Bluetooth: Not Available after 10.12.2 upgrade

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I had this problem as well, and I thought I would post what resolved my Bluetooth Not Available problem. Don't know if external links are permitted here or not, but I found this answer at https://www.igeeksblog.com/fix-bluetooth-not-available-error-mac/.

I deleted my com.apple.BlueTooth.plist, but that didn't fix it, nor did Killing and restarting the blued process.

Finally, I reset my SMC (System Management Controller) using these steps:

1 - Shut down my MBP

2 - Connect the power adapter

3 - Hold down Shift+Opt+Ctrl+Power for a while (I counted to 30 just to be safe), then release all buttons.

4 - Power on as normal

After that my Bluetooth is working again. I have a Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014 MBP. Just upgraded to 10.12.2 yesterday, which caused this problem, I believe. Hope this helps someone else too.

After the introduction of Sierra 10.12.2 I have been getting weird Bluetooth malfunction reports all over different Mac fora. Especially purtaining to low-level devices like Magic Mice, 3rd part numerical keypads & the likes.

Asking myself "what has been changed", I may begin to see the reason why:

Sierra has introduced Bluetooth LE v.4, which may not be backwards compatible to older BlueTooth versions, thence killing off older or legacy BT devices.

As a mere reporter, I myself cannot enter a bug report, because I am unable to show Apple Console Logs purtaining to the problem.

Knowing from experience, however, that after a bug report Apple is admirably swift to ask for Console Logs, I wholeheartedly urge anyone here with these strange Bluetooth issues to enter a bug report:

https://bugreport.apple.com/problem/viewproblem

Lets get to the bottom of this together, please!

Over the weekend, I clicked the update button, to update my macOS Sierra to 10.12.2. On this beautiful Monday morning, I powered it on, and voila!

1. It says Bluetooth not available. I have a Magic Mouse, and it responds to moves and clicks. But, I cannot scroll.
2. The keyboard kinda works as well, but the fn key doesn't work at all.

I tried removing the Bluetooth*.plist files (in /Library/Preferences and its subdirs), and also resetting SMC, nothing works.

Luckily, this is not a blocker so far, but highly annoying, reducing my productivity and I will definitely not install any single update before some time passes.

gregjohnson et al,

Firstly I don't understand why you and others use a command prompt to do things that are done simply by most who are not very technical and don't understand the underlying Unix/Linux character of MacOS by using the UI and Finder.

1. Find the file com.apple.Bluetooth.plist in Finder
2. Move to Trash
3. Restart your system

Now whilst all or some of these workarounds actually work, they do not solve the problem (permanently, at least not in my case). I have an older MacBook pro (2012) that will be upgraded RSN. I use a Magic Mouse almost exclusively. I get the Bluetooth not available message (almost) every time I leave the MacBook and it sleeps or snoozes or whatever. Yes, a reboot usually fixes the problem. If not deleting the appropriate Bluetooth plist file and rebooting fixes the problem, BUT really, having to reboot every time you walk away from your MacBook. And again, yes, a cable mouse works, but isn't conducive to using a laptop (a MagicMouse or other RF/Bluetooth device I find the best compromise). Non-Apple RF mouses (mice?) tend not to perform very well IMHO under MacOS.

And yes, I know it's an older MacBook, but I've been waiting over 18 months for Apple to get their whatever in a pile and release a new MacBook (which I might add was surprisingly underwhelming).3

So my question is: Is there actually a permanent fix/solution for this issue other than those workarounds previously mentioned that need to be repeatedly applied?

Thanks in anticipation for anyone that has a 'permanent' solution.

Kevin

Ouch; this s*cks!

Seems my info was a bit wrong:

- Bluetooth "Low Energy" v.4 AKA "Smart" was backward compatible to Bluetooth "Classic".

- Bluetooth "Low Energy" v.5 is no longer backward compatible, so will be randomly losing connection to older BT gear requiring more BT transmission power.

Hence freakish/ random defects, with some older gear, If and only if Sierra 10.12.2 is only running Bluetooth LE v.5 I guess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy

Please ask Apple to re-enable Bluetooth v.4/ "SMART" on Sierra 10.12.2 optionally in order to keep our older BT gear functional!

