Keyboard not working on Mac

Last updated: 2026-08-24

Which keys fail tells you what is wrong. Run the keyboard test above, press every key, and look at what stays grey.

Only the number pad fails and the pointer moves instead. That is Mouse Keys. Go to step 1.

Every key needs a long hard press. That is Slow Keys. Go to step 2.

Keys work but type the wrong characters. That is the input source. Go to step 3.

Scattered keys dead on a 2016 to 2019 MacBook. Go to step 5.

Nothing at all responds. Go to step 6.

1. Mouse Keys turns your number pad into a mouse

This is the strangest one and it looks exactly like hardware failure.

Mouse Keys is an accessibility feature that lets you move the pointer with the numeric keypad. When it is on, those keys stop typing numbers completely and move the cursor instead. Half your keyboard appears to have died.

It switches on by pressing the Option key five times in a row, which people do by accident.

Open System Settings, then Accessibility, then Pointer Control. Turn Mouse Keys off. While you are there, turn off the shortcut that enables it, so it cannot happen again.

2. Slow Keys makes every press feel broken

Slow Keys adds a delay before a keystroke registers. It exists so that accidental brushes against keys are ignored.

The symptom is a keyboard that works, but only if you press hard and hold. Light typing produces nothing. People describe it as a keyboard that is wearing out.

Open System Settings, then Accessibility, then Keyboard. Turn off Slow Keys. Check Sticky Keys in the same panel while you are there, since that one makes modifier keys latch on after a single press.

3. Right key, wrong character

If pressing a key gives you a different character, the hardware is fine and macOS is using another keyboard layout.

The clues are specific. If the at sign and the quote mark are swapped, you are on a British layout instead of a US one. If pressing Q gives you A, you are on AZERTY. If numbers need Shift, that is AZERTY as well.

Open System Settings, then Keyboard, then Text Input, and look at your input sources. Remove any you do not use.

Control and Space cycles between input sources, and that shortcut gets pressed by accident constantly. It is the reason a keyboard suddenly starts typing another language.

The test above reads physical key positions rather than printed characters, so it will show every key working while macOS outputs the wrong ones. That mismatch is the test telling you the problem is software.

4. Bluetooth keyboards

A Magic Keyboard that stops responding usually needs charging or re-pairing.

Plug it in with a cable for ten minutes first, since a flat battery can leave it visible in Bluetooth but unresponsive.

If that does not help, open System Settings, then Bluetooth, remove the keyboard, then pair it again. Keep the cable connected while pairing so the connection is not lost halfway.

If you are locked out because the keyboard is your only input, plug in any USB keyboard to do this.

5. The butterfly keyboard problem

MacBooks made between 2015 and 2019 used a butterfly switch mechanism that failed often. A single crumb or grain of dust under a key was enough to make it stick, repeat, or stop working completely.

Apple ran a free repair programme for these machines because the failure rate was so high. That programme has now closed for most models, but it is worth checking your serial number on Apple’s support site before paying for anything, since coverage varied by model and by purchase date.

If yours is out of coverage, try Apple’s own cleaning method first. Hold the MacBook at a forty five degree angle and spray compressed air across the affected key in a left to right motion, then rotate and repeat. Do not spray straight down, since that pushes debris further under the switch.

Success rates are mixed. The mechanism is genuinely fragile, and a keyboard replacement on these models means replacing the whole top case.

6. Nothing responds at all

Try these in order.

Force a restart by holding the power button for ten seconds, then start the Mac again. A hung process can stop keyboard input reaching apps while the machine otherwise looks fine.

Plug in a USB keyboard. If that one works, the fault is the built in keyboard rather than macOS.

Boot into Safe Mode and test again. On Apple Silicon, shut down, hold the power button until startup options appear, select your disk, then hold Shift and click Continue in Safe Mode. On Intel, hold Shift while starting up. If the keyboard works in Safe Mode, a login item or a third party tool is interfering. Karabiner and similar keyboard remapping tools are the usual cause, especially after a macOS upgrade.

What does not apply to Apple Silicon

You will find many pages telling you to reset the SMC to fix keyboard faults.

M1 and later Macs have no SMC to reset. The key combinations described do nothing on that hardware. Those pages were written for Intel machines and never updated.

On Intel Macs the SMC reset does exist and is occasionally worth trying, but it is rarely the answer for a keyboard specifically.

If liquid was spilled

Shut the Mac down immediately and do not turn it on to check whether it works. Liquid plus power is what causes the permanent damage.

Corrosion spreads along traces over days and weeks, so a keyboard that seems fine after a spill can fail later in a pattern, such as a whole row going dead. That pattern is the sign that liquid reached the logic board rather than just the keys.

This needs a repair shop, and sooner is much cheaper than later.