CTRL / CMD key get stuck on OS X / Text Box Backspace deletes whole word or whole line on Mac and Linux
When I open my inventory and go to the search tab, I enter something in and everything goes wonky. I am done searching so I press backspace and the entire search term disappears. I enter the chat to say hi to my friend who just joined, I misspelled his name and I tried deleting the accidental character, and the entire name disappears. Say his name was George, and I type Goerge instead. I would press backspace, and all "Goerge" would disappear. (Get what I mean?) This happens until I completely re-start the game.
Delete whole word: CTRL is stuck, delete whole line: SHIFT is stuck.
Steps to reproduce on OS X:
- have Minecraft and at least one other app open in fullscreen mode
- open chat, type a few letters
- holding ⌘, switch the other fullscreen app by swiping left/right with 4 fingers on the trackpad (⌘⇥ also works if you press ⌘ quickly enough while the app switch animation is active)
- release ⌘
- switch back to Minecraft
- press A. This will select the text you typed instead of writing the letter A.
Linked Issues
is duplicated by43
MC-11369When typing, if you spell a word wrong and backspace, it deletes the entire word.DuplicateMC-13436"Q" and "backspace" buttonDuplicateMC-14103Delete button, deletes whole sentence instead of one letter.DuplicateMC-16666Chat Box / Commands - When Trying to Delete letters, it deletes the whole word instead.DuplicateMC-22427Keys get "stuck"DuplicateMC-24547Mac OS X command key gets stuckDuplicateMC-25312Typing in Multiplayer Sometimes Deletes Whole WordDuplicateMC-25967Backspace in chat on OS X deletes entire word rather than a single letterDuplicateMC-26780Backspace on OS X is broken on chatDuplicateMC-26982MAC OSX Hotkeys do not function properlyDuplicateMC-28093MC 1.6.2 Mac spacesDuplicateMC-28214Backspace erases entire wordDuplicateMC-29381Mac Chat IssuesDuplicateMC-30550When i chat it deletes the whole word!! please helpDuplicateMC-31645Chat deletes entire word, instead of one letter.DuplicateMC-36479Mac / Keyboard Issues. Control/Command key.DuplicateMC-40396Backspace deletes entire wordDuplicateMC-41768In chat, backspace deletes by word instead of by characterDuplicateMC-47486Backspacing on macDuplicateMC-48451Backspace deletes whole word in chatDuplicateMC-70528Chat stops working corrctly when switching virtual desktop in LinuxDuplicateMC-70642Sometimes Cannot Type Letter "A"DuplicateMC-72391Highlights words when i press a in any typing interfaceDuplicateMC-73467cmd key gets stuck when trying to type on macDuplicateMC-74305Chat / Inventory Search losing charactersDuplicateMC-74865Text entry boxes act strange when other windows are open.DuplicateMC-77637Command Line Keys Automatucally Act as ShortcutsDuplicateMC-78088Letters on Keyboard nor workingDuplicateMC-78766Command key mistakenly read as held down when changing windowsDuplicateMC-79999Minecraft seemingly randomly stops allowing certain letters to be typed.DuplicateMC-80310Command Key Sticks in Mac after Command+TabDuplicateMC-81730Minecraft Chat BugDuplicateMC-86693"A" and "X" Key do not work in chatDuplicateMC-86694Delete Key does not work in chatDuplicateMC-88909OS X - No Keybind option for Auto movementDuplicateMC-89612Pressing "Q" drops entire stack on occasion without addition of "Ctrl"DuplicateMC-104498Keyboard layout issue DuplicateMC-105432whenever i try to play minecraft, the keyboard is kind of messed up, when i try to type the letter "a" "A" , it highlights all of my typing then delete it all. It also won't let me type in some letters.DuplicateMC-119001Copy and Paste...DuplicateMC-121051Text input broken after switching focus away from Minecraft and back againDuplicateMC-123956Typing commands gets halted or truncatedDuplicateMC-130402Narrator Activates When Typing "B" in Sign Interface (on Mac)DuplicateMC-4331Chat error, stuck key. Only on Mac OS XDuplicaterelates to4
MC-23132Click or right-click stuck on OS XFixedMC-88908OS X - When CMD+A in the Commandblock GUI/chat/... you auto strafe when exiting GUIFixedMC-90021Cmd key doesn't seem to work all the time (Command Blocks)Awaiting ResponseMC-113915Inadvertently saving/overwriting saved hotbars due to stuck modifier keyFixed
Created Issue:
Text Box Backspace is Wonky
When I open my inventory and go to the search tab, I enter something in and everything goes wonky. I am done searching so I press backspace and the entire search term disappears. I enter the chat to say hi to my friend who just joined, I misspelled his name and I tried deleting the accidental character, and the entire name disappears. Say his name was George, and I type Goerge instead. I would press backspace, and all "Goerge" would disappear. (Get what I mean?)
