Pair a bluetooth mouse with the keyboard only

I have an iMac running OS 10.4.2. It used to have a wired mouse, but it doesn't work any more. I have a Magic Mouse (the kind that takes AA batteries) that was paired with another Mac before. I'd like to pair it with this one.

I can use CMD+space to open system preferences and see that the mouse is discovered. However I can't figure out how to access the pair button with the keyboard.

I've tried CTRL+F7 to change the way tabs move focus. That still doesn't let me focus the pair button.

screenshot identifying the pair button


Solution 1:

Found a solution.

  1. CMD+SPACE to open spotlight search.
  2. Enter "mouse" and select the "Mouse" system preferences panel (probably the first item that comes up).
  3. CTRL+F7 (or CTRL+Fn+F7) to change the way the tabs move focus.
  4. TAB until "Set up Bluetooth device" is in focus.
  5. SPACE to press the button.
  6. Turn the mouse off and back on to put it pairing mode.
  7. The mouse should come up in the list of devices. TAB to focus it, then space to pair.

Normally, by the time you get to step 2, OS X will automatically attempt to locate your mouse. In this case, the computer was already paired with some other mouse (which I can't find) so it didn't do that.

Solution 2:

Just found out the easiest way.

If you have a Magic Mouse 2 or later, simply connect it to your Mac using a lightning cable. Apple will recognize it and connect the mouse via Bluetooth automatically.