Rest assured, Apple, this will spare you a massive amount of service calls and Genius Bar visits!

I've had the same problem twice.

The first time removing the Bluetooth*.plist file (in /Library/Preferences) and restart did the trick. The second time it didn't work, but NVRAM reset did and fixed the issue - for now at least.

MacBook Pro 15" (Mid 2015)

macOS Sierra 10.12.3

For those who tried all of the recommended "fixes" (PRAM, deleting the plist file, etc) and nothing worked, try the following...

I spent hours (and dozens of reboots) trying all of the things recommended on the various support forums and nothing worked UNTIL I shut down my Macbook Pro and simply disconnected ALL (and I mean all) of my connected devices, including my external thunderbolt monitor. Rebooted my laptop and viola, BT is back in action. I then reconnected all devices again (Thunderbolt monitor and 2 USB devices, including a USB hub) and all is now working fine. I went no further with this in an attempt to find the culprit, just happy to have my BT back.

For those who tried all of the recommended "fixes" (PRAM, deleting the plist file, etc) and nothing worked, try the following...

I spent hours (and dozens of reboots) trying all of the things recommended on the various support forums and nothing worked UNTIL I shut down my Macbook Pro and simply disconnected ALL (and I mean all) of my connected devices, including my external thunderbolt monitor. Rebooted my laptop and viola, BT is back in action. I then reconnected all devices again (Thunderbolt monitor and 2 USB devices, including a USB hub) and all is now working fine. I went no further with this in an attempt to find the culprit, just happy to have my BT back.

This worked for me. The only thing I'd add to this is maybe run the find first without the rm just in case because you don't want to inadvertently remove something due to a typo.

I did this:

$ find ~/Library -name com.apple.Bluetooth.\*.plist

It showed one file and a few "permission denied warnings so then I ran the rest of the commands.

$ find ~/Library -name com.apple.Bluetooth.\*.plist-exec rm {} \;

$ sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

$ sudo reboot

Thanks!

Update on my issue. I executed the 3 commands mentioned to find and delete plist file and reboot several times. It never worked. I noticed there was a reply about disconnecting everything and restarting. I removed all the cables from Mac. Shut it down for 3 minutes and started again. My bluetooth is working fine now. Not sure how long it will work..

Mid 2011 Mac mini & early Apple bluetooth keyboard(The old White one)

Been having to turn the keyboard off and on every so often for a while, now since 10.12.15 update it rarely connects and then you have to enter pairing code.

The bluetooth setup app unexpectedly quits.

Tried another similar keyboard and it eventually found but will not pair.

Thanks Roberts_Racing, that helped.

Did not find the exact file that you mentioned, but I removed the Blackberry Link software and all its extensions, launch demons and preferences, rebooted and now my Bluetooth is back.

I was able to fix this. I tried the following:

a) deleting the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist, shutting down, waiting a few minutes, and booting

b) resetting the SMC...since there's no verification that the SMC actually resets, I'm not sure I actually did it. I have a 2015 MBP w/ Retina, so I shut down, unplugged the magsafe, held ctrl+shift+option+power for 10s, then booted.

c) resetting the NVRAM by shutting down, holding cmd+option+p+r+power thru 2 chimes, then booting

After none of that worked, a colleague suggested letting the machine completely run out of battery. So I set the Energy Saver to never shut down on battery and left it run after work. The next morning I reset the SMC (again, I'm not at all sure it actually did), then plugged the magsafe back in and booted. The machine came back with the bluetooth available.

Two of my devices are showing in the Bluetooth settings...that hints that the SMC reset was never successful. But at the least it appears to be working. Hopefully, it stays that way.

In my case, bluetooth stopped working immediately after a macOS Sierra upgrade from 10.12.5 to 10.12.6.

1) Disconnected all devices, including thunderbolt display.

2) Finally, I reset my SMC (System Management Controller) using these steps:

1 - Shut down my MBP

2 - Connect the power adapter

3 - Hold down Shift+Opt+Ctrl+Power for a while (I counted to 30 just to be safe), then release all buttons.

4 - Power on as normal

and it worked! Happy now