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Bluetooth is a wireless technology that you can use to connect a keyboard and mouse to your Mac. While WiFi connects the computers and other devices within a home or place of business to create a local-area network, Bluetooth has a much shorter range, about 30 feet. Bluetooth is designed to create a personal network around an individual. The bluetooth shows its connected but neither mouse or keyboard will talk with the windows OS. Device manager shows nothing is wrong. Bluetooth stack shows connected but dead in the water. Rebooting into OSX and the devices work fine. IT may be the newer magic mouse 2 and the bluetooth keyboard use slightly different drivers.
On your Mac, click the Bluetooth status icon in the menu bar, select a device, then choose Send File to Device. If you don’t see the Bluetooth status icon, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Bluetooth, then select “Show Bluetooth in menu bar.” Open Bluetooth. This short guide will show you how to setup a bluetooth mouse with MAC OS X. Hope you find it useful. If you want more - please subscribe.
Today, Bluetooth is one of the most popular wireless technologies, allowing you to connect two or more devices to perform daily tasks with less hardware. With a wide range of possibilities, it’s completely up to you to decide how to use Bluetooth on Mac — but linking your computer to wireless keyboards, mice, trackpads, and speakers is a good place to start.
Installing Bluetooth devices is usually pretty straightforward: first you turn on Bluetooth on Mac, then you follow a few basic steps to make your device discoverable for connection. But sometimes there’s a catch.
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How to turn on Bluetooth on Mac?
Most Macs come with the built-in Bluetooth capability, so all you need to do is make sure it’s turned on:
Go to System Preferences in the Apple menu
Click on Bluetooth
Select Turn Bluetooth On
While you’re at it, tick the box beside the “Show Bluetooth in menu bar” option at the bottom of the screen. The menu-bar Bluetooth icon will serve as a shortcut to indicate if the Bluetooth is on, if any devices are connected, or even if particular device’s battery is low.
Connecting Bluetooth devices to Mac
Now that you know how to connect to Bluetooth on Mac, your computer is ready to get in touch with other devices. The process of establishing a connection between a specific device and your Mac is called pairing. Pairing makes other devices recognizable by your Mac and allows for easy automatic connections to be made.
The good news is that Bluetooth devices that came with your Mac are already pre-paired and should connect automatically when turned on. In case you’ve bought an Apple Bluetooth device separately, here’s how to pair it with your Mac:
Connect the device to you Mac using a cable (if available)
Turn the device on
Go to System Preferences ➙ Bluetooth ➙ Turn Bluetooth On
After the device pairs with your Mac, it will appear in the list of available devices ➙ click Connect
When the device is charged, unplug it for wireless use
When connecting non-Apple Bluetooth devices, the key is to enable pairing or discoverable mode on the device in question. The exact way to do this will vary, so check the instructions from the manufacturer first. As a rule, devices only stay in discoverable mode for a few minutes — to save the battery. So hurry up!
How to connect Bluetooth headphones to Mac?
In most ways, Bluetooth headphones are no different than other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Start by making sure your Bluetooth headphones are charged and in discoverable mode. After that you’re just a few clicks away from having them connected to your Mac:
Go to System Preferences
Click on Bluetooth ➙ Turn Bluetooth On
On the right you’ll see a list of devices. When your headphones show up ➙ click Connect
The same steps can be followed if you wonder how to connect Mac to Bluetooth speaker.
Solve Magic Mouse not connecting to Mac Bluetooth
Connecting your Magic Mouse to MacBook Bluetooth is identical to connecting Bluetooth headphones. Simply follow the steps described above and everything should work out just fine. Occasionally, though, your Bluetooth mouse might misbehave: but before assuming that it’s not connecting properly — try to wake it:
Make sure it’s on
Try restarting it
Click the mouse button to see if there’s any response
Make sure the battery isn’t dead
If none of the above helped and your mouse is still not showing up on the Bluetooth devices list, try the following:
Go to System Preferences ➙ Bluetooth ➙ check that Bluetooth is on
Plug in your mouse with the Lightning cable
Go to System Preferences ➙ Mouse ➙ Set Up Bluetooth Mouse ➙ wait for your Mac to search for the device and connect to it
As you can see, connecting Bluetooth gadgets to Mac is fairly straightforward, but might turn into quite a multistep ordeal. Luckily, there’s a super-simple single-click way to fix Magic Mouse not connecting.
ToothFairy is a miracle Bluetooth assistant app. First, it lets you choose an icon for each of your devices and adds it right to your menu bar, from which you can then connect in a click and view all the essential info at a glance. ToothFairy also gives you an option to improve audio quality — a neat way to get the most out of your speakers and headphones:
Open ToothFairy and click Advanced
Select the option to “Improve sound quality…”
How to easily wake Bluetooth connection up?
Bluetooth not working on Mac doesn’t happen that often, but when it does it can get quite frustrating. No need for despair — sometimes devices disconnect simply because they haven’t been used for a while. Just make sure to take the following checklist into account before looking into any further Mac Bluetooth troubleshooting:
Check the battery. If the battery is low, the device will have difficulty connecting. The Bluetooth icon in the menu bar will warn you too.
Make sure you turn on Bluetooth on Mac. Simple but often overlooked step.
Bring the device within 30 ft from your Mac and avoid any interference from household devices (cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, and wireless networks that use the same 2.4 GHz band) and metal objects.
If nothing helps, try these tips below to reset Bluetooth on Mac.
Tip 1: Turn Bluetooth off and back on
Restarting can sometimes fix the problem. Simply click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Turn Bluetooth Off and then Turn Bluetooth On.
