How can I turn off Bluetooth with only keyboard actions?

Question

A trackpad in another room was interfering with my ability to use my laptop's native trackpad, such that I could not click on anything. I wanted to either turn off bluetooth or disconnect the offending device.

I used Finder to get into Bluetooth settings but then I was stuck. I could not figure out a keyboard shortcut to get to the button to turn off bluetooth nor to disconnect the connected trackpad.

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hah. I wrote a script that did this exact thing once. I'll share it with you. — William T Froggard, Jun 14 '15 at 07:10
See also https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/47503/how-to-control-bluetooth-wireless-radio-from-the-command-line — here, Jan 17 '20 at 22:15

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 23 '18 at 04:27

5

If you have a TouchBar Mac Book: Invoke Siri via TouchBar and simply say "Turn Off Bluetooth"

If Siri is not enabled, it will prompt you to enable first.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206993

First time used Siri on my Mac!

answered Apr 23 '18 at 04:27

Nik

51

1

Dont need TouchBar just cmd+space Siri – chris Oct 13 '19 at 00:46

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 14 '15 at 07:12

2

Go into the Finder, type command + shift + u and open Script Editor by selecting it and typing command + o. In a new script, type (since you can't highlight to copy)

tell application "System Events"
    click button "Turn Bluetooth Off" of window 1 of application process "System Preferences"
end tell

and then type command + r to run the script. The trackpad should now be disconnected.

answered Jun 14 '15 at 07:12

William T Froggard

5,507

Perfect! Does exactly what I need and gives me a good template for similar simple scripts, as I haven't done any AppleScripting before. – bullcitydave Jun 14 '15 at 17:21
2

I got error "System Events got an error: Can’t get application process \"System Preferences\"." number -1728 from application process "System Preferences" in Mojave – Chris F Carroll May 15 '19 at 10:31
Because System Preferences has to be running. You'll get that error if it's not. – William T Froggard May 19 '19 at 16:25
As of 2022, os 12.4, I always get the error System Events got an error: Can’t get button "Turn Bluetooth Off" of window 1 of application process "System Preferences". whether System Preferences is open or not. You also need to press Command + n for a new script. – Adam_G Jul 28 '22 at 16:17

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 30 '18 at 19:28

2

Another way would be to enable VoiceOver (CMD + F5) and using this to keyboard navigate the bluetooth settings panel with TAB and ENTER plus the arrow keys.

That let's you both turn off bluetooth and disconnect specific devices.

answered Oct 30 '18 at 19:28

BardGyver

21
1

In 2019 this was the only option that worked for me. – stone Oct 01 '19 at 16:56

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 11 '17 at 19:35

If it is just the primary click function you are missing and you still have control of where you move the mouse you likely also have the function to right click.

Therefore, if you can bring up Bluetooth settings with your keyboard using spotlight search, you can then right click on the device you need to disconnect.

No script necessary!

I just did it.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 15 '21 at 01:01

This works in BigSur 11.2.3:

Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts
Check Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls

Then, in future:

Cmd <Space> to open Spotlight Search
Type bluetooth and select the Bluetooth settings app
Press the tab key to move focus to the Turn Bluetooth On or Turn Bluetooth Off button
Press space to activate the button

How can I turn off Bluetooth with only keyboard actions?

5 Answers5

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