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Bluetooth Mouse Problems (OS X) 
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My old wired Apple mouse finally became too unreliable earlier this year and having discovered that Apple only make Bluetooth mice now, I reluctantly bought one.

I'd always been sceptical about the necessity of a Bluetooth mouse, but this one was easy to set up and apart from being occasionally over-sensitive to scrolling actions when I have both fingers resting on it, it's been fine. However this morning after plugging it in overnight to recharge the batteries, I found it was no longer paired with my Mac and would not reconnect. Every so often a dialogue box would pop up asking me if I wanted to pair the mouse and my Mac and hitting "Pair" (Return on the wired keyboard) would dismiss the box but the mouse would not pair. I tried turning the mouse off and back on, even waiting several minutes before switching on. No success. The dialogue box would appear, but no pairing was occurring.

Luckily I hadn't binned my old wired mouse so I was able to plug that in and coax enough life out of it to open the Mouse section of the System preferences and initiate a pairing from their which worked first time.

That has made me think, though. What would I have to do if the back-up wired mouse hadn't been an option for me? Is it possible to get to the relevant preference pane through keyboard commands alone? Restart the Mac?

Ideas? Solutions? Because when the wired mouse finally stop working altogether I'm going to need one.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:00 am
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You could try disabling and reenabling Bluetooth from the terminal (blueutil) to see if they then reconnect - I've had similar problems with Android, Linux and Windows and turning the host BT radio off and on again sometimes helps.

Alternatively, you could try an AppleScript:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/175 ... -on-macosx

You just need to set up a script to open the relevant preferences pain. You can then launch that from the keyboard.

That is one of the things that has always bugged me about OS X. With Linux and Windows, if you don't have a mouse, you can tab through all forms and you can use keyboard shortcuts or the cursor keys to open the menu bar and select options etc. I've also had a couple of issues with Macs, where no mouse was available and what I could do was limited.

The problem I have, is that I use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse on my Windows desktop... That means I can't get into the BIOS at boot up to change settings or install updates (the mainboard has an option to read updates from a USB stick). But Bluetooth is only active once the PC has booted. I keep a USB (wireless) keyboard around for just such emergencies.

Given that a cabled mouse can be had for under a fiver, I would simply buy the cheapest mouse I can and keep it in a drawer for emergencies.

Luckily I don't have that problem, I have about a dozen keyboards and mice kicking around my office at home.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:55 am
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I've been using a bluetooth mouse since last year and keep a USB one permanently attached on my desk as I had a couple of issues. The first one was batteries and I now have the rechargeable one and touch wood not had any issues with the new one.

I did wonder too what would happen if you didn't have a back up mouse.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:00 am
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on my old mac minis it used to require a restart to get blue tooth to pair after it was unpaired from the keyboard/mouse.
dont now why and this maybe of no help at all ...

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:11 am
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big_D wrote:
You could try disabling and reenabling Bluetooth from the terminal (blueutil) to see if they then reconnect - I've had similar problems with Android, Linux and Windows and turning the host BT radio off and on again sometimes helps.

Alternatively, you could try an AppleScript:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/175 ... -on-macosx

You just need to set up a script to open the relevant preferences pain. You can then launch that from the keyboard.

That is one of the things that has always bugged me about OS X. With Linux and Windows, if you don't have a mouse, you can tab through all forms and you can use keyboard shortcuts or the cursor keys to open the menu bar and select options etc. I've also had a couple of issues with Macs, where no mouse was available and what I could do was limited.

The problem I have, is that I use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse on my Windows desktop... That means I can't get into the BIOS at boot up to change settings or install updates (the mainboard has an option to read updates from a USB stick). But Bluetooth is only active once the PC has booted. I keep a USB (wireless) keyboard around for just such emergencies.

Given that a cabled mouse can be had for under a fiver, I would simply buy the cheapest mouse I can and keep it in a drawer for emergencies.

Luckily I don't have that problem, I have about a dozen keyboards and mice kicking around my office at home.


Actually OS X has plenty of keyboard short cuts for navigation, they are just not very well publicised, and for long-time users of Macs (especially those who do graphics) have a tendency to conflict with shortcuts used in programs which we would rather keep.

