Windows 10 Bootcamp with Bluetooth Not Working

[Edrick Smith]

I have a 2017 Macbook Pro 15" and I have a bootcamp installation. For some reason Windows 10 will not work reliably at all with Bluetooth. I on occasion can get the device to pair, sometimes it'll connect just fine and work but eventually craps out. Sometimes it'll say it's connected but it actually wont work at all, sometimes it'll sporadicly work and the mouse will stutter across the screen. Other time it'll just say to attempt to repair. It always sees the devices broadcasting to be paired but it will 9 out of 10 times not work. This is with a logitech bluetooth mouse, a microsoft arc mouse, a microsoft ergonomic keyboard. I've tried running updates on the OS just to see, I've gone to the bluetooth drivers all of which are installed and checked for updates. I've tried resetting and doing a PR reset on the Mac. Bluetooth works perfectly on OS X this is just a problem with Windows. 

[Edrick Smith]

Well an update to this, I think I have found what solved the issue:

 

Control Panel > Device Manager > Network Adapters > Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (right click and choose "Properties".

Under the "Advanced" tab, highlight the setting named "Bluetooth Collaboration", then change it to Enable. Then click OK.

[Edrick Smith]

Spoke too soon, same problems. I've checked to see if i can install the bootcamp drivers from apple for bluetooth but when I do that the device stops working so forcing it to take those drivers doesn't work. The drivers windows installs are from 2006. It says Bluetooth Radio 6/21/2006 for the driver it forces me to use. 

[MosheD]

Hi. Could u find solution to the bluetooth problem on macbook pro with Windows 10?

 

Thanks for sharing solution. I have same problem as described here.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

try and see if you can find the official bluetooth driver for the chipset instead of using the bootcamp supplied one to see if that helps

 

do you have the same reliability issues on MacOS side by chance? if so it could point to the hardware as well.

[Denis W. Veteran]

So through trial and error on my 2018 Macbook Pro (with a T2 chip), and booted into Windows 10 with Boot Camp, I figured out a workaround to force my bluetooth speaker to not re-pair properly after a reboot. Steps to try:

• someone suggested via this reddit post to fully power down the Mac, wait a bit, then boot directly to Windows. Applies if you're on Mojave
• but that wasn't enough for me. So the next step was to remove all Bluetooth devices in the Settings app, then go into Device Manager and remove all Bluetooth hardware. Then Action > Scan for hardware changes, to readd Bluetooth hardware.

Removing all Bluetooth devices beforehand is important, as they magically pop back into Device Manager if you don't. Afterwards I was able to get my speaker to pair once again.

 

Depending on which Mac you have, with older Macs you probably have a separate Bluetooth driver. It might have options to turn off power saving; try disabling that if possible:

 

 

... getting a Bluetooth speaker to work is a must, thanks to the T2 leading to a crap audio experience in Windows 10 - sound glitching, plus the Spotify app just causes all sound to cut out.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Denis W.