Can't delete when shift is held down...

[ITASOR]

I have this rather strange problem happening once again so I thought I'd post.

If you're typing something, and you're typing in caps with SHIFT held down, you can usually hit delete (with shift still held down) and it works no problem.

Well, sometimes, I have no clue when, this stops working for me. For instance, right now. If I hold down shift and try to delete, it does nothing.

To add to the strangeness, if I hold down shift and press delete a few times when it's not working, they keypresses "build up". To explain more about building up:

I type the word TESTING. I decided I want to delete the ING and put ED, so naturally (with shift held down) I press delete 3 times. Nothing happens. So, I let go of shift. I must now press the delete key 3 times to "undo" the non working times I pressed it, plus 3 additional times to delete the ING, understand?

I have absolutely no explanation for this except that restarting fixes it.

Any possible ideas? =\

 

[maverick808]

You must have some extension or shortcut that is interfering. In any case, why on earth would you be holding down shift when deleting!?

 

[rendezvouscp]

Sometimes it's easier to keep shift held down and delete.

I couldn't reproduce this, and I'm unsure of what exactly is going on to make it happen. You might want to, when you start to notice the behavior after a restart, do a Spotlight search of what's changed in your system from that point forward (a preference file, log, etc.). You might be able to track it down that way.

P.S.: maverick808, you're the first replier. Please don't quote the OP.
-Chasen

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

What app is this happening in?

Just tested with TextWrangler, and that functioned like all other apps I've ever tried: Shift-backspace = forward delete (ie. deletes text after the cursor like the delete button on PCs). No "build-up" when you're at the end of the text either...

I don't have a regular delete button on my iBook keyboard...

 

[ITASOR]

When this happens, it happens in every application where there's a place to type...from the google search in safari to text edit.

You don't hold down shift and delete at the same time? I just do it naturally...

Noone has a regular delete button on their iBook keyboard, but the backspace key is labeled "delete". That's the key I'm referring to.

TextWrangler may have a feature where shift+delete=forward delete.

Next time it happens, I'll do a spotlight search. How do I specify a time and date to search for everything was changed from that point on? I do the More Info (or whatever) under spotlight, correct? Then what...sorry.

Thanks for all the help. I'm kinda of thinking it's after I play a certain game (Racer) that it happens, but I'm not 100% sure. Tiger 10.4.3 killed Racer's graphic engine, so I haven't played in forever (in turn, haven't noticed the problem either), but just yesterday I realized 10.4.4 fixed the issue and played a lot yesterday (and had the issue again...). Maybe.......I don't see how that would cause a problem after I quit it, but....I don't know...

Ryan

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Noone has a regular delete button on their iBook keyboard, but the backspace key is labeled "delete". That's the key I'm referring to.

TextWrangler may have a feature where shift+delete=forward delete.

My backspace hasn't got Delete on it (probably a Norwegian/European thing), but that got me thinking... I used to be able to forward-delete with shift-backspace in all/most apps way back (probably pre-OS X, I don't actually use this feature much ), so I tried fn-backspace, and that works...

And not just in TextWrangler, which as you point out must be the only one that's kept that feature, but it works everywhere (OK, not tested it other places than Firefox (this textbox), TextWrangler (again), Mail and MS Word).

 

[baummer]

Holding Shift while pressing delete is usually used to bypass the recycle bin and go straight to deleting from Windows. What functionality does it serve on a mac?

 

[ITASOR]

Yes, Fn+Delete does a forward delete, you're right. But that's beside the point.

What should I spotlight for next time this happens? I'm going to play Racer tonight probably and would like to know what to search for to find the problem.

Maybe I should just get used to restarting.

 

[bousozoku]

Yes, Fn+Delete does a forward delete, you're right. But that's beside the point.

What should I spotlight for next time this happens? I'm going to play Racer tonight probably and would like to know what to search for to find the problem.

Maybe I should just get used to restarting.

Wouldn't it be better getting used to using Fn - delete, which has been the key combination for years? I can't say how long because I never had a PowerBook prior to 1998. It's certainly better than restarting and applications don't have to specifically support the key combination because it's part of the keyboard driver for the laptop keyboards.