Mouse and keyboard keep disconnecting

Ever since I installed MacOS Mojave (now 10.14.1) I have been having trouble connecting the Apple mouse and keyboard. Both had always been working fine (over a year).


Now they don't connect or lose connection when the mac wakes up. Sometimes they reconnect after a few minutes.


I have tried all the obvious thing like deleting the bluetooth list in Library/Preferences, but the problem hasn't gone away.


Sometimes it works, then the connectivity fails again.


A reply to a previous post about this suggested to restart the SMC, which I did and which solved the problem at the time. (the post was then marked as solved so I have to re-start the thread). However, it happened again today, so the SMC restart didn't seem to have been a permanent fix.


Is there anything else that can be done?

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015), macOS Mojave (10.14.1)

Posted on Dec 3, 2018 12:42 PM

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Posted on Mar 25, 2019 7:53 PM

Hi everyone ..... HAVE SOLUTION ...... most likely.

There is another forum on here, somewhere that I ran across.

The problem is the Android File Transfer app ..... everyone that was having the bluetooth disconnecting, etc. just deleted this app and everything went back to normal, and working .... including me.

I restarted after deleting just to make sure, but I've been problem free for over a week now ..... others MUCH longer!!!

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Mar 25, 2019 7:53 PM in response to nicksage

Hi everyone ..... HAVE SOLUTION ...... most likely.

There is another forum on here, somewhere that I ran across.

The problem is the Android File Transfer app ..... everyone that was having the bluetooth disconnecting, etc. just deleted this app and everything went back to normal, and working .... including me.

I restarted after deleting just to make sure, but I've been problem free for over a week now ..... others MUCH longer!!!

May 2, 2019 2:41 AM in response to steffenfrombristol

For us, there was clearly a dependance of Android file transfer with the disconnection problems. Once deinstalled the problem did not reappear. We also installed a similar utility (OneCommander, if I recall correctly) and the problem reappeared right after installation. So it was kicked off immediately.

Well I assume Apple will not help fixing that problem. After all, it wants to sell iPhones and not support Android devices.

One could also suspect, that slight variations in the way the USB interface has to be used (interrupts not handled correctly?) introduced this problem to Mojave (in our case).

Mar 30, 2019 2:17 PM in response to steffenfrombristol

I’ve gone 2 days without a disconnect. Not 100% sure what’s responsible for my newfound stability because I did a few things.


-updated Mojave to the most recent version.


-deleted android app.


-removed an Anker usb hub.


-removed all third party software that I wasn’t using.


-moved my wireless charger away from my iMac.

-stopped leaving my A73 near the computer.


Got it my fingers crossed the connection stays solid. I’ve got a wired option as backup so at least I won’t have to force restarts like I was doing.

Dec 5, 2018 7:36 AM in response to steffenfrombristol

Hi, Steffen!

Thanks for stopping by the Apple Support Communities. From your post, I understand that you're having some connectivity issues with your Apple wireless mouse and keyboard. Specifically, after waking your Mac, they either don't reconnect or take longer than expected to do so. Sometimes, they'll stop working again after they connect. I'm happy to help!

Resetting the SMC was a good step to take, but since that hasn't helped in the long term I would suggest trying the steps outlined in If your Apple wireless mouse, keyboard, or trackpad isn't working as expected - Apple Support next.

Have a wonderful day!

Feb 25, 2019 3:24 PM in response to LesmpO

This problem is REALLY a hardware design issue. The cause of these disconnections is the problem "USB 3.0 * Radio Frequency Interference on 2.4 GHz Devices". It is a well known problem, but I AFIRM that it is a hardware design problem because if you install an adapter (dongle usb bluetooth) this problem simply disappears. If a simple adapter shows that it is possible to bypass this interference, why can not the apple hardware? Apple is aware of this problem but will never recognize it!




Feb 25, 2019 3:37 PM in response to LesmpO

Do they respond? No. They do, however, happily notify us every time someone posts to this thread.


I mostly solved my issue by doing a factory reset of the keyboard and mouse. Pain in the ***, but it seems to work most of the time. Not all of the time - this morning both were cranky as **** & I had to turn them off and back on and wait before they'd play nicely. Still better than having to do a hard reboot every time I wanted to use my 13-month-old iMac.

Mar 28, 2019 3:52 PM in response to jptsr1

I don't know but . . .


I sent a letter (you remember those things - paper, envelopes, stamps etc.) to Apple and made a warranty claim because the iMac was not working properly. I did this to shake the tree more than anything else.


I received a call from the support people who let me know that a new release of Mojave was available 10.14.4. With nothing to lose, I installed it. Glancing through the release notes, there was no mention of resolving bluetooth issues, but there was some mention of fixing a wifi issue. Was that the conflict causing us all grief??


I'm 24 hours down the track and have not, to this time, had any disconnect issues. I know that this is early days and something malicious could jump up out of the wood heap BUT it does seem to have solved the problem.


Oh yes, I also threw out the Android Transfer program which I do not use - just in case.


So, give the wheel a spin.

Mar 28, 2019 5:43 PM in response to Robles54

I also updated to Mojave 10.14.4 in the hope that the bluetooth connectivity issue would be resolved. However, within a few minutes of using the computer after the installation the connection was lost. I then decided to delete the Android File Transfer app and I have had no bluetooth issues since. That was only a day ago, so fingers crossed for the days ahead.

Mar 28, 2019 7:47 PM in response to Robles54

First, not 100% sure, but don't think wifi has anything to do with bluetooth.

I think you'll find by far the majority will find that the fix was with the "notorious" Android File Transfer app; which,

as far as I can tell has resolved the issue in every case where this problem occurred and we had that app lurking somewhere.


What is sad, is that Apple choses not to listen to or monitor these discussions for the solutions and even ignores the actual solutions. I've read about several cases, of this problem, where the people took it to the Apple Store Genius' and even got brand new iMac's, or MacBook Pro's, etc. ....... Apple will go that far, instead of spending a little time monitoring these discussion boards and helping with input? Wow!

Apr 11, 2019 8:20 AM in response to nicksage

A BUNCH of us had this problem; I believe some had Mojave; personally I am still on the latest High Sierra. One person discovered that the issue (for us "bunch") was having the "Android File Transfer" app installed, and it was used at one time or another.

For me, this WAS the problem; and, the issue everyone is talking about here started when I installed the Android File Transfer app.

IMMEDIATELY upon deleting this app, the problem was solved.

It has NOT shown up since.


So, if the latest version of Mojave is causing this, either you may unknowningly have the Android File Transfer app installed; or, perhaps Apple somehow included an app, or something that does whatever that app did, to cause the Bluetooth / Keyboard / Mouse disconnect issues.


I wish I could tell you more, but my rule is to NEVER upgrade to a new OS for at least about 3 years. As long as High Sierra works, I ain't changing it.


Personally, I wish they would almost NEVER upgrade the stupid OS. Every time some tinkering engineer seems to think they have to change the way things were done previously, or take away a feature that I've made use of for a long time. I could make a pretty long list with High Sierra.

I went from Snow Leopard to High Sierra. If I could, I'd go back to Snow Leopard in a heartbeat. The only reason was because software after software started to NOT be supported by Snow Leopard.

It IS a conspiracy, collusion, etc. by the software developers and Apple to cost us more money.

And, we can't even get Apple to address basic things such as this Bluetooth disconnection issue.

Apple: "Oh, forgot the problems with the current Mac OS ... let's just design a new iPhone!"

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Mouse and keyboard keep disconnecting

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