Can You Use A Microsoft Keyboard With A Mac

What's Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a wireless technology that makes short-range connections between devices (like your Mac, and a mouse or keyboard) at distances up to 10 metres (approximately 30 feet).

And with Bluetooth, your iPhone or iPad can create a 'Personal Hotspot' to provide Internet access for your Mac through your wireless service provider. Learn more about creating a Personal Hotspot with your iOS device.

  • Mar 24, 2020 Use your Apple Keyboard in Windows with Boot Camp. You can use an Apple keyboard or a keyboard designed for Microsoft Windows with your Mac. Some keys on your keyboard might work differently between macOS and Windows.
  • The problem with using a Windows-layout keyboard on a Mac can be summed up with three letters: Cmd. The Command button on a Mac keyboard is used for the save and print functions in most apps, opening a new tab or window in most web browsers, and quitting apps, along with a huge range of other important functions.

Find out if your Mac has Bluetooth

Most Mac computers come with Bluetooth technology built in. You can check to see if your computer supports Bluetooth:

  • Look for the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar. If the Bluetooth icon is present, your computer has Bluetooth.
  • Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Bluetooth. If the Bluetooth preferences list options for enabling Bluetooth and making your device discoverable, Bluetooth is installed.
  • From theApplemenu, choose About this Mac, then click More Info. Select Bluetooth from the Hardware section. If the Hardware Setting section shows information, your system has Bluetooth installed.

At least five keys have different names or symbols on a Windows keyboard than they do on a Mac keyboard, which can make it difficult to follow Mac-related instructions. For example, a software manual may tell you to hold down the command key ( ⌘ ), which appears to be missing from your Windows keyboard.

About Bluetooth menu bar icons

The Bluetooth menu bar icon in the top-right of your display gives you information about the status of Bluetooth and connected devices:

Bluetooth is on, but there are no devices connected to your Mac. If you expect a wireless device to be connected, make sure it's turned on.

Bluetooth is on and at least one wireless device is connected.

At least one wireless device has a low battery. Click the Bluetooth icon to identify the affected device, then replace its batteries.

Bluetooth is off. Click the Bluetooth icon using a wired mouse or trackpad or the built-in trackpad on your Mac notebook and select Turn Bluetooth On.
Mac computers without built-in trackpads won’t allow Bluetooth to be turned off unless a USB mouse is connected.

Command-I: Show the Get Info window for a selected file. Mac microsoft office keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet. Command-F: Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window.

Bluetooth is offline and unavailable. Restart your Mac. If the Bluetooth status doesn’t change, disconnect all USB devices and restart your Mac again. If Bluetooth continues to show as unavailable, you might need to get your Mac serviced.

Pair your Mac with a Bluetooth device

Bluetooth wireless devices are associated with your computer through a process called pairing. After you pair a device, your Mac automatically connects to it any time it's in range.

If your Mac came with a wireless keyboard, mouse or trackpad, they were pre-paired at the factory. Turn on the devices and your Mac should automatically connect to them when your computer starts up.

If you purchased your Apple wireless devices separately, learn how to pair them with your Mac.

After you pair a Bluetooth device with your Mac, you should see it listed in Bluetooth preferences:

Remove a Bluetooth device from your Mac

If you want to remove (unpair) a Bluetooth device from your Mac's device list, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Bluetooth.
  2. Hover the pointer over the device you want to remove, then click the that appears next to the device's name.
Keyboard

After you remove a Bluetooth device, you'll have to repeat the pairing process if you want to use it again.

Connect to Bluetooth devices after wake or startup

Bluetooth devices are usually available a few moments after your Mac completes its startup process. After waking from sleep, your Mac should find Apple wireless devices straight away. Other wireless devices can take up to 5 seconds to be recognised. You might need to click a button on your wireless mouse to wake it up.

Some Bluetooth devices, such as audio headsets, might disconnect to conserve the device's battery power after no audio or data is present for a certain amount of time. When this happens, you might need to push a button on the device to make it active again. Check the documentation that came with your device for more information.

Wake your computer with Bluetooth devices

You can click your paired Bluetooth mouse or press a key on your paired Bluetooth keyboard to wake your Mac. You might need to press the space bar on the keyboard.

If clicking the mouse or pressing a key doesn't wake the computer, you might need to allow wireless devices to wake up your computer:

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Bluetooth.
  2. Click Advanced.
  3. Select the tickbox next to Allow Bluetooth Devices to wake this computer.

Connect multiple Bluetooth devices to one computer

The official Bluetooth specifications say seven is the maximum number of Bluetooth devices that can be connected to your Mac at once.

However, three to four devices is a practical limit, depending on the types of devices used. Some devices require more Bluetooth data, so they're more demanding than other devices.t perform reliably, try turning off devices that you aren't using or unpair them from your Mac.

Fix interference from other household devices

Bluetooth shares the 2.4 GHz ISM band with other household devices, such as cordless telephones, wireless networks, baby monitors and microwave ovens. If you see issues with your Bluetooth devices that you suspect might be due to frequency congestion, see AirPort and Bluetooth: potential sources of wireless interference for further information.

Press startup keys on a Bluetooth keyboard

You can press keys immediately after startup to have your Mac perform functions like selecting a startup disk, using the recovery partition or resetting NVRAM.

Learn more at Startup key combinations for Mac.

Mac equivalents of Windows keys

Many of the keys that you'd see on a PC have equivalent keys on an Apple keyboard.

Windows logo: Press Command (⌘).

Can You Use Microsoft Keyboard With Mac

Backspace or Delete: Press Delete.

Enter or ⏎: Press Return.

Alt (left): Press Option (⌥).

Can You Use A Microsoft Keyboard With A Mac Free

Alt GR (right): Press Option + Control.

Applications: This key isn't available on Apple keyboards.

Use the On-Screen Keyboard for other functions

If your Apple keyboard doesn't include the following keys, you can recreate them in Windows using the On-Screen Keyboard.

Use the Snipping Tool to print screen

To recreate the Print Screen and Print Active Window function in Windows, use the Snipping Tool.

If your keyboard isn't working as expected in Windows

If your Apple keyboard works as expected in macOS but not in Windows, try these solutions:

Can you use a microsoft keyboard with a mac computer

Can You Use A Microsoft Keyboard With A Mac Download

  • Install the latest Apple software updates for Windows.
  • Install the latest Windows support software.
  • If you're using Microsoft Windows 10 N, install the latest Media Feature Pack.

Learn more

Can You Use A Microsoft Keyboard With A Mac Free

  • Microsoft provides a keyboard mapping article that describes using a Windows keyboard with macOS.
  • Use Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to find key combinations for the unique characters used by the language and region your Apple keyboard is designed to support:
    1. Download, install, and open the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.
    2. Choose File > Load Existing Keyboard.
    3. Select the keyboard you want to see.
    4. Find the country or region name in the keyboard list that's followed by '(Apple)'.
    5. Follow the instructions provided with the app. You can print images of the keyboard, including what keys look like when holding modifiers like Shift, Option, or Fn.