Environment
Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (10.04) LTS
Architecture: i686
CPU op-mode(s): 64-bit
CPU(s): 1
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 1
CPU socket(s): 1
Vendor ID: AuthenticAMD
CPU family: 15
Model: 76
Stepping: 2
CPU MHz: 800.000
Kernel version: 2.6.32-45-generic
When I open my inventory and go to the search tab, I enter something in and everything goes wonky. I am done searching so I press backspace and the entire search term disappears. I enter the chat to say hi to my friend who just joined, I misspelled his name and I tried deleting the accidental character, and the entire name disappears. Say his name was George, and I type Goerge instead. I would press backspace, and all "Goerge" would disappear. (Get what I mean?) This happens until I completely re-start the game.
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Text Box Backspaceis WonkyText Box Backspace deletes whole word or whole line
When I open my inventory and go to the search tab, I enter something in and everything goes wonky. I am done searching so I press backspace and the entire search term disappears. I enter the chat to say hi to my friend who just joined, I misspelled his name and I tried deleting the accidental character, and the entire name disappears. Say his name was George, and I type Goerge instead. I would press backspace, and all "Goerge" would disappear. (Get what I mean?) This happens until I completely re-start the game.
Delete whole word: CTRL is stuck, delete whole line: SHIFT is stuck.
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![[Mod] CubeTheThird](../../../data/assets/gravatar/cubethethird.jpeg){kind=small}
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Text Box Backspace deletes whole word or whole line on Mac and Linux
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![[Mod] Torabi](../../../data/assets/gravatar/torabi.png){kind=small}
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CTRL / CMD key get stuck on OS X / Text Box Backspace deletes whole word or whole line on Mac and Linux
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![[Mod] Ezekiel (ezfe)](../../../data/assets/gravatar/ezekielelin.jpeg){kind=small}
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When I open my inventory and go to the search tab, I enter something in and everything goes wonky. I am done searching so I press backspace and the entire search term disappears. I enter the chat to say hi to my friend who just joined, I misspelled his name and I tried deleting the accidental character, and the entire name disappears. Say his name was George, and I type Goerge instead. I would press backspace, and all "Goerge" would disappear. (Get what I mean?) This happens until I completely re-start the game.
Delete whole word: CTRL is stuck, delete whole line: SHIFT is stuck.
Steps to reproduce on OS X:
- have Minecraft and at least one other app open in fullscreen mode
- open chat, type a few letters
- holding ⌘, switch the other fullscreen app by swiping left/right with 4 fingers on the trackpad (⌘⇥ also works if you press ⌘ quickly enough while the app switch animation is active)
- release ⌘
- switch back to Minecraft
- press A. This will select the text you typed instead of writing the letter A.
Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (10.04) LTS
Architecture: i686
CPU op-mode(s): 64-bit
CPU(s): 1
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 1
CPU socket(s): 1
Vendor ID: AuthenticAMD
CPU family: 15
Model: 76
Stepping: 2
CPU MHz: 800.000
Kernel version: 2.6.32-45-generic
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![[Mod] Michael Wobst](../../../data/avatars/users/37868.png){kind=small}
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![[Mod] violine1101](../../../data/avatars/users/92858.png){kind=small}
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![[Mod] Neko](../../../data/avatars/users/92901.png){kind=small}
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Duplicate of MC-3643, please use the search function to see if your bug has already been submitted. Currently over 53% of tickets are being closed as duplicate.
