How to Fix Mac Keyboard and Trackpad Not Working After an Update?

After a macOS update, a MacBook can reach the login screen or desktop while its built-in keyboard and trackpad ignore every keypress, click, and gesture. The power or Touch ID button may still work, but the pointer remains still and the trackpad may lose its normal haptic click.

The Mac shows no error explaining what stopped. The timing makes the update look responsible, but it does not prove that macOS damaged the input devices.

An update can expose an incompatible input utility or damaged system component. An accessibility setting, unapproved external device, or hardware shared by the keyboard and trackpad can produce the same result.

The most useful clue is where input returns. A Mac that works at the login screen, in Safe Mode, or in Recovery needs a different repair from one whose built-in controls remain dead in every startup environment.

1. Check the Mac With a Known-Good External Keyboard or Mouse

Built-in input can fail when the Mac is waiting behind an unseen low-battery alert or when its internal controls stop communicating. A working external device bypasses those controls and separates a locked session from a whole-Mac input failure.

Use this only with a device you already know works, connected directly. An untested dock, hub, cable, and keyboard together introduce too many unknowns. Skip this test if the liquid or swelling warning above applies.

1. Connect the Mac directly to power and leave it connected while you test.
   
2. Connect a known-good wired USB keyboard or mouse directly to the Mac. Try another port if the first one does not respond.
3. On a Mac laptop with Apple silicon, a new USB device may show Unlock to use accessories. A locked Mac must be unlocked before it can approve an unknown USB or Thunderbolt accessory.
4. For a Magic Keyboard or Magic Trackpad, turn it off and on. Connect it with its charging cable for about one minute, then follow Apple’s Magic accessory pairing method.

   

5. If an Apple-silicon Mac rejects new wired input while locked, shut it down. Hold the power button until startup options appear.
6. Press the power button three times, with each press within one second of the previous press. Use Bluetooth Setup Assistant to pair a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad.
7. Restart once. If the Mac will not restart normally, hold the power or Touch ID button for up to 10 seconds, then turn it on again. A forced shutdown can discard unsaved work.

If the built-in controls return after power or restart, the failure was temporary. If only the external device works, keep it connected and continue below; it is now the control you need for the remaining tests.

2. Check the Settings That Can Suppress Keyboard or Trackpad Input

Typing fails when Mouse Keys takes over the keyboard. Slow Keys delays each keystroke, while Pointer Control can ignore the built-in trackpad when Mouse Keys or another pointing device is active.

Use this only when these accessibility features were not enabled intentionally. Otherwise, adjust their options rather than turning them off.

1. Using the working external device, open Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control.
2. Turn off Mouse Keys. You can also press Option-Command-F5 and deselect it in Accessibility Shortcuts.

   

3. Clear Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present. Open the Mouse Keys information button and also clear Ignore built-in trackpad when Mouse Keys is on.
4. Open Accessibility > Keyboard and turn off Slow Keys. Apple includes Mouse Keys and Slow Keys in its official unresponsive-keyboard checks.
5. If Mouse Keys was enabled accidentally, open its options and turn off Press the Option key five times to toggle Mouse Keys.

   

If keyboard input or trackpad movement returns, no operating-system repair is needed.

For typing alone, use the narrower MacBook keyboard checks. For scrolling or gestures alone, use the trackpad scrolling checks.

If both built-in devices are still unresponsive, continue below.

3. Test the Login Session and Safe Mode

Input that works before sign-in and dies only when the desktop opens is strong evidence against a completely disconnected keyboard or trackpad. macOS may be loading a remapper, driver, security extension, or login item that no longer agrees with the updated system.

Safe Mode helps because it excludes much of that startup software. Do not use the removal steps on a managed work or school Mac; record the result and leave managed tools for the administrator.

1. If the controls work at login, enter the password and click Log In. Immediately hold left Shift until the desktop appears. Apple documents this under its alternative Mac startup methods.
2. Test the built-in keyboard and trackpad before opening any app. If they now work, remove the recently added item under System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.
3. On Apple silicon, shut down and hold the power button until startup options appear. Select the startup disk, hold Shift, and click Continue in Safe Mode.
4. On an Intel Mac, turn it on and immediately hold Shift until the login window appears. Apple’s Safe Mode guide covers both startup procedures.
   
5. Test the built-in controls before opening other apps. If they work, install any pending macOS update, then review Login Items & Extensions for recently added input remappers, mouse utilities, security tools, and driver extensions.

   

6. Restart normally and restore disabled items one at a time. Update or remove the item that makes both built-in devices stop responding again.

If input works after a normal restart, the update exposed a startup-software conflict rather than an internal hardware failure. If Safe Mode is still unresponsive, continue below and test the controls outside the installed copy of macOS.

4. Use macOS Recovery to Separate macOS From the Built-In Hardware

Normal input fails when damaged macOS components or low-level software interfere after startup. Recovery runs independently of that session, so working input there confirms that the Mac can still receive keyboard and trackpad signals outside the installed system.

Do not use Erase for this test. Keep a working external input device attached if the built-in controls are needed only for comparison.

1. On Apple silicon, shut down the Mac, hold the power button until startup options appear, select Options, and click Continue.
2. On an Intel Mac, turn it on and immediately hold Command-R. Use a wired keyboard if a wireless startup shortcut does not register. Apple documents both paths in its macOS Recovery instructions.
3. Before opening another utility, test the built-in keyboard and trackpad in Recovery.
   
4. If both devices work in Recovery but remain dead in macOS, back up the Mac and choose Reinstall macOS. A standard Recovery reinstall keeps apps and personal data.
5. Allow the installation to finish without closing the lid, then test the built-in controls before reinstalling input utilities or restoring disabled extensions.

If the reinstall restores input, the installed macOS state was responsible. If the built-in controls still fail in Recovery, stop repeating software repairs and continue below with Apple Diagnostics.

5. Use Apple Diagnostics and Record the Result for Service

When both built-in devices fail in normal macOS, Safe Mode, and Recovery, shared internal hardware becomes more likely. The timing of the update does not outweigh that evidence.

Apple Diagnostics can identify some faults and provides reference codes that make a service request more useful.

A clean result does not prove that an intermittent cable, sensor, trackpad controller, or logic-board connection is healthy. Do not use it as permission to keep operating a swollen or liquid-damaged Mac, and do not open the Mac solely because no code appears.

1. Disconnect nonessential accessories, leaving power and any keyboard, mouse, display, or Ethernet connection needed for the test.
2. On Apple silicon, hold the power button until startup options appear, then hold Command-D.
3. On an Intel Mac, turn it on and immediately hold D. Try Option-D if the first shortcut does not work.
4. Follow Apple’s Diagnostics instructions. On macOS Tahoe 26 or later, select the built-in keyboard and trackpad tests when offered; earlier versions choose the available tests automatically.

   

5. Keep every reference code and give it to Apple Support or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

A Diagnostics code belongs in the repair request. Service is also appropriate when the built-in controls remain dead in Recovery, or the failure followed liquid, impact, case swelling, or internal repair.

If Diagnostics reports a code, include it in the repair request. If no code appears but input is still dead in Recovery, another macOS reinstall is unlikely to add useful information.