You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How do I unlock the number keypad on the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English (USA) (Second posting)

How do I unlock the number keypad on the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English (USA)

The Numbers on the Numeric Keypad aren't working.


NOTE: I asked this question because the last time this was asked the answer was not given and I found the answer elsewhere. An additional question is how can "mouse keys" be turned on by accident?

iPad mini 4, iPadOS 15

Posted on Mar 11, 2022 9:58 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 11, 2022 10:17 AM

The Problem is somehow "Mouse Keys" have become enabled!


Easy to fix:


  1. Click the "Apple"🍎 on the top left of the screen
  2. Click on "System Preferences..."
  3. Click on "Accessibility"
  4. On the left, scroll down to and click on "Pointer Control"
  5. Click on the "Alternate Control Methods" tab
  6. Uncheck "Enable Mouse Keys"
  7. "Quit System Preferences"


Maybe someone can explain how this gets accidentally enabled, especially when the control seems so hidden. I'm sure I didn't turn this on, on purpose.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 11, 2022 10:17 AM in response to markfromlandolakes

The Problem is somehow "Mouse Keys" have become enabled!


Easy to fix:


  1. Click the "Apple"🍎 on the top left of the screen
  2. Click on "System Preferences..."
  3. Click on "Accessibility"
  4. On the left, scroll down to and click on "Pointer Control"
  5. Click on the "Alternate Control Methods" tab
  6. Uncheck "Enable Mouse Keys"
  7. "Quit System Preferences"


Maybe someone can explain how this gets accidentally enabled, especially when the control seems so hidden. I'm sure I didn't turn this on, on purpose.

Mar 23, 2022 4:58 PM in response to dialabrain

For others: To get to the Dialog Box shown here and prevent this from happing again:


  1. Click the "Apple" on the top left of the screen
  2. Click on "System Preferences..."
  3. Click on "Accessibility"
  4. On the left, scroll down to and click on "Pointer Control"
  5. Click on the "Alternate Control Methods" tab
  6. Click on "Options..." to the right of where it says "Enable Mouse Keys"
  7. Uncheck "Press the Option key five times to toggle Mouse Keys"
  8. Click "OK"
  9. "Quit System Preferences"


Mar 12, 2022 6:40 AM in response to markfromlandolakes

markfromlandolakes wrote:

Maybe someone can explain how this gets accidentally enabled, especially when the control seems so hidden. I'm sure I didn't turn this on, on purpose.

For some unexplained reason Apple has turned on the "tap option 5 times" trigger by default in recent versions of MacOS, and there may be other random ways that Mouse Keys gets activated for some users as well. There are dozens of examples in these forums in the last 6 months or so where turning Mouse Keys off was needed to solve users' keyboard problems.


The same thing seems to have happened with "Full Keyboard Access" in Accessibility preferences, which gets turned on for some users for unknown reasons and messes up the operation of Space and some other keys in certain apps until it is turned off.

How do I unlock the number keypad on the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English (USA) (Second posting)

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.