Original Apple wireless trackpad not populating in 2011 Mac Mini Bluetooth settings

I have the original Apple wireless trackpad and keyboard. 


  • The wireless trackpad connects to the Mac
  • The wireless keyboard doesn’t show up under Bluetooth settings for selecting
  • The keyboard does however show for both my M1 MacBook Pro and M4 iPad Pro
  • The Mac Mini itself shows up in Bluetooth settings on the both the MacBook and iPad


My assumptions:


  • The trackpad connecting to the Mac Mini rules out disfunctional bluetooth on the Mac Mini. 
  • The Mac Mini showing up in Bluetooth for other devices also rules out the Mac Mini as the problem


I even swapped out batteries just in case


Any suggestions?

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Apr 11, 2025 9:54 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 12, 2025 8:58 AM

Based on everything you've described, your assumptions seem sound. If the Magic Trackpad connects to the Mac mini and the mini is discoverable by other devices, then Bluetooth on the Mac mini itself is clearly functional. Since your keyboard is also visible to other Apple devices, the issue is pretty clearly narrowed down to a pairing or caching issue between just that keyboard and the Mac mini.


As such, I suggest that you try the following:


Manually Reset the Keyboard

  1. Turn off the keyboard by holding the power button until the green LED goes off.
  2. Forget the keyboard on all nearby devices it might have paired with—especially your iPad and MacBook Pro. Sometimes Bluetooth pairing conflicts cause devices to refuse to show up properly.
  3. On your Mac mini, open System Settings > Bluetooth, and remove any existing instance of the keyboard if it shows up at all.
  4. Now, hold the power button down on the keyboard and do not let go—you want to keep it in discoverable mode.
  5. While still holding, go back to the Bluetooth menu on the Mac mini and see if it pops up.
  6. Once it appears, try pairing it while continuing to hold the power button. Only release the button once the pairing is confirmed.


Reset Bluetooth Module on the Mac Mini

  • Open Terminal and run: sudo pkill bluetoothd
  • Alternatively, hold Shift + Option, click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar (if visible), and choose Reset the Bluetooth module (this option was removed in Monterey+, but some still see it depending on the build).
2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 12, 2025 8:58 AM in response to MBBM

Based on everything you've described, your assumptions seem sound. If the Magic Trackpad connects to the Mac mini and the mini is discoverable by other devices, then Bluetooth on the Mac mini itself is clearly functional. Since your keyboard is also visible to other Apple devices, the issue is pretty clearly narrowed down to a pairing or caching issue between just that keyboard and the Mac mini.


As such, I suggest that you try the following:


Manually Reset the Keyboard

  1. Turn off the keyboard by holding the power button until the green LED goes off.
  2. Forget the keyboard on all nearby devices it might have paired with—especially your iPad and MacBook Pro. Sometimes Bluetooth pairing conflicts cause devices to refuse to show up properly.
  3. On your Mac mini, open System Settings > Bluetooth, and remove any existing instance of the keyboard if it shows up at all.
  4. Now, hold the power button down on the keyboard and do not let go—you want to keep it in discoverable mode.
  5. While still holding, go back to the Bluetooth menu on the Mac mini and see if it pops up.
  6. Once it appears, try pairing it while continuing to hold the power button. Only release the button once the pairing is confirmed.


Reset Bluetooth Module on the Mac Mini

  • Open Terminal and run: sudo pkill bluetoothd
  • Alternatively, hold Shift + Option, click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar (if visible), and choose Reset the Bluetooth module (this option was removed in Monterey+, but some still see it depending on the build).

Apr 12, 2025 8:22 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for the advice. I’d been holding the power button only until the light first started flashing. Funny thing is, the keyboard didn’t populate until I gave up holding the power button after about a minute or so and put it aside to do the Mac Bluetooth reset. When I looked back at the Mac, there it was. All’s well!!!

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Original Apple wireless trackpad not populating in 2011 Mac Mini Bluetooth settings

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