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Every so often my iMac looses the Bluetooth mouse connection. The only way to resolve this (other than a reboot) is to switch Bluetooth off, wait about 10 seconds then switch it back on.

This involves plugging-in a wired mouse, make the above happen, then unplug it.

I use a wired keyboard which continues working without Bluetooth. Is there a way I can set something up, or a keyboard shortcut, to switch off Bluetooth, wait, then switch it back on?

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    Thanks Nimash, This works, although it's Alt and Space for Siri on my Mac. This is simple, it works and as its a desktop iMac I alway shave internet.
    – Alan Mulvie
    Sep 22, 2018 at 17:03
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    Glad to hear that it worked :) I didn't get notified of your comment (as you commented on your question and not my answer :)). I noticed it just by chance. You could have commented on my answer, or mentioned me by prepending an @ before my user name. If you find the answer helpful, consider accepting it by clicking on the checkmark shown beside the answer and upvoting it :)
    – Nimesh Neema ♦
    Sep 22, 2018 at 17:07

3 Answers 3

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Nimesh’s answer is very clever and requires no extra tools, so that may be what you want.

However, there is a much easier way, if you are willing to spend a few minutes to download and install some apps/tools once in order to have a simpler way to turn Bluetooth off/on in the future.

First, download and install blueutil from http://www.frederikseiffert.de/blueutil/download/blueutil.zip

Unzip it, double-click the Install.command and enter your password, and it will be installed to /usr/local/bin/blueutil.

(If you use brew, ignore the above and just do: brew install blueutil)

After that, you just need a way to run it via the keyboard. For that, I highly recommend Alfred, although you could use LaunchBar instead.

Assuming you use Alfred, get this Bluetooth toggle workflow and you can enable/disable Bluetooth with a few keystrokes.

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If you use Siri, you can simply ask it to turn Bluetooth on and off. Just press and hold Command + Space keys to invoke Siri. Now speak Turn Off Bluetooth or Turn Bluetooth Off. Wait for desired time, invoke Siri again and speak Turn On Bluetooth or Turn Bluetooth On to enable it again.

There's a second, but a bit clumsy approach you can take, if you don't use Siri, or do not have an active Internet connection. (Using Siri requires an active Internet connection).

Enable Full keyboard Access to use Tab key to move focus to on screen controls. Go to System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts and select All Controls for Full keyboard Access:

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Now, you can easily toggle Bluetooth using keyboard by following these steps:

  1. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight.

  2. Enter System Preferences. Select System Preferences.app and press Enter to launch it.

enter image description here

  1. Press Command + f (if required) to move focus to Search field. Enter Bluetooth and select the entry to open Bluetooth preference pane.

enter image description here

  1. Press Tab key to move focus to Turn Bluetooth Off button. Press Space or Enter key to turn Bluetooth off. Wait for some time, then press it again to turn Bluetooth back on.

enter image description here

Using this approach, you can toggle Bluetooth without touching mouse.

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  • This is really useful too. Thought I may need to delve into scrips or automator. I think Siri is my first option as it's simple but I do like to be able to navigate by the keyboard too. Thanks again. Alan
    – Alan Mulvie
    Sep 22, 2018 at 17:05
  • Thank you! Dunno why this wouldn't be the default option; it's not very helpful to only be able to tab to one or two controls.
    – stone
    Oct 1, 2019 at 16:59
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There is a more direct way to do it is by using inbuilt tools.

Ctrl + F8 will "move to the status menu in the menu bar". Then use the Right arrow to reach the Bluetooth icon, then Down arrow to show options, then Up/Down arrows to navigate the options, and Space to choose.

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