Bluetooth Mouse Passkey Error: Fixing a Stuck Pairing Prompt

Fixing a Bluetooth Mouse That Keeps Asking for a Passcode

A Bluetooth mouse asking Windows to “enter a passcode” to pair is a fairly common but confusing error, since a mouse has no way for you to actually type a code back to it. When this happens, the pairing is stuck in a bad state, and the fix is to remove the old pairing information from the registry and re-pair from scratch, rather than trying to work around the passcode prompt.

Try the Easy Fix First (Updated for 2026)

Before reaching for the registry, it’s worth trying the simpler GUI-only route: go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices, find the mouse in the device list, click it and choose Remove device, then put the mouse back into pairing mode and add it again as new. This clears the same stuck pairing state for most cases and avoids editing the registry directly. If the device doesn’t show up in the list at all, or removing and re-adding it through Settings doesn’t clear the passcode prompt, the registry method below is the fallback. Windows stores Bluetooth pairing (link) keys under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Keys

Under that key you’ll find a subkey for each Bluetooth radio/adapter that’s ever paired a device, and beneath that, an entry for every device it has paired with, named by that device’s Bluetooth MAC address. If you only have the one Bluetooth device, delete the matching device entry from under the radio’s subkey. Back up the key first (right-click Keys and choose Export) before deleting anything, since you’re editing the registry directly. Once the stale entry is removed, put the mouse back into pairing mode and re-pair it as new — it should connect cleanly without prompting for a passcode this time. This registry location and the overall behaviour are unchanged on current Windows 11 builds — the fix applies the same way whether you’re troubleshooting on Windows 10 or 11.

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