Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Arrow keys don't repeat

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by Terry

drbobjr
drbobjr
more options

Somewhat recently, when editing text in any text field in Firefox (87.0 64 bit), I noticed the arrow keys don't repeat when held down. Other keys do just fine, but the arrow keys, when held down, move one position, there's a very slight delay, and it moves one more position and then stops; no auto-repeating. I've restarted Firefox without addons and that didn't help. I've also toggled the Auto-scrolling and smooth scrolling options too.

This makes editing long text fields a real pain. I don't see this problem in any PC-based apps and arrows keys do repeat OK in Chrome and Edge. It appears to be a Firefox issue.

Any ideas? Many thanks!!!!!

- Bob

Somewhat recently, when editing text in any text field in Firefox (87.0 64 bit), I noticed the arrow keys don't repeat when held down. Other keys do just fine, but the arrow keys, when held down, move one position, there's a very slight delay, and it moves one more position and then stops; no auto-repeating. I've restarted Firefox without addons and that didn't help. I've also toggled the Auto-scrolling and smooth scrolling options too. This makes editing long text fields a real pain. I don't see this problem in any PC-based apps and arrows keys do repeat OK in Chrome and Edge. It appears to be a Firefox issue. Any ideas? Many thanks!!!!! - Bob

All Replies (3)

Terry
Terry
more options

Does the problem occur if you start Firefox in safe mode? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

drbobjr
drbobjr Question owner
more options

Yes, the problem still happens after restarting in safe mode. I tried turning off Hardware Acceleration too. No luck.

But....I've sorta' tracked this down. I use a utility called ActiveWords. When I unloaded it, the Firefox problem went away. When I reloaded ActiveWords, the problem returned.

This is bad news. Which one of "my children" am I going to kill? Tough choice. I've been a Firefox fan for a VERY LONG time.

Alas, this doesn't sound like a problem that can be fixed easily. I may try older versions of Firefox and see if that helps. (Again, not something really I want to do.)

Let me know if you have any more thoughts.

Thanks!

- Bob

Terry
Terry
more options

I am not familiar with ActiveWords. Since it is working with other browsers, it may be worth filing a bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/ Can you alter the configuration of ActiveWords in any way?