Question: How do I connect my Wireless Mouse & Keyboard?

Simple! You plug in the dongle. But what even is a dongle? Simply, it's a small USB plug that goes into the rectangular shaped USB port on the back of your computer, monitor, or laptop. If you've just purchased a computer, and your mouse and keyboard aren't working. This is the first thing to check!

Where is the dongle?

Frustratingly, it's not always immediately clear where the manufacturers 'hide' the dongle when you buy a new pc or wireless mouse and keyboard combo. Luckily, it's almost always hidden away in the battery compartment of the mouse or keyboard. 

On this model it has it's own dedicated slot in the top center of the base of the mouse. On others, it could be under the batteries in the battery compartment. Sometimes they're tucked into the side of this compartment making them quite tough to see! 

What does the dongle look like?

There is a bit of variation in the appearance of the wireless dongles for mice and keyboard these days. They used to just look like thumb drives / USB sticks. More recent ones are almost no larger than the USB port itself. You'll know you've found it when you see the shiny silver metal part as that bit will always look the same as the image on the left. 

Where do you put the dongle?

The dongle should work plugged into any USB 2.0 or 3.0 Type A port anywhere on the device you want to use it with. If you have an external monitor plugged in, some of those also have USB ports that will accept the dongle. The front and back of most desktop computer cases have USB Type A ports which will work for this. Though we'd usually recommend putting it in the back of the machine so the front ports remain easily accessible. 

The blue in this photo identifies this port as a USB 3.0 port, but any with that shape and symbol will work.