macOS Catalina USB keyboard doesn't work after being taken out and in again

After I upgraded to macOS Catalina on my MacBook Pro from 2013, my USB keyboard stops working every time I unplug it and plug it in again. Every time, I have to reboot with the keyboard plugged in to make it work again.

Is anybody else experiencing this issue and has a way to fix it because it is super annoying.

Info about my mac: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)


Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac

Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. You can release the keys after about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart.

Test after this.

If this doesn't help then at last try to:

Reset the SMC on Mac

First, shut down your Mac and Press Shift-Control-Option on the left side of the built-in keyboard, then press the power button at the same time. Hold these keys and the power button for 10 seconds. Release all keys. And, Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.

Start up in safe mode

Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display.

Release the Shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

This will release some kernel panic that might help to fix your issue too.


I just fixe my same issue. My issue would occur when my USB keyboard would stop working on my laptop after unplugging it and replugging it in while my computer was on. I would then have to reboot my computer all over again for it to work.

Restart or Start your computer in safe mode and then once you logged in try doing all the things with you keyboard that caused it not to work for yourself and if the issue goes away simply restart the computer without holding any keys and then the problem "should" go away. It worked for me and I am now able to unplug my keyboard and plug it back in and it works without having to restart everything.

Hope that helps. :)