Still a duplicate of MC-3643.
Delete whole word: CTRL is stuck, delete whole line: SHIFT is stuck.
This issue is resolved as duplicate of MC-3643.
Remember, this site is a bug tracker, not customer support or help forum.
Duplicate of MC-3643, please use the search function to see if your bug has already been submitted. Currently over 57% of tickets are being resolved as duplicate.
Duplicate of MC-3643 and MC-20440, please use the search function to see if your bug has already been submitted. Currently over 56% of tickets are being resolved as duplicate.
Duplicate of MC-3643, please use the search function to see if your bug has already been submitted. Currently over 57% of tickets are being resolved as duplicate.
Duplicate of MC-3643, please use the search function to see if your bug has already been submitted. Currently over 47% of tickets are being resolved as duplicate.
Duplicate of MC-3643 - If you have not , please use the search function in the future, to see if your bug has already been submitted. If you could not find the original report, please comment with the keywords you searched for.
Duplicate of MC-3643
Duplicate of MC-3643
I think I somewhat understand what you are describing, and I believe this report is a duplicate of MC-3643. Holding down ctrl while changing windows/desktops causes whole words to be deleted.
![[Mod] Sonicwave](../../../data/avatars/users/94627.png){kind=small}
Dupe of MC-3643.
Dupe of MC-3643
Duplicate of MC-3643.
Hardware issue, the control button is stuck.
Edit: Duplicate of MC-3643.
Because of issue MC-3643, when I Command-Tab back to Minecraft, if I press a number key, instead of selecting that entry in the hotbar, it saves my current hotbar to that number key.
Before this saving hotbar feature, the fact that modifiers would get stuck on was a minor annoyance. It would only really have any major effect when in chat and would never cause any irreversible action.
But now that Command+Number has meaning, this has become a serious usability problem, because it now can cause serious disruption to workflow by wrecking carefully-organized saved toolbars.
I suggest either (a) actually fixing MC-3643, or (b) choosing another modifier key for the "save" feature. Instead of Command, for instance, you could make it the Alt/Option key. This would once again mask this stuck modifier bug and stop wrecking saved hotbars.
Thank you for your report!
However, this issue is a Duplicate of MC-3643.
It has been linked to this report. If you have additional information, please add it to that report.
Please search before reporting, as it's likely that one exists already.
Quick Links:
📓 Issue Guidelines – 💬 Community Support – 📧 Customer Support – 📖 Game Wiki
Thank you for your report!
However, this issue is a Duplicate of MC-3643.
It has been linked to this report. If you have additional information, please add it to that report.
Please search before reporting, as it's likely that one exists already.
Quick Links:
📓 Issue Guidelines – 💬 Community Support – 📧 Customer Support – 📖 Game Wiki
Likely MC-3643. Are you sure about your second example? I've never seen that happen.
After reading MC-3643 you're right, it does seem a lot like a duplicate.
I apologize for basically abandoning this thread. I figured out that the issue is indeed MC-3643 and this should be marked a duplicate of it.
![[Helper] pine1needle](../../../data/avatars/users/41329.png){kind=small}
Is MC-3643 the fixed report that you are referring to?
I can confirm this. It also sometimes does this with Signs and Book and Quills.
@Xavier Brown Thanks, please do.
Is this still a concern in the current Minecraft version? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.
Ctrl+backspace deletes whole words, maybe caused by
MC-886?Resolving as duplicate of
MC-886(see alsoMC-205).This is not a duplicate of
MC-886. Opening GUIs (including chat) clears the state of most keys, but does not clear the state of the control key.To reproduce the problem:
For completeness, I am using Ubuntu.
Reopened.
So.... is there a solution for this or not....