With some advice from another forum I did manage to get part of the way there from just the keyboard:

Option + any sound button on the keyboard will open the Sound Preference Pane with the search field highlighted.

The typing "Mouse" followed by Return will take me directly to the Mouse Preference Pane.

Unfortunately after that I can't navigate any further because I can't shift the focus away from the Search Field, probably because I have disabled the relevant keyboard commands. I had a look in the Keyboard Short Cuts tab of the Keyboard Preference Pane, but couldn't see an obvious command for shifting focus. So now I'm stuck.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:25 am
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BigRedX wrote:
Actually OS X has plenty of keyboard short cuts for navigation, they are just not very well publicised, and for long-time users of Macs (especially those who do graphics) have a tendency to conflict with shortcuts used in programs which we would rather keep.

I'm not talking necessarily about Command+P, Command+V etc. But in Windows and Linux, you can press the Alt key, then the menu bar is activated and you can use the highlighted letter of each menu (F for file, E for edit, W for windows etc.) to access the menu, then its items will be displayed and you can, again, press the initial / highlighted letter (O for open, C for close, P for print, S for save, A for save As etc.) or simply use the cursor keys to navigate and press enter.

No archaic commands or keypresses to remember, simply look at what is highlighted on the screen. Windows and Linux have those as well, usually pretty much the same ones as OS X.

That is something I missed, when I was regularly using a Mac.

BigRedX wrote:
With some advice from another forum I did manage to get part of the way there from just the keyboard:

Option + any sound button on the keyboard will open the Sound Preference Pane with the search field highlighted.

The typing "Mouse" followed by Return will take me directly to the Mouse Preference Pane.

Wouldn't Command+Space and typing Mouse have done the same?

BigRedX wrote:
Unfortunately after that I can't navigate any further because I can't shift the focus away from the Search Field, probably because I have disabled the relevant keyboard commands. I had a look in the Keyboard Short Cuts tab of the Keyboard Preference Pane, but couldn't see an obvious command for shifting focus. So now I'm stuck.

AFAIK, this is one of the problems with OS X, you can't just "tab" your way through a window or use the arrow keys (I don't have a Mac handy to check).

As I said, the easiest way is to get the cheapest mouse you can find and put it in a drawer, "just in case". ;)

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:31 am
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big_D wrote:
BigRedX wrote:
Actually OS X has plenty of keyboard short cuts for navigation, they are just not very well publicised, and for long-time users of Macs (especially those who do graphics) have a tendency to conflict with shortcuts used in programs which we would rather keep.

I'm not talking necessarily about Command+P, Command+V etc. But in Windows and Linux, you can press the Alt key, then the menu bar is activated and you can use the highlighted letter of each menu (F for file, E for edit, W for windows etc.) to access the menu, then its items will be displayed and you can, again, press the initial / highlighted letter (O for open, C for close, P for print, S for save, A for save As etc.) or simply use the cursor keys to navigate and press enter.

No archaic commands or keypresses to remember, simply look at what is highlighted on the screen. Windows and Linux have those as well, usually pretty much the same ones as OS X.

That is something I missed, when I was regularly using a Mac.

BigRedX wrote:
With some advice from another forum I did manage to get part of the way there from just the keyboard:

Option + any sound button on the keyboard will open the Sound Preference Pane with the search field highlighted.

The typing "Mouse" followed by Return will take me directly to the Mouse Preference Pane.

Wouldn't Command+Space and typing Mouse have done the same?

BigRedX wrote:
Unfortunately after that I can't navigate any further because I can't shift the focus away from the Search Field, probably because I have disabled the relevant keyboard commands. I had a look in the Keyboard Short Cuts tab of the Keyboard Preference Pane, but couldn't see an obvious command for shifting focus. So now I'm stuck.

AFAIK, this is one of the problems with OS X, you can't just "tab" your way through a window or use the arrow keys (I don't have a Mac handy to check).

