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Cannot highlight text and scroll down on any web page.

  • 4 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 141 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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The problem only exists in Firefox, other applications work fine. I've already tried reseting my computer, reseting Firefox, and starting Firefox in safe-mode with add-ons disabled. None of these things resolved the issue. Help would be appreciated.

The problem only exists in Firefox, other applications work fine. I've already tried reseting my computer, reseting Firefox, and starting Firefox in safe-mode with add-ons disabled. None of these things resolved the issue. Help would be appreciated.

Chosen solution

Update: -The OS is Ubuntu 12.04 LTS -The issue is not specific to Firefox, but any window in fullscreen (now I feel dumb for posting this question). -Just found this bug report on Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/744580 The problem occurs because scrolling down is only triggered by the pointer when is passes beyond the highlighting area. The issue persists as long as windows are in fullscreen; scrolling should occur when the pointer hits the bottom edge of the screen, but does not. If the window is made smaller the pointer can pass beyond its edge, and can scroll downward while highlighting. This isn't an actual solution, but there seems to be a patch available in the forum topic linked above (see comment #8).

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You may have switched on caret browsing.

You can press F7 (Mac: fn + F7) to toggle caret browsing on/off.

  • Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Accessibility: [ ] "Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages"

Modified by cor-el

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Chosen Solution

Update: -The OS is Ubuntu 12.04 LTS -The issue is not specific to Firefox, but any window in fullscreen (now I feel dumb for posting this question). -Just found this bug report on Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/744580 The problem occurs because scrolling down is only triggered by the pointer when is passes beyond the highlighting area. The issue persists as long as windows are in fullscreen; scrolling should occur when the pointer hits the bottom edge of the screen, but does not. If the window is made smaller the pointer can pass beyond its edge, and can scroll downward while highlighting. This isn't an actual solution, but there seems to be a patch available in the forum topic linked above (see comment #8).

Modified by Jadelcal

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Doesn't seem to change anything.

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Another possibility can be to enable a toolbar like the Add-ons bar or the Find bar that is displayed at the bottom of the window.
Unfortunately both those toolbars will be removed in a future Firefox version (Add-ons bar will be removed and the Find bar moved to the top), so this can become a problem when this change lands in a release version.