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Lose focus on some websites when pressing the Control key

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by nnadisic

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I am using Firefox 127 on Ubuntu.

When I press the Control key, I often lose focus in the window I am currently viewing. This is annoying as it prevents me from copy-pasting for example.

Sometimes the focus is back when I release Control, sometimes it is lost and I have to click again on the text field. It does not happen on all websites, for example support.mozilla.org works well, but it happens on duckduckgo or overleaf.

It does not seem to be the same as existing issues such as [the "show mouse when press Ctrl" of Ubuntu] (it is disabled) or an addon (the problem still happens in safe mode).

In case it is useful, when I press Control the tab bar background goes slightly darker, see attached images.

Thanks for your help :) Nicolas

I am using Firefox 127 on Ubuntu. When I press the Control key, I often lose focus in the window I am currently viewing. This is annoying as it prevents me from copy-pasting for example. Sometimes the focus is back when I release Control, sometimes it is lost and I have to click again on the text field. It does not happen on all websites, for example support.mozilla.org works well, but it happens on duckduckgo or overleaf. It does not seem to be the same as existing issues such as [[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1191486#search the "show mouse when press Ctrl" of Ubuntu]] (it is disabled) or [https://superuser.com/questions/1090673/why-does-the-active-firefox-window-occasionally-lose-focus an addon] (the problem still happens in safe mode). In case it is useful, when I press Control the tab bar background goes slightly darker, see attached images. Thanks for your help :) Nicolas
Attached screenshots

Modified by cor-el

Chosen solution

What Desktop? X11 or Wayland? Try another desktop and something on a live usb stick. Have never had such issue, when I press ctrl nothing happens and I don't see the window lose focus.


Operating System: openSUSE Leap 15.6 KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.11 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.115.0 Qt Version: 5.15.12 Kernel Version: 6.4.0-150600.23.7-default (64-bit) Graphics Platform: X11 Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850HS with Radeon Graphics Memory: 62.1 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics Manufacturer: HP Product Name: HP EliteBook 865 16 inch G9 Notebook PC

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(deleted, sorry wrong thread)

Modified by cor-el

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Sorry for my above reply, was meant for another thread.

I assume that this is still caused by a setting in your Ubuntu OS as Firefox doesn't come with such a feature.

Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or if userChrome.css/userContent.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the Default System theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window

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Thank you for your answer.

Unfortunately the issue is still present in Troubleshoot mode. Enabling the default theme does not change anything.

Is there another direction I could look into? I believe the issue comes from Ubuntu but I don't see which setting could be responsible. (Also I do not have this issue on Chromium).

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Chosen Solution

What Desktop? X11 or Wayland? Try another desktop and something on a live usb stick. Have never had such issue, when I press ctrl nothing happens and I don't see the window lose focus.


Operating System: openSUSE Leap 15.6 KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.11 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.115.0 Qt Version: 5.15.12 Kernel Version: 6.4.0-150600.23.7-default (64-bit) Graphics Platform: X11 Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850HS with Radeon Graphics Memory: 62.1 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics Manufacturer: HP Product Name: HP EliteBook 865 16 inch G9 Notebook PC

Modified by jonzn4SUSE

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Modified by jonzn4SUSE

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Thank you for your answer.

I am using X11 and Cinnamon desktop.

It seems this is a known bug in a previous version of Cinnamon https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/11079 https://forum.manjaro.org/t/left-control-key-issues-in-cinnamon-after-update/119576 and I assume it is the same thing happening here.

Switching to the default Ubuntu desktop solved my issue. This had indeed nothing to do with Firefox. Thanks a lot for pointing me in the right direction. I will later try to update Cinnamon to a more recent version.

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