Mac Bluetooth keyboard sluggish? Here’s a fix for it

When using your wireless keyboard on a Mac, are you experiencing excruciating input delays? This guide provides a comprehensive list of fixes to eliminate typing lag.

All wireless Bluetooth keyboards, including Apple’s Magic Keyboard (which I’m now using), may be fixed following the solutions in this thread.

The problem

• The response to pressing a key on your Bluetooth keyboard appears on the display only after a discernible lag.
• When you start typing, you push a lot of keys, but the words do not appear on the computer right away. Instead, they appear on the screen after a brief delay.

Turn your keyboard back on after turning it off

On your keyboard, locate a power switch, and flip it to the off position. Remove the batteries if your Bluetooth keyboard has them.

Turn on your keyboard after waiting 30 seconds, and the delay in keyboard response time should be gone.

Image: Joshin Yamada

Reconnect the keyboard after removing the cable

1. Open System Settings and click Bluetooth.
2. Take the pointer over the connected keyboard name and click Disconnect.
3. Wait for at least 15 seconds.
4. Click Connect next to the keyboard name.

By selecting the keyboard’s name after clicking the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar, you can also unpair the keyboard.

Sync up your keyboard

Before moving forward, make sure your wireless keyboard is charged. You can see its battery percentage in System Settings > Bluetooth. Additionally, I recommend plugging it into charging for a few minutes, even if the battery is charged.

Ensure that your keyboard and Mac are within range

The normal Bluetooth range for most devices is about 10 meters or 30 feet. If you’re seated at a desk, you’re already well within this range. The Bluetooth range of your wireless keyboard may not be able to reach your Mac mini or Mac studio if it is positioned on a high rack or wall. Try to get as close to the Mac (not its display) as you can in this situation.

Reboot your Mac

If you have not restarted your Mac in a long time, temporary glitches in the operating system could be causing this lag. Simply click the Apple icon  and hit Restart, which should fix the problem.

Reopen and close the impacted app

Sometimes, only a few Mac apps can experience keyboard lag. If you see this pattern, close or force close the app before opening it again. Update that app or contact its creator for assistance if the issue persists.

Disable slow keys

The accessibility feature “Slow Keys” lets you alter the reaction time of your Mac keyboard. If this function is turned on in your computer, you could experience a significant delay and hear a sound with each key stroke. Here’s how to deactivate it:

1. Open System Settings and click Accessibility.
2. Select Keyboard.
3. Turn off Slow Keys.
4. Note: If key sounds are important to you, don’t turn off Slow Keys. Instead, click the info button ⓘ next to Slow Keys, set the Acceptance delay to short, and save your changes.

Adjust the keyboard’s settings

Say you want to swiftly type yessssssssssssss when you are excited. You’ll need to hold down the S key on your keyboard and wait for it to continually type the letter S to accomplish this. Unfortunately, macOS disables this by default. As a result, in order to activate key repeats on your Mac, you must first run a Terminal command.

If you enabled it, does the same alphabet show slowly on the screen when you press a key, or do you notice a considerable delay before the letter is input repeatedly? By altering the following keyboard settings, you can resolve this:

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the System Settings sidebar and click Keyboard.
2. Drag the Key repeat rate to Fast. After this, your Mac will swiftly enter the same text repeatedly, or if you press & hold the delete key, it will remove the letters more quickly.
3. Next, bring your focus to the Delay until repeat slider. It lets you decide how quickly or slowly the repeat key will come into action. For example, if it’s set to Long, you will have to wait for more time after pressing & holding a key, and if it’s set to Short, things will get into action sooner.

Disconnect any new Bluetooth devices

Before you attached a new Bluetooth item to your computer, did your wireless keyboard and Mac’s reaction times work as they should have? If so, you might think about unplugging the new gadget to see if the wireless keyboard lag goes away.

Put the keyboard away, then reconnect it

Still experiencing the same lag problems? The issue can be fixed by completely uninstalling the paired keyboard and pairing it again:

1. Go to System Settings > Bluetooth.
2. Click the info button ⓘ next to the paired keyboard.
3. Click Forget This Device > Forget Device.
4. Now, switch off your keyboard using its power button.
5. Switch it back on after 30 seconds and put it in pairing mode (if needed).
6. Go back to System Settings > Bluetooth and connect the keyboard.

Bluetooth on your Mac should be turned off and back on

You need a wired mouse or trackpad attached to your Mac in order to perform this on a Mac mini, Mac Studio, Mac Pro, or iMac. If you don’t, a popup message stating:

Bluetooth Cannot Be Disabled. While Bluetooth is off, you won’t be able to control this computer. Before turning off Bluetooth, connect a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad via the USB port.

After that:

• Open System Settings > Bluetooth and turn off the switch next to Bluetooth.
• Wait for 15 seconds and turn Bluetooth back on. Now, connect your keyboard if it doesn’t connect automatically.

Download the most recent release of macOS

If your Mac is not running the latest macOS, update it from System Settings > General > Software Update. On macOS Monterey or earlier, go to System Preferences > Software Update.

Reset Bluetooth on a Mac

The Bluetooth on your Mac will unpair all associated devices when you reset it. Hence, before pairing your wireless keyboard and mouse after resetting the Bluetooth, make sure that a cable mouse is connected to your Mac desktop. You can utilize the built-in trackpad on a MacBook.

Refresh your keyboard

Firmware upgrades for some keyboards are available to address problems. To discover more about your keyboard model, conduct a web search for it and get in touch with the manufacturer’s support staff.

a Magic Keyboard update

You can see evidence of older Apple keyboards receiving firmware updates by visiting the Apple Support websites from 2009 and 2010.

When you click the information icon I next to their name in the Bluetooth settings, even the most recent ones, such as Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, display a (firmware) Version.

I was unable to locate a legitimate way to update the firmware on the current Magic Keyboards, though. If Apple needs to push an update for its Magic Keyboard, Mouse, or Trackpad while they are attached to your Mac, it most likely does it in the background. The procedure might resemble the one used to update AirPods.

Test out this keyboard on a different computer or iPad

On rare occasions, your Mac’s settings might be perfect but the keyboard might have some problems.

Connect the keyboard to another Mac, Windows Computer, or iPad to see whether it slows there to verify this. If it does, you can request a replacement keyboard from the manufacturer.

Cut down on wireless interference

Keeping your Mac and keyboard inside Bluetooth range has previously discussed. Also, there must be no wireless interference between the two devices.

Your Mac mini, Mac Studio, or wireless keyboard may have metal or hard enclosures that are to blame for the sluggish Bluetooth connection. Thus, if you’re using them, take them out.

Second, both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate in the 2.4GHz wireless frequency range. However practically all relatively recent gadgets, including laptops, Android phones, iPhones, and iPads, can also connect to the 5GHz Wi-Fi frequency. Hence, if your Wi-Fi router supports both of these bands (which it probably does), you can transfer certain devices to the speedier 5GHz band. This can help your Bluetooth connections by lowering the number of active devices on the 2.4GHz band.

You can read a helpful post on this subject from Apple Help.

Think about using a wired connection

Finally, if none of the other options work, you can choose the wired approach by purchasing a wired keyboard or use the (supported) wireless keyboard by attaching it to your Mac via a USB connection.

For instance, even if I disable Bluetooth on my Mac, I can still use my Magic Keyboard in wired mode by connecting it to my Mac mini using a Lightning cord. There is no setup necessary.

The wired method has no lag or other annoying problems, such as disconnections, low battery, waiting periods during system startup, etc.