking about reloading with 10.10 to see if that helps...

Sep 22, 2016 6:06 AM in response to VivianIzoku

I have found the cause of issues. The Microsoft Designer Mouse is bluetooth v4.0 compatible only (according to Microsoft) and has a limited range of Mac OS X compatibility of 10.9-10.10 (again according to MS). My MacBook Pro 13in (Unibody Mid 2009) has Bluetooth v2.1 which explains why it does not work. There are many issue reports with bluetooth pairing across multiple OS that likely relate to bluetooth version compatibility.


Luckily for me I have another bluetooth MS mouse that I use with my Asus Transformer. The Designer Mouse works fine on my Transformer and the other bluetooth MS mouse works fine on my MacBook so I will just switch them. Good luck to you and hope this helps anyone else with issues related to this mouse.

Dec 23, 2016 10:36 AM in response to charlesfromwaukesha

Charles, is the issue you've been having with Sierra that the mouse won't work/reconnect until it's paired again if:

  • The mouse is turned off and then back on;
  • After the system sleeps
  • After a system boot/restart
  • If the mouse is left untouched long enough for its power saving mode to kick in


If so, there's a few of us having the same issue but with the Microsoft Arc Touch Bluetooth mouse.

Can't sync Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse to my Macbook

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