As I said, the easiest way is to get the cheapest mouse you can find and put it in a drawer, "just in case". ;)


Unfortunately Command + Space is used as the shortcut to bring up the magnification tool in just about every graphics program on the Mac, so all the graphics users I know have this disabled in the Finder. IMO this is one of the worst User Interface decisions that Apple made, especially considering that at the time their core user base were graphics professionals.

However it can still be done as follows:

You do have to have the Tab keyboard focus set to "All Controls" first (in Keyboard > Shortcuts) for it to work.

1. Option + Any Sound Key on the keyboard to open the Sound Preference Pane

2. If the Search field is not already highlighted use Tab to do so and then type "Mouse" followed by Return.

3. This opens the Mouse Preference Pane. Use Tab to navigate to the "Set Up Bluetooth Mouse" button and press the space bar to activate it.

4. From there you can highlight the Bluetooth mouse with the arrow keys and then press Return to pair it.


The last time I seriously used a Window machine, it was Windows 2, but I remembering ALT + the highlighted letter to navigate menus. However every single Windows set up I've seen since then appears to have this feature missing (I certainly don't recall it on the Windows 10 computers I set up last year). Is it something that has to be enabled from a hidden away system preference.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:51 am
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BigRedX wrote:
The last time I seriously used a Window machine, it was Windows 2, but I remembering ALT + the highlighted letter to navigate menus. However every single Windows set up I've seen since then appears to have this feature missing (I certainly don't recall it on the Windows 10 computers I set up last year). Is it something that has to be enabled from a hidden away system preference.


I don't think so. I'm on a Windows 10 PC right now and the Alt thing works in Office, Chrome and Adobe Reader. It's most obvious it's active in Office (hmm, wonder why) but it definitely works in the other apps as well.

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:39 pm
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davrosG5 wrote:
BigRedX wrote:
The last time I seriously used a Window machine, it was Windows 2, but I remembering ALT + the highlighted letter to navigate menus. However every single Windows set up I've seen since then appears to have this feature missing (I certainly don't recall it on the Windows 10 computers I set up last year). Is it something that has to be enabled from a hidden away system preference.


I don't think so. I'm on a Windows 10 PC right now and the Alt thing works in Office, Chrome and Adobe Reader. It's most obvious it's active in Office (hmm, wonder why) but it definitely works in the other apps as well.


Weird. When I was setting up two Windows 10 computers last year I had a lot of messing about to do in Outlook to get everything working properly. I can remember thinking that it would have been much easier if the old-style Windows ALT shortcuts were available instead of having to do everything with the mouse. I think this was the "consumer" version of Windows so maybe they are off (or hidden) by default in that one?

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:53 pm
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BigRedX wrote:
The last time I seriously used a Window machine, it was Windows 2, but I remembering ALT + the highlighted letter to navigate menus. However every single Windows set up I've seen since then appears to have this feature missing (I certainly don't recall it on the Windows 10 computers I set up last year). Is it something that has to be enabled from a hidden away system preference.


It is enabled by default and it has been in every version of Windows, including Windows 10. I'm in Firefox in Windows 10 now and it works - with the caveat that many programs now "hide" their menus, so you have to know the shortcut key or you press and release Alt, the menu then appears

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Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:57 pm
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Interestingly, I had to install Windows 10 Enterprise on a Lenovo Yoga today. Until the Intel driver set is installed, post OS installation, the trackpad and touchscreen don't work, Bluetooth either. As I didn't have a USB-C mouse (are there any?), I had to install the whole OS and then the drivers, through the keyboard and using keyboard shortcuts.

That included using the partitioning tool to delete the current partitions and create new ones, answer a dozen or so questions with sliders and check boxes. A good job the whole UI can be driven with just a keyboard.

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Fri Apr 20, 2018 11:52 am
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big_D wrote:
Interestingly, I had to install Windows 10 Enterprise on a Lenovo Yoga today. Until the Intel driver set is installed, post OS installation, the trackpad and touchscreen don't work, Bluetooth either. As I didn't have a USB-C mouse (are there any?), .

USB C in Amazon

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Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:27 am
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All fine and good, but not much use to me, when the mouse is in an Amazon warehouse somewhere and I'm sitting in front of a PC and need to configure it now... ;)

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Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:05 am
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