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Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

Arrow keys occasionally not working in text boxes

  • 11 uphendule
  • 4 zinale nkinga
  • 122 views
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu Ghost81

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I have a recurring issue that's really annoying: my left/right arrow keys (including CTRL+arrow keys) occasionally and randomly fail to work when entering text in certain text boxes on certain websites. This never occurs in "simple" unformatted text boxes (Facebook, search boxes, this very box I'm typing in...), but unpredictably happens in more complex ones (WYSIWYG editors, new youtube comments...).

I have tried disabling all extensions and running Firefox in safe mode and this *seems* to have solved the problem, though I can't be sure and I can't isolate which extension it might be, since the issue happens at random: on the same website it will happen and then not happen.

I'm on Firefox 25.0, though I've had this issue for years with countless versions of Firefox.

The extensions I have installed and enabled:

Adblock plus Bamboo Feed Reader, Dimmer, Download Helper, Drag&Drop Zones, Flagfox, FlashVideo Downloader, Flashblock, Flashgot, Grab and Drag, MouseZoom, Status-4-Evar, Youtube High Definition

Thanks in advance for any help you may give me.

I have a recurring issue that's really annoying: my left/right arrow keys (including CTRL+arrow keys) occasionally and randomly fail to work when entering text in certain text boxes on certain websites. This never occurs in "simple" unformatted text boxes (Facebook, search boxes, this very box I'm typing in...), but unpredictably happens in more complex ones (WYSIWYG editors, new youtube comments...). I have tried disabling all extensions and running Firefox in safe mode and this *seems* to have solved the problem, though I can't be sure and I can't isolate which extension it might be, since the issue happens at random: on the same website it will happen and then not happen. I'm on Firefox 25.0, though I've had this issue for years with countless versions of Firefox. The extensions I have installed and enabled: Adblock plus Bamboo Feed Reader, Dimmer, Download Helper, Drag&Drop Zones, Flagfox, FlashVideo Downloader, Flashblock, Flashgot, Grab and Drag, MouseZoom, Status-4-Evar, Youtube High Definition Thanks in advance for any help you may give me.

Okulungisiwe ngu Ghost81

Isisombululo esikhethiwe

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)


In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

  • all extensions are disabled
  • default theme is used (no persona)
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored
  • default toolbar layout is used (localstore-safe.rdf)
  • Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (javascript.options.*jit)
  • hardware acceleration is disabled
  • plugins are not affected
  • preferences are not affected
Funda le mpendulo ngokuhambisana nalesi sihloko 👍 1

All Replies (11)

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If this problem presists in other browsers or just occuring in Mozilla..?? Check it out & reply...

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This only happens in Firefox. No other browser of any other software installed on my computer presents this issue.

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You can do something like that... 1> Go to CONTROL PANEL 2> Network & Internet 3> Internet Options 4> Select ADVANCED 5> Restore advance settings...

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Thank you for the reply, unfortunately that didn't work. I suspect those settings only apply to internet explorer.

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Can you upload some images (Screenshots) of it..??

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Try it... Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Accessibility: [ ] "Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages".. If above not works, You can press F7 or Fn+Windows key or F9+Windows key or f7+windows key or fn + F7 to toggle caret browsing on/off.

Okulungisiwe ngu Bittu

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Thank you so much! Since starting to use Mozilla Firefox my arrows have been of no use! It is great to get them to work right again! THANK YOU!

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Thanks for the replies, unfortunately it is not caret browsing. Also, uploading a screenshot would not help, as there is literally nothing to see: simply the left and right arrow randomly do not respond in some text boxes and a screenshot wouldn't show it.

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Isisombululo Esikhethiwe

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)


In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

  • all extensions are disabled
  • default theme is used (no persona)
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored
  • default toolbar layout is used (localstore-safe.rdf)
  • Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (javascript.options.*jit)
  • hardware acceleration is disabled
  • plugins are not affected
  • preferences are not affected
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cor-el: My first instinct was doing exactly what you said, unfortunately there is a problem: since the issue appears randomly (it may not show up for hours), the process of determining which extension (if any) is causing it would be massively time-consuming.

The same goes for safe mode: I would have to use the browser in safe mode for hours in order to know whether or not that excludes the problem.

I read somewhere on a really old thread that deleting a user file solved a similar issue, but that file doesn't seem to exist on newer Firefox builds.

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I think I solved it: I performed a browser reset (Help>Troubleshooting Information>Reset Firefox), which deleted all extensions and preferences, and proceeded to use the browser in its "virgin" state for a whole day with no problems.

As suggested I then begun to add the extensions i suspected to be the issue and monitoring the browser for at least one hour after adding each one and I lucked out, I guess: the third extension (Bamboo Feed Reader) brought the issue back, which kills me as it's definitely the best feed reader available on Firefox and, but apparently my computer and my computer alone has problems with it.