Bluetooth keyboard not being discovered

My Apple Bluetooth keyboard is not appearing in the discoverable devices. It turns on, the green power light comes on, but does not blink. I have tried it on several devices, same result. I have changed batteries, turned keyboard off then back on. same result: green power light comes on for a few seconds then turns off.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Jul 27, 2017 11:25 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 28, 2017 1:07 PM

Found this, it worked

Finally I found a good idea online. I am documenting it here so that if I ever have this problem again, I will remember the steps that I had to take to repair. I have tried this with both the Android phone, and the MacBook Pro, and it seemed to work with both.



  1. Turn on Bluetooth (if it isn't already turned on).
  2. Begin scanning for devices.

    In Mac OSX, click on the little Bluetooth icon at the top of the screen. Click "Setup Bluetooth Device...".

  3. After the computer or phone begins scanning, press and hold the power button on the wireless keyboard. This is important. When I tried pressing button first, then scan, nothing happened. You have start the scan first, then press and hold the button.
  4. At some point the green light usually starts flashing (although not always. weird).
  5. After a few seconds, it will (finally) notice the keyboard. You may have to click on the keyboard to tell it to pair.
  6. It will ask you to type a few numbers to verify the pair. At this point you can release the power button.
  7. Type in the requested numbers.
  8. The pairing should complete.
3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 28, 2017 1:07 PM in response to jefffrominvers

Found this, it worked

Finally I found a good idea online. I am documenting it here so that if I ever have this problem again, I will remember the steps that I had to take to repair. I have tried this with both the Android phone, and the MacBook Pro, and it seemed to work with both.



  1. Turn on Bluetooth (if it isn't already turned on).
  2. Begin scanning for devices.

    In Mac OSX, click on the little Bluetooth icon at the top of the screen. Click "Setup Bluetooth Device...".

  3. After the computer or phone begins scanning, press and hold the power button on the wireless keyboard. This is important. When I tried pressing button first, then scan, nothing happened. You have start the scan first, then press and hold the button.
  4. At some point the green light usually starts flashing (although not always. weird).
  5. After a few seconds, it will (finally) notice the keyboard. You may have to click on the keyboard to tell it to pair.
  6. It will ask you to type a few numbers to verify the pair. At this point you can release the power button.
  7. Type in the requested numbers.
  8. The pairing should complete.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Bluetooth keyboard not being discovered

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.