How to get Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard and mouse working with your PC
Apple makes some nice accessories for its line of MacBooks, Mac Pros, MacBook Pros and iMacs. Wouldn’t it be nice if those accessories worked with your PC, you might be surprised to learn that most of them do, even if you can’t follow the included installation instructions.
If you go the USB route, Apple keyboards and mice will work with your PC but the wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mice require some extra work to function under Vista, since I’ve been able to repeat this under Vista several times and XP has been hit or miss, I do not promise these instructions to work with XP but you are encouraged to try.
Now then, I recently picked up the Apple wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use with my PC laptop. Apple does not advertise PC functionality with them nor would I expect it to do so.
But, you can get them working under Vista but you may have to set the devices up again each time you boot the PC.
First and foremost you must have either internal Bluetooth or a USB Bluetooth dongle installed in your computer.
You’ll have to set up each device one at a time, let’s start with the keyboard as there is only one difference in the instructions.
Go to the Control Panel and select Bluetooth Devices, the next screen you see will look like this…
Click Add. Note that an easier way to get to the next section is to right click the Bluetooth icon in your system try and select “add a Bluetooth device.”
Whichever way you choose you should now be at the screen shown below…
Once here and assuming you have installed the batteries in the keyboard, power it on by following Apple’s instructions but stop there.
Click the box “My device is set up and ready to be found,” once again making sure that the keyboard is still powered on and did not “sleep.” Click Next.
Leave things as they are and let the computer decide a passkey for you. I did not try this with the choose your own method so I can’t speak for that and Apple does not provide any keys in the documentation. Click Next.
You are basically done at this point, in the next window you will see a series of numbers, type these numbers using the Apple Bluetooth keyboard and press its “enter” key. DO NOT use your old keyboard to perform this step.
After you have entered the sequence of numbers and pressed “enter,” Windows will begin installing device drivers for the keyboard and it should be ready to use in a few seconds.
To set up the mouse, in the Passkey box you will need to select “Let me choose my own passkey:” and type four zeroes in the box and click Next. You cannot allow the setup to assign a key as there is no way to enter the key to the mouse. All the other steps are the same.
If you have problems you can always go back and uninstall the device and start over but chances are if there are problems it is likely the device wasn’t listening for a connection, meaning it was either “sleeping” or not powered on properly.
It would be nice if Apple provided instructions on how to set up these accessories with Windows but I guess it isn’t interested in doing so but my question would be, why?
You may have to repeat the paring each time you boot Windows but I have not tested this extensively enough to know that this will always be the case.
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December 26th, 2007
Thanks, at least now I can combine something good with something crappy
Apple FTW!
December 28th, 2007
A minor thing actually, but why does the Bluetooth Wizard still use the old style wizard UI when most of the Vista wizards come with the new “EXTRA LARGE BUTTON” style??
December 30th, 2007
good to know….
January 7th, 2008
Free prescription
January 12th, 2008
Thank you very much master,i come from China,for me is very difficult to find out the way,because these a lot of article are english and my mother tongue is not english. when i successful connect i can’t use any word to decribe my mood at that moment! Very simple way for notebook build in bluetooth no need driver.i will tell all of my friend,Thank you for your help.
February 29th, 2008
hello. which Blutooth dirver are you using ? becos my Blutooth can not find my keyboard~
October 21st, 2008
how do you do the “DEL” in CTRL+ALT+DEL?
thanks
December 7th, 2008
Thx, Work great!
January 29th, 2009
“how do you do the “DEL” in CTRL+ALT+DEL?”
You can’t, if you’re using Vista, open the start menu, type “run”, then run “taskmgr”.
February 17th, 2009
Use the “fn” button and “Backspace” together for a “DEL”
November 29th, 2009
Just one quick addition when setting-up the Apple wireless Bluetooth mouse; The last step in the process, the Bluetooth Wizard asks if you want to create a shortcut on your desktop. Choose YES. Then, whenever your PC is running and the Bluetooth service is on, you just double-click on the mouse icon shortcut and the wireless mouse becomes activated. Otherwise you have to go through the whole process of paring the mouse with the PC again!
December 8th, 2009
what I did was while connecting the keyboard, I clicked use passkey from documentation and typed 0000. It connected fine without a problem. I don’t know if it will be like this with every one but its worth a shot.
January 22nd, 2010
What if I can’t get the Devices or Windows Wizard to open up?
April 15th, 2010
I have a Vista PC. I am typing this comment using a new compact Apple Wireless Keyboard (Bluetooth, Model MB167LL/A, $69)and Apple Bluetooth Magic Mouse ($69), and with the Rocketfish USB Bluetooth Adapter ($39 @ Best Buy). Both connect and pair without any issue after a simple and easy installation of the Rocketfish software as described above,even after randomly unplugging the adapter and reinserting it, or on boot. These products perform very well, look great and give you a unique set up to wow your friends.
The problems are two-fold. While the normal keys work flawlessly,nearly all of the function keys on the KB don’t work. A couple do work, but not as indicated. For example, when I hit the “command” key, the Start Menu appears, which is cool. In any event, I could care less. The reason I got the Apple KB is because of its simplicity, looks, compact size and versatility (see below). The Mouse works fine except that I can’t get it to scroll, and to me thats a deal breaker. I got to experiment with the Magic Mouse for free though, so no harm no foul for me! The KB alone looks awsome especially against the backdrop of my 25″ HP. Unless I solve the mouse issue, I will not acquire one.
I also just bought an I Pad. The KB is an accessory sold by Apple for the I Pad, as is the charger stand. I can use the KB for both my pc and the pad, and the pad is by design mouseless. If anyone knows how to get the Magic Mouse to scroll, I’m all ears.
May 13th, 2010
My mouse works fine. My keyboard did as well. Now the keyboard does not want to pair. The PC will see it but the two green arrows that show that it is connecting go off and on. I’m using this at my business and have done some updates with my IT dept, but still no luck. Any advise? Robert
May 19th, 2011
worked prefectly! used the 0000 passcode for the mac mouse on windows XP and is working sweetly! thanks for your helPp
July 1st, 2011
Thank you! I’ll be working from home tomorrow, and I have my Windows laptop from work. At the office I’m used to work with a full sized keyboard with a docking station and a bigger monitor. At home I’ll be using a 32″ LCD TV as a second screen, but I was missing my external keyboard. By reading your post I was able to hook up my Apple Bluetooth keyboard, along side with my wireless USB mouse that I normally carry with my laptop I’m all set!!! Great!!