Tip 2: Disconnect all USB devices
If turning your Mac Bluetooth off and on didn’t help, try disconnecting all your USB and Bluetooth devices and then connecting them back on again:
Go to System Preferences ➙ Bluetooth
Click on X beside the device to disconnect it
Restart your Mac
Wait for a few minutes and reconnect your devices
Note that there can be too many connected Bluetooth devices. The maximum number is seven, but at times you might encounter problems once you go over three or four, as some devices need more data than others.
Tip 3: Delete the Bluetooth .plist files
If you still have Mac Bluetooth not available, try deleting Property List files. They sometimes could become corrupted and stealthily affect Bluetooth connectivity. To remove the .plist files:
Choose Go from the Finder menu at the top of your screen ➙ Go to Folder
Type in: /Library/Preferences ➙ Go
Find the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file and delete it
Go back to Go in the Finder Menu ➙ Go to Folder
Type in: ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost ➙ Go
Find com.apple.Bluetooth.xxx.plist file and delete it
Now shut down your Mac and keep it turned off for about a minute. After the restart, it will automatically generate new .plist files, which should fix the issue of MacBook Bluetooth not available.
Tip 4: Reset the Bluetooth module
If none of the above troubleshooting solved the problem of Bluetooth not available on Mac, resetting the Bluetooth module will attempt to debug any issues on a deeper level. Here’s how to reset Bluetooth on Mac:
Hold Shift + Option and click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar
Click Debug and select “Remove all devices”
Click Debug again and select “Reset the Bluetooth module”
Restart your Mac and re-pair your Bluetooth devices
Tip 5: Optimize and remove your system junk
Finally, it’s natural for your Mac hard drive to get cluttered with all kinds of user and system-generated trash over time. Bluetooth connectivity suffers too. So the next time you see MacBook Pro Bluetooth not available, try doing a thorough but quick system optimization with CleanMyMac X.
CleanMyMac X is a powerful and easy way to bring your Mac back to its mint condition: without user or system cache files, language logs, malware, login items, and more. And it only takes one click to scan:
Navigate to System Junk
Click Scan and wait for the process to finish
Review Details and Clean anything you don’t need
So anytime you have trouble connecting Bluetooth to Mac, go through the tips above and use ToothFairy along with CleanMyMac X for top results. Best of all, both apps are available for a free 7-day trial through Setapp, a platform of more than 150 Mac utilities that can solve any problem, from photo-editing to better music listening experience. Time to connect Bluetooth headphones to Mac!
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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When you install Microsoft Windows on your Mac, Boot Camp Assistant automatically opens the Boot Camp installer, which installs the latest Windows support software (drivers). If that doesn't happen, or you experience any of the following issues while using Windows on your Mac, follow the steps in this article.
- Your Apple mouse, trackpad, or keyboard isn't working in Windows.
Force Touch isn't designed to work in Windows. - You don't hear audio from the built-in speakers of your Mac in Windows.
- The built-in microphone or camera of your Mac isn't recognized in Windows.
- One or more screen resolutions are unavailable for your display in Windows.
- You can't adjust the brightness of your built-in display in Windows.
- You have issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in Windows.
- You get an alert that Apple Software Update has stopped working.
- You get a message that your PC has a driver or service that isn't ready for this version of Windows.
- Your Mac starts up to a black or blue screen after you install Windows.
If your Mac has an AMD video card and is having graphics issues in Windows, you might need to update your AMD graphics drivers instead.
Install the latest macOS updates
Before proceeding, install the latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp.
Format a USB flash drive
To install the latest Windows support software, you need a 16GB or larger USB flash drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).
- Start your Mac from macOS.
- Plug the USB flash drive into your Mac.
- Open Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar.
- From the sidebar in Disk Utility, select your USB flash drive. (Select the drive name, not the volume name beneath it.)
- Click the Erase button or tab.
- Choose MS-DOS (FAT) as the format and Master Boot Record as the scheme.
- Click Erase to format the drive. When done, quit Disk Utility.
Windows Bluetooth Mac Address
Download the Windows support software
After preparing your USB flash drive, complete these steps:
- Make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
- Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Action > Download Windows Support Software, then choose your USB flash drive as the save destination. When the download completes, quit Boot Camp Assistant.
Learn what to do if you can't download or save the Windows support software.
Install the Windows support software
After downloading the Windows support software to your flash drive, follow these steps to install the software. (If you're attempting to resolve issues with a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, it might be easier to use a USB mouse or keyboard until these steps are complete.)
- Make sure that the USB flash drive is plugged into your Mac.
- Start up your Mac in Windows.
- From File Explorer, open the USB flash drive, then open Setup or setup.exe, which is in the WindowsSupport folder or BootCamp folder. When you're asked to allow Boot Camp to make changes to your device, click Yes.
- Click Repair to begin installation. If you get an alert that the software hasn't passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
- After installation completes, click Finish, then click Yes when you're asked to restart your Mac.
Learn more
If you can't download or save the Windows support software:
How To Download Bluetooth For Pc Windows 7
- If the assistant says that the Windows support software could not be saved to the selected drive, or that the USB flash drive can't be used, make sure that your USB flash drive has a storage capacity of at least 16GB and is formatted correctly.
- If the assistant doesn't see your USB flash drive, click Go Back and make sure that the drive is connected directly to the USB port on your Mac—not to a display, hub, or keyboard. Disconnect and reconnect the drive, then click Continue.
- If the assistant says that it can't download the software because of a network problem, make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
- Make sure that your Mac meets the system requirements to install Windows using Boot Camp.
Mac Bluetooth Update
If a Mac feature still doesn't work after updating the Windows support software, search for your symptom on the Apple support website or Microsoft support website. Some features of your Mac aren't designed to work in Windows.