Many users have reported a problem with the MX Anywhere 3.
Common problems include:
- Not being able to connect
- Cutting out and disconnecting at random
These issues lead to a very poor user experience and it can be an impediment to productivity.
Here are a few tried and tested solutions to the problem.
Table of Contents
Check that the mouse is turned ON
This is a basic (but necessary) check but you might be surprised how many people forget this one. Check to see if the mouse is turned on. There’s an On/Off switch under the mouse.
Check the battery
Make sure that the battery is charged. The battery level of the MX Anywhere 3 is indicated by an LED as shown in the picture below.
The LED indicates charge level. If it’s Red, the charge level is at 10% or lower. If the LED is completely off, the mouse battery needs to be charged.
You can also check the battery status in Logi Options application which shows three levels at the bottom of the app window.
Troubleshoot Wireless Connectivity
The MX Anywhere supports both Bluetooth and Unifying connectivity. The MX Anywhere 3 for Mac only supports Bluetooth.
Some mouse products (like the Razer) have a switch to select either a 2.4 GHz proprietary mode or Bluetooth. The MX Anywhere by comparison has a multi-purpose easy switch that can be used (press and hold it for three seconds) to connect via Bluetooth or Unifying Receiver. The same switch can be used to toggle between up to three different computers.
- Make sure that the mouse is associated with the computer that you are using. Toggle the Easy switch with a short press to switch from one computer to the other
- If you were connected using the Unifying receiver, make sure that the USB dongle is plugged into the laptop
Check to see if your system meets the requirements listed below.
Unifying USB Receiver
- Windows 10,11 or later
- macOS 10.15 or later
- Chrome OS
- Linux
Bluetooth
- Required: Bluetooth Low Energy Technology
- Windows 10,11 or later
- macOS 10.15 or later
- iOS 13.4 or later
- iPadOS 14 or later
- Linux
- Chrome OS
- Android 5.0 or later
Clean the sensor
Over time the Optical Darkfield sensor (7 in the picture below) under the mouse collects dirt. This could result in the mouse cutting out at random. To resolve this, the sensor needs to be cleaned.
Move any USB 3 devices away from the Mouse
Over the past decade USB 3 has become increasingly popular. The issue is that USB 3 ports tend to be very noisy. They cause RF interference especially when in use.
An example is when you might have an external disk connected to your laptop over USB 3.
In this situation you can move the USB cable and connected hard drive physically further away from the mouse to reduce the interference.
Use a USB Extender Cable
As the mouse moves further away from the dongle or the laptop, the strength of the communication signal between the two decreases. The maximum range of the Anywhere mouse is 10 meters. Although in noisy environments it could be smaller.
Use a USB extender cable to move the Unifying USB dongle closer to the mouse. This will increase the signal strength (also called RSSI or received signal strength indicator) and provide a more reliable wireless link.
If you did not get a Unifying dongle with your mouse (i.e. you bought the Mac version) an option might be to purchase a Bluetooth dongle. As a first step, an external dongle will have better reception quality in general. However if you experience stutter or random loss of connectivity, try using the external dongle with an extender cable.
Move your Wireless Router
Wi-Fi routers transmit very strong wireless signals that interfere with the operation of wireless mice. The primary reason for this is that they occupy the same 2.4 GHz frequency band. Move any nearby access points or routers away from where the MX Master is being used.
Change the Wi-Fi Band
Most Wi-Fi routers operate on the 2.4 GHz band by default. This is the same frequency range that is used by the MX Anywhere mouse. As a result signals from your router interfere with signals between the mouse and the USB dongle.
You should be able to configure your router to operate on the 5 GHz band. This will reduce the amount of interference to the MX Master mouse.
Summary
In this post we have presented the reader with 8 potential solutions to the MX Anywhere not working problem.
Here is a summary:
- Check that the mouse is turned ON
- Check the battery level
- Troubleshoot Wireless Connectivity
- Clean the sensor
- Move USB 3 devices away from the mouse
- Use a USB extender to move the receiver closer to the mouse
- Move Wireless Router
- Change the Wi-Fi band