Bluetooth Not Working — Restore Connections for Mice, Keyboards, and Headphones

Overview #

If your Bluetooth devices won’t connect—or keep disconnecting randomly—it’s often caused by interference, driver corruption, power management, or pairing memory conflicts.
This guide helps you troubleshoot and restore stable Bluetooth connectivity for Windows and macOS systems, covering both built-in adapters and USB Bluetooth dongles.

What you’ll learn

• How to confirm that Bluetooth hardware is recognized and active
• How to clear and re-pair corrupted Bluetooth profiles
• How to reinstall or reset Bluetooth drivers
• How to adjust power and radio settings for stable connections

Estimated time: 15–25 minutes
Skill level: Intermediate

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Terms and Definitions #

Term	Meaning
Bluetooth Adapter	The internal or USB radio device enabling wireless communication
Pairing Profile	Saved data that allows two Bluetooth devices to reconnect automatically
Interference	Signal disruption from Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, or metal surfaces nearby
Airplane Mode	OS mode that disables all radios (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular)
HCI Reset	Low-level hardware reset for Bluetooth controllers

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Steps #

Step 1 — Check Bluetooth Hardware Status #

Windows PowerShell

Get-PnpDevice -Class Bluetooth | Select-Object FriendlyName, Status

If Status = “OK”, hardware is active.
If Status = “Error” or “Unknown”, continue to driver reset steps below.

You can also confirm via:

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*bth*"}

The “Bluetooth Support Service” should be Running.

macOS Terminal

system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType | grep -A5 "Bluetooth:"

If “Bluetooth Low Energy Supported: Yes” and “Handoff Supported: Yes” — hardware is detected.

If “No information found,” your Mac’s Bluetooth controller may be disabled or malfunctioning.

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Step 2 — Verify That Bluetooth Is Turned On #

Windows

• Press Windows + A → check the Bluetooth toggle in Quick Settings.
• Or: Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Bluetooth*"} | Enable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false

macOS

• Go to System Settings → Bluetooth and ensure the toggle is set to On.
• If greyed out, reset Bluetooth as shown in Step 7.

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Step 3 — Remove and Re-Pair Devices #

Windows

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth & Devices.
2. Remove the affected device (“Forget”).
3. Turn Bluetooth off → wait 10 seconds → turn back on.
4. Re-pair the device.

PowerShell cleanup

Get-PnpDevice | Where-Object {$_.Class -eq "Bluetooth"} | Remove-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false

Then re-pair manually via Settings.

macOS

1. Go to System Settings → Bluetooth.
2. Hover over the problematic device → click x to remove it.
3. Restart Bluetooth via the menu bar toggle.
4. Re-pair.

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Step 4 — Restart Bluetooth Services #

Windows

Stop-Service bthserv
Start-Service bthserv

Then toggle Bluetooth off/on in Settings.

macOS

sudo pkill bluetoothd

The daemon automatically restarts within a few seconds.

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Step 5 — Reinstall or Reset Bluetooth Drivers #

Windows

1. Open Device Manager → Bluetooth.
2. Right-click your Bluetooth adapter → Uninstall device.
3. Reboot your PC — Windows will reinstall it automatically.
4. Or reinstall directly from your manufacturer (Intel, Realtek, Broadcom).

PowerShell

Get-PnpDevice -Class Bluetooth | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
Get-PnpDevice -Class Bluetooth | Enable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false

macOS
Bluetooth drivers are baked into macOS. If they stop responding:

sudo pkill bluetoothd
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

Then reboot and re-pair all devices.

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Step 6 — Disable Power Management & Interference #

Windows

1. In Device Manager → Bluetooth → [Adapter Name] → Properties → Power Management,
   uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.”
2. Move your Bluetooth dongle or laptop away from USB 3.0 hubs or external drives—these can emit interference near the 2.4GHz band.
3. Optional PowerShell command to verify: powercfg -devicequery wake_from_any

macOS

• Keep your Mac or adapter away from metal enclosures or Wi-Fi routers.
• If you use a USB Bluetooth adapter, plug it into a short USB extension cable to distance it from interference sources.

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Step 7 — Perform a Bluetooth Reset #

Windows
Completely clear Bluetooth cache:

Stop-Service bthserv
Remove-Item "$env:ProgramData\Microsoft\Bluetooth\*" -Recurse -Force
Start-Service bthserv

Then re-pair all Bluetooth devices.

macOS
Reset the entire Bluetooth subsystem:

sudo pkill bluetoothd
sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
sudo shutdown -r now

After reboot, re-enable Bluetooth and re-pair devices.

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Step 8 — Firmware and OS Updates #

Windows

Get-WmiObject Win32_PnPSignedDriver | Where-Object {$_.DeviceName -like "*Bluetooth*"} | Select DeviceName, DriverVersion

If driver versions are outdated, update from your manufacturer’s support site.
Also check Windows Update → Optional updates → Driver updates.

macOS

softwareupdate -l
softwareupdate -i -a

macOS Bluetooth controller firmware is frequently updated via system updates.

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Step 9 — Test Connection Stability #

1. Reconnect one device at a time.
2. Observe if connections remain stable under normal use (music, mouse movement, typing).
3. If disconnections persist:
   • Try a different USB Bluetooth dongle.
   • Test the same peripheral on another device to isolate whether the fault is host or client-side.

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Verification #

Check	Command	Expected Result
Adapter detection	Get-PnpDevice -Class Bluetooth / system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType	Hardware detected
Service status	Get-Service bthserv / sudo pkill bluetoothd	Running properly
Device pairing	Settings / bluetoothd	Device connects and remains stable
Signal strength	Physical test	No dropouts or lag

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Conclusion #

Bluetooth connectivity problems usually stem from driver issues, interference, or cached pairing conflicts, not hardware failure.
By verifying adapter status, reinstalling drivers, and performing a full Bluetooth reset, most users can restore smooth wireless connectivity across all devices.
If you still experience erratic behavior even after resets, consider testing a USB Bluetooth dongle—a $10 adapter often resolves internal radio issues permanently.