Strange cursor behavior in gmail
December 16, 2009 11:49 AM Subscribe
Gmail wants me to type in the search box instead of the email text. Its baffling and very very annoying.
This is one of the oddest and most annoying things I've experienced with Gmail. I have an email window open, either a reply or composing a new response. I'll be typing along. Suddenly, instead of typing in the email text box, the cursor has moved to the "Find" box and I'm typing there, Gmail finds whatever text I've typed and jumps the cursor to there. I can then move the cursor back to the main message frame, but I can't type there. If I try to type the cursor jumps back to the Find box.
Its as if I were hitting a combination of letters (maybe ctrl-F?) that open the Find box and puts the cursor there, but then won't let me out of that function to type normally.
The only way I can go back to normal typing is to close the Firefox window (saving the text with ctrl-C) and starting over again. I haven't been able to replicate this under controlled conditions.
Any ideas?
This is one of the oddest and most annoying things I've experienced with Gmail. I have an email window open, either a reply or composing a new response. I'll be typing along. Suddenly, instead of typing in the email text box, the cursor has moved to the "Find" box and I'm typing there, Gmail finds whatever text I've typed and jumps the cursor to there. I can then move the cursor back to the main message frame, but I can't type there. If I try to type the cursor jumps back to the Find box.
Its as if I were hitting a combination of letters (maybe ctrl-F?) that open the Find box and puts the cursor there, but then won't let me out of that function to type normally.
The only way I can go back to normal typing is to close the Firefox window (saving the text with ctrl-C) and starting over again. I haven't been able to replicate this under controlled conditions.
Any ideas?
Response by poster: HP Elitebook. I don't think I'm brushing the touchpad but I'll watch out for that.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 12:08 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 12:08 PM on December 16, 2009
I had a very similar problem with my Thunderbird mail a few weeks ago -- no matter what I did, the cursor would pop back to the TO: field (when obviously, I wanted it in the email body). I just shut down the program and restarted and it has worked normally ever since. In your case I might suggest restarting your computer and trying Gmail in a different browser.
posted by kate blank at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by kate blank at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
This happens to me. I hadn't thought about the touchpad, but don't think that's the issue, as it happens on the keyboard as well. I think it has to do with the loading of the elements of the gmail page when you hit the compose button. You think you are in the text window, but gmail resets the focus when it finishes loading the page - maybe because of an initial keypress. At least that's how it seems to me, and I agree it's very annoying (and of fairly recent vintage). I wonder if it might have something to do with a recent upgrade of the toolbar.
posted by sagwalla at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by sagwalla at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
That definitely sounds like your control key is getting stuck or you are hitting it accidentally (you are correct, ctrl-f is the find shortcut). You could probably test by typing an "S" and seeing if it brings up the save prompt (ctrl-s is save). This could help eliminate firefox/gmail as the issue.
Since it reoccurs it could be hardware failure of some sort or a pesky crumb, coffee/oj residue, etc. I had a friend whose space bar was sticking in random M's because of a paper clip wedged between it and the space bar. So maybe give it a brisk air dusting. The only other place I've encountered this (where it wasn't dirt or something being broken) was in people who used VNC, Remote Desktop, Webex, etc (those types of things) where switching between windows with a key depressed resulted in that key being "stuck", although this seems unlikely given the context of typing an email. Next time try the very low tech solution of tapping the ctrl key a few times to see if that resolves it.
posted by syntheticfaith at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
Since it reoccurs it could be hardware failure of some sort or a pesky crumb, coffee/oj residue, etc. I had a friend whose space bar was sticking in random M's because of a paper clip wedged between it and the space bar. So maybe give it a brisk air dusting. The only other place I've encountered this (where it wasn't dirt or something being broken) was in people who used VNC, Remote Desktop, Webex, etc (those types of things) where switching between windows with a key depressed resulted in that key being "stuck", although this seems unlikely given the context of typing an email. Next time try the very low tech solution of tapping the ctrl key a few times to see if that resolves it.
posted by syntheticfaith at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2009
On sagwallas suggestion if it is a focus thing, firefox uses ' (apostrophe) and / as quick find shortcuts and I believe there are addons or about:config settings to correct (I can't search right now or I would supply them)
posted by syntheticfaith at 12:23 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by syntheticfaith at 12:23 PM on December 16, 2009
Does it happen as soon as you hit the F key by itself?
Sticky Keys is a tool MS builds into Windows. When it gets turned on accidentally it makes keys behave as if the CTRL or SHIFT or WINDOWS key are being held down as well. Go to the Control Panel > Accessibility Options to verify if Sticky Keys has gotten turned on accidently. Odd as it sounds Sticky Keys getting turned on accidentally happens fairly often. If this isn't the issue then I'm afraid I'm tapped for helpful ideas.
posted by Babblesort at 12:27 PM on December 16, 2009
Sticky Keys is a tool MS builds into Windows. When it gets turned on accidentally it makes keys behave as if the CTRL or SHIFT or WINDOWS key are being held down as well. Go to the Control Panel > Accessibility Options to verify if Sticky Keys has gotten turned on accidently. Odd as it sounds Sticky Keys getting turned on accidentally happens fairly often. If this isn't the issue then I'm afraid I'm tapped for helpful ideas.
posted by Babblesort at 12:27 PM on December 16, 2009
This recently started happening to me, when I type a "/" or " ' ". Those are supposed to shift focus to the search box, but not when you're composing a message. I haven't come up with a solution yet.
posted by entropic at 8:30 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by entropic at 8:30 PM on December 16, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Babblesort at 11:53 AM on December 16, 2009