I have this issue on Mac OSX, with both 1.6 and the new snapshots.
Occasionally the chat returns to normal, if I repeatedly tab out of the game and back in. (as that seems to cause it for me)
Pressing backspace deletes an entire word of text instead of just one letter. I noticed that if I press the command key it switches to deleting one letter.
The is a major constant annoyance.
Minecraft 1.7.2
Mac OS X 10.6.8
Java 6
I can confirm, following Tavis' steps. That being said, I'm not sure this could be fixed, as the game would have to be constantly checking if the shift and ctrl keys have been released.
Is this still a concern in the current Minecraft version 1.7.4 / Launcher version 1.3.8 or later? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.
Cannot reproduce this issue in 14w34b
This is reproducible as a bug? Is this not a hardware related issue with the keyboard itself? I cannot replicate this.
Or if this bug is specific to Ubuntu (whatever that is), maybe the title should clarify that?
I am able to reproduce this with Ubuntu. Others have confirmed it previously with OSX.
I cannot reproduce with Windows. Please update title to clarify this for others testing.
for me this also seems to appear if the cmd key gets stuck and I try to write the letter V the content of the clipboard gets copied into the text box
Easier reproducer on OSX: Command-Tab to switch to a different window. When you switch back to the Minecraft window any keystrokes behave as if the Command key were still depressed (thus V behaves like Command-V, backspace like Command-backspace, etc).
Workaround on OSX: If you tap Command once or twice the problem corrects and keystrokes behave normally.
Perhaps check for the state of modifiers when the Minecraft window regains focus? Normally I'd be happy to submit a patch but...
This just happened to me on Minecraft 1.8.5
OSX 10.9.5 Mavericks. 8 GB, 6750M video, i7
java version "1.7.0_21"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_21-b12)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.21-b01, mixed mode)
I was logged into a server also running MC 1.8.5 on Ubuntu 12, although I think it's got nothing to do with it.
It does seem to be related to Command-Tab and/or switching between Minecraft and other applications.
I encounter often this bug. It's very annoying.
@Christopher:
(Mac OS X 10.10, java 8, MC 1.8.8)
That workaround doesn't work for me
1.8.8 presents this issue as well. When I type the "a" key, it highlights my sentence, and any further key stroke causes the sentence to be deleted. This also happens when I try to drop items using "Q". Instead of dropping one item, the whole stack is dropped.
This happens to me too when switching desktops to my minecraft window in fullscreen, the command key gets stuck until I tap it inside minecraft. (Mac OS X 10.10, Java 8), still an issue in 15w41b.
Just checking in to say that this bug makes me scream at my computer at least once or twice a day.
I'm guessing the Mac client is not exactly super high-priority now, if it ever was.
I think if any one of the Mojang devs tries to use the game on Mac for just one day, this bug would get fixed. It's truly infuriating for anyone doing MC dev of any kind, since that routinely requires alt-tabbing away, and then back to type a command. 99% of the time you end up having to re-type the whole command, after realizing you just spewed some gibberish into chat. It's maddening!
Just so people know, if this is occurring for you, press the command key a few times and it'll fix temporarily. It's super annoying for me too.
Can we PLEASE get an update on this? This bug has existed for a very long time and it's incredibly frustrating. It has resulted in hours of retyping messages. I agree that if any Mojang devs attempted to use the Mac version of this game (and used Command Tab app switching) they would fix this bug immediately.
Can we please get some attention to this!
Agreed. It's infuriating having to retype messages all day, especially commands when working with command blocks.
It's not listed, so confirming this still exists in 1.9 and 1.9.2.
Something to note is that when the command key is stuck, not only does backspace clear entire words, but "a" selects-all, "v" pastes, and "x" cuts whatever is selected. (until pressing the command key a few times)
I don't know if it's useful to speculate on the bugtracker like this, but it's my impression that low-level stuff like modifier keybinding is handled not by minecraft, but by something lower in the stack. Like when we had a bug to improve Chinese keyboard input methods in