Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse Not Working on macOS Tahoe?

Before you do anything, answer one question, because it sends you down two completely different paths: when exactly does your keyboard or mouse stop working?

If it is dead at the login or password screen but springs to life the moment you get logged in, and it is a third-party device like a Logitech or NuPhy while an Apple Magic Keyboard would work fine, then I can tell you the cause right now. It is not "Bluetooth is broken." It is FileVault, the disk encryption, blocking your third-party Bluetooth device before the Mac has decrypted the drive. Knowing that lets you skip the entire ritual of forgetting and re-pairing, which cannot fix a problem that happens before you even log in.

If instead your devices connect fine but then randomly drop or lag a few seconds AFTER you are logged in, that is a totally different bug, and I cover it in the second half. I read through the real Apple threads on both, so let me walk you through each one properly.

First: Which Problem Do You Have?

• Dead at the login screen, fine once logged in. This is the FileVault pre-login issue. Go to Steps 1 to 5.
• Connects, then drops or stutters during use. This is interference, battery, or Apple Intelligence. Jump to Steps 6 to 9.

Sorting this out first saves you hours of trying the wrong fixes.

Step 1: Get Logged In First (the Escape Hatch)

You cannot change a single setting if you cannot type your password, so this comes first. Almost every third-party keyboard and mouse has a backup connection that is not Bluetooth.

Here's what to do:

• Plug in the small USB dongle that came with your Logitech or other device, and flip the device to its 2.4GHz channel (usually a switch on the underside).
• No dongle? Plug a wired keyboard in by cable just long enough to log in.
• Once you are past the login window, your Bluetooth devices will usually work normally again.

Important: Keep a cheap wired keyboard or mouse in a drawer. It is the one thing that saves you every time this happens, and it solves the chicken-and-egg trap where you cannot fix Bluetooth because you have no working pointer.

Step 2: Turn Off FileVault (the Real Fix for the Login-Screen Failure)

This is the fix that actually resolved the login-screen problem for the most people. Because FileVault keeps your disk encrypted until you authenticate, your third-party Bluetooth device cannot load until after that point. Turning FileVault off lets it load at the login screen again.

Here's what to do:

• Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then FileVault.
• Click Turn Off, then restart.

Important: Be honest with yourself about the trade-off here. With FileVault off, your disk is no longer encrypted, which is a real security downgrade. The original poster who found this said plainly, "turning off FileVault re-established the connection," but others refused it on principle. My advice: use it to confirm the cause and as a temporary workaround, then turn FileVault back on once Apple patches this. And note, it is not a universal cause, a few people had the issue even with Apple devices, so if it does not help, move on.

Step 3: Forget and Re-Pair the Device

If your trouble is not strictly at the login screen, a stale pairing carried over from the update is the next suspect. Forgetting the device clears the bad record.

Here's what to do:

• Open System Settings, then Bluetooth.
• Click the info icon next to your device, choose Forget This Device, and confirm.
• Toggle Bluetooth off and on, put the device back in pairing mode, and reconnect.

Important: Do this one device at a time, and only when you have that wired backup connected. If you toggle Bluetooth off and your only mouse drops, you can be left with no way to turn it back on.

Step 4: Reset the Bluetooth Module

If re-pairing will not stick, resetting the Mac's Bluetooth hardware can clear a deeper glitch.

Here's what to do:

• Hold Shift + Option and click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
• Choose Reset Bluetooth Module (older versions say Factory Reset Bluetooth), then restart and re-pair.

Important: Apple removed this hidden menu on some newer Tahoe builds, so do not worry if you do not see it. You are not doing anything wrong, it just is not there on every version.

Step 5: Delete the Corrupt Bluetooth Preference File

When pairings keep breaking after every reboot, a corrupted Bluetooth settings file is often behind it. Removing it forces macOS to build a clean one.

Here's what to do:

• In Finder, press Command + Shift + G, paste ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/, and press Return.
• Find the file that begins with com.apple.Bluetooth and move it to the Trash.
• Restart your Mac, then pair your devices again.

Step 6: Charge or Replace the Batteries

Now we switch to the other problem, devices that drop or lag after you are logged in. The most overlooked cause is the simplest. Several people found their Tahoe disconnects started only once the device dropped below about 50 percent, where it never used to.

Here's what to do:

• Fully charge or swap the batteries in your mouse and keyboard before assuming a software bug.
• Watch whether the drops stop. If they do, Tahoe simply got more aggressive about low-battery power saving.

Step 7: Kill the 2.4GHz Interference

Bluetooth shares the crowded 2.4GHz airspace with Wi-Fi and AirDrop, and on Tahoe they step on each other more than before. This is a top cause of a stuttering cursor.

Here's what to do:

• Connect your Mac to your 5GHz Wi-Fi network instead of 2.4GHz if you have the option.
• Open System Settings, General, AirDrop & Handoff, and turn Handoff off.

Handoff and AirDrop constantly chatter over the same radio as your mouse, so quieting them often smooths out the lag.

Step 8: Turn Off Apple Intelligence

This one is specific and surprising, but it is straight from the threads. One user fought constant mouse and keyboard lag on Tahoe and found it stopped only after they switched Apple Intelligence off.

Here's what to do:

• Open System Settings, then Apple Intelligence & Siri.
• Turn Apple Intelligence off, and see if the stutter clears.

It will not be the answer for everyone, but it costs you nothing to test, and it genuinely fixed it for some people.

Step 9: Update macOS and Your Device's Software

Both Apple and your peripheral maker ship fixes for this. Vendors like Logitech push Tahoe-compatibility and certificate fixes through their own apps, not the App Store.

Here's what to do:

• Open System Settings, General, Software Update, and install any macOS update.
• Update your peripheral's own software too, such as Logitech Options+ or G HUB.

Still Not Working? Here Is What Is Left

If you have matched your problem to the right half of this guide and worked it:

• Report it to Apple. These really are workarounds, and the proper fix has to come from Apple. Use Feedback Assistant to file the bug, especially the FileVault login-screen issue, so it gets the attention it deserves.
• Do not buy new hardware yet. This bug hits Intel and Apple Silicon Macs identically, and Apple's own keyboard and mouse keep working, which all points at the operating system, not your device. A new keyboard would likely behave the same.
• Re-enable FileVault when a fix lands. If you turned it off, keep an eye on macOS updates and switch it back on once the login-screen issue is patched, so you are not running unencrypted any longer than you have to.

Quick Recap

In the order I would actually try them:

1. Get logged in with a 2.4GHz dongle or a wired keyboard.
2. If it fails only at the login screen, turn off FileVault (temporarily).
3. Forget and re-pair the device.
4. Reset the Bluetooth module from the menu bar.
5. Delete the com.apple.Bluetooth preference file and restart.
6. For drops after login, charge or replace the batteries first.
7. Move to 5GHz Wi-Fi and turn off Handoff to cut interference.
8. Try turning Apple Intelligence off if the cursor lags.
9. Update macOS and your peripheral's own software.

The big takeaway: the clue is the timing. Dead at the login screen on a third-party device is FileVault, and the answer is a dongle to get in plus a temporary FileVault toggle, not endless re-pairing. Dropping after login is interference, battery, or Apple Intelligence. Match the fix to the symptom and you will get there fast.

Where to Next

More macOS Tahoe help: This fix is part of our macOS Tahoe problems and fixes guide, a single place that rounds up every common Tahoe issue. If something else on your Mac is acting up after the update, start there.