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I'm using Boot Camp and trying to reuse my Apple Magic Keyboard. It works fine when connected via Lightning. But I can't get it to work via Bluetooth.

Is it paired and connected?

The most infuriating thing is, Bluetooth says it's connected. There's no mistaking it, it says "Vanessa's Keyboard" and then "Connected". I don't have any other Magic Keyboards around I could be mistaking it for. If I remove it, then pair it again, the pairing seems to work fine, and it again says "Connected", but the keyboard keys don't do anything. I pick a text box, type, and nothing happens. I press Caps Lock, hoping to see the light turn on, nothing happens.

Once, not sure how, I got it to type a little bit, and then got the Caps Lock light on. But it stopped working a few seconds later.

Other devices causing problems?

One possibility might be the sheer number of keyboards. I have:

  1. The laptop keyboard
  2. The Touch Bar, apparently counts separately
  3. This Magic Keyboard
  4. The Logitech Unifying Receiver (for my mouse)
  5. A Yubikey authentication device (when you touch it it spits out a token, then presses Enter)

I tried removing the external ones and rebooting, and there was no effect. So I don't think that's it.

Tried Googling?

Google hasn't done me any good, there are a million identical articles for how to pair this keyboard in Windows. Nothing for when it says it's connected but doesn't do anything.

Device Manager say anything?

No little yellow warnings. I see Vanessa's Keyboard under Bluetooth, and see "This device is working properly" in "Device status".

Specs

  • Machine: MacBook Pro 15-inch 2017
  • OS: Windows 10 Pro, version 2004
  • Other OSes: Catalina (personal partition), Mojave (work partition)
  • Keyboard: Apple Magic Keyboard model A1843
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2 Answers 2

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I have the same issue with a 15" MBP 2017. I don't have that many keyboards though.

I wasn't able to find a satisfying solution, but found out a few things that might help:

Make Bluetooth work at all

When coming from MacOS and restarting directly into Windows, Bluetooth seems to be messed up horribly. My external Magic Keyboard and Trackpad would not work at all (even though displayed as connected). I was unable to pair other devices. After disabling Bluetooth I was not able to enable it again, only a reboot helped. Sometimes Bluetooth was not available at all.

The solution to this seems to be a cold reboot: do not restart, but shutdown the MacBook and wait for several seconds (5-10) should do. Then power up again, holding the Option key to make sure to boot into Windows. Afterwards Bluetooth seems to work reliably (also disabling and enabling works now). However the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad still stop working after a short while.

Workaround: Make them work wirelessly with Add Device dialog open

After having Bluetooth work in general, there is an interesting behavior:

  1. Open "Bluetooth and other devices settings" from the start menu
  2. Click "Add Bluetooth or other device"
  3. Click "Bluetooth"

As soon as this dialog is open, the keyboard and trackpad work again. And they keep working now as long as this dialog is open.

After closing the window, keyboard and trackpad work for a bit still, but then eventually stop working (I am having the impression they stop working after I don't move the mouse or type for a short while).

Workaround with cables (not for Magic Mouse)

And the simplest workaround is to connect the Lightning cables. The Magic Keyboard and Trackpad work reliably as USB devices then. It blocks two USB ports though and you loose the clean workspace setup. And I am aware this is not an option for the Magic Mouse which has the Lightning port on the bottom.

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    Thx for reproducing, I thought I was the only one! Might try some of these.
    – Vanessa Phipps
    Commented Aug 28, 2020 at 15:49
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It's actually a real bug in Windows 10 (since version 2004, May 2020 update) where Microsoft provides the actual Bluetooth adapter driver for the MacBook (not BootCamp), more here.

After about 2 seconds of inactivity any Bluetooth input device freezes. The Magic Utilities provide a workaround for all Apple input devices by keeping the Bluetooth connection alive.

Hope this helps.

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    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 14:21

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