Unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off on Mac

Bluetooth is one of the most popular wireless technologies that allow you to connect two or more devices to perform daily tasks with less hardware. With a wide range of possibilities, it’s completely up to you to decide how to use Bluetooth on Mac. But linking your computer to wireless keyboards, mice, trackpads, and speakers is a good place to start. It is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using UHF radio waves in the industrial, scientific and medical radio bands. In this troubleshooting guide, you will learn how to resolve the following issue “Unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off on Mac”. Here are some guides you might be interested in: How to migrate Veeam MsSQL Database to a new MsSQL Server, and how to install Veeam Backup and Replication 11 Community Edition with a dedicated SQL Server.

If you wish to prevent interference on an aeroplane, or you do not want your Mac connecting to Bluetooth devices for some other reason due to security measures, the ability to completely turn Bluetooth off and on becomes very handy. But for some users, this is not the case as it does work correctly. Here are some related guides: Add Hardware and Peripherals: How to add a device to a Windows 10 Computer, and How to connect and remove Beoplay E8 3rd Generation to Mac.

Why is this issue “Unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off on Mac” Present?

From the resolution, I assume that the Property List files (.plist file) were corrupted and this can affect Bluetooth connectivity. You can see from the image below, that there is no way to turn BlueTooth Off. This is what I tend to resolve in this article.

Also, when you press the Shift + Option and click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar, you will also see the button is greyed out as shown below. You can also click on the Bluetooth Icon, and you would notice that the switch to turn it off or one is greyed out.

What is a .plist file?

Preference and configuration files in macOS use property lists (plists) to specify the attributes, or properties, of an app or process. An example is the preferences .plist for the Finder in the Library/Preferences/ folder of a user’s home folder. The file is named com.apple.

The main macOS Bluetooth device cache is in the”/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist“. Due to corruption etc, you may have to delete the numerous Bluetooth .plist files. See the example below!

Note: Deleting this file “com.apple.Bluetooth.plist“ONLY will not resolve this issue as mentioned in this guide “Cannot open Bluetooth Preference Pane because it is not available on Mac“. Here are some interesting guides: how to migrate Veeam MsSQL Database to a new MsSQL Server, how to install Veeam Backup and Replication 11 Community Edition with a dedicated SQL Server, and How to create a dual-boot setup on Windows 11.

Solution: Delete the Bluetooth .plist files to resolve the Unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off issue

Deleting Property List files which can sometimes become corrupted and stealthily affect Bluetooth connectivity. To remove the .plist files, please follow the steps below.

Choose Go from the Finder menu at the top of your screen and select “Go to Folder”.

Enter /Library/Preferences. Find the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file and delete it

Navigate back to the Finder Menu. This time, let me show you another step. Right-click on the Finder Menu and select “Go to Folder“. Click on Go to Folder.

Type in Type in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost and hit Enter! Find com.apple.Bluetooth.1111.plist file and delete it 

Upon selection, you will discover a lock that will be visible close to the Turn Bluetooth off button. Click on the lock and you will be prompted to enter your password.

Note: This fix did not require any restart! This might not be the case for you. Please shut down your Mac for a few minutes as it will automatically generate new .plist files, and this will resolve the issue "Unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off on Mac".

Switch Bluetooth Off

Let’s switch Bluetooth off on Mac. To do this, just google the Bluetooth button or Click on Turn Bluetooth off as shown below. As you can see below, you will be able to Turn BlueTooth Off and On again as you wish 🙂

Here is a guide on how to remove a Bluetooth device and connect a new Bluetooth device to Macbook, and how to fix Bluetooth not available on MacBook,

Switch Bluetooth On

Now, that we have switched Bluetooth off, let me show you how to enable or On it again. Just click on the Turn Bluetooth on the button or toggle the Bluetooth button On. Want to learn how to pair a third-party Bluetooth accessory with your iPhone or iPad, please see this link. This approach is similar to pairing your Macbook.

I hope you found this blog post on how to fix unable to Turn Bluetooth On or Off on Mac interesting and helpful. In case you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.