The Keyboard on my iMac seems to be typing slow and garbled

The bluetooth keyboard on my iMac seems to work for a while then starts to skip letters or mix up letters while I am typing. It seems there is also a delay between the time I type a character and when it shows up on screen. I've switched to my wired keyboard and the same thing happens. If I reboot, the problem goes away for a while, then comes back. Any suggestions?


Solution 1:

  • Hold down the Shift and Option keys ('Alt' on some keyboards) and, at the same time, click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
  • Find your keyboard on the device list and select "Factory Reset"
  • Confirm "remove" when prompted.
  • Reconnect keyboard.

I tried "resetting NVRAM and SMC" as Apple Support mentioned but didn't enough to solve. If the solution above doesn't solve the problem, please try to reset NVRAM and SMC before following the solution steps.


Additional Info for new MacOS: There is no "Factory Reset" option for a specific device in the latest macOS (I'm not sure when it changed). You can use the "Factory reset all connected Apple devices" option after the first step.

Solution 2:

Apple says the following:

You may have accidentally set an option that changes how your keyboard operates.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Keyboard. Make sure Slow Keys is turned off. If Slow Keys is on, you must hold down a key longer than usual before it’s recognized.

If the problem persists, enter "Safe Mode" to bypass all third party system extensions and only load the required system components. This should help you determine whether third-party software is to blame for your situation.

If you google "Apple HT201262" you will find the article describing how to do this (I can't refer to 2 links/articles yet, sorry!)

Would you still face these issues in Safe Mode, then my final advise is to contact Apple directly.

Solution 3:

Apple's solution of resetting NVRAM did not work for me either. I fixed this by going to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Input Sources -> Set Up Bluetooth Keyboard. I disconnected my keyboard there, switched off the keyboard, turned it on, and reconnected the keyboard. Then the problem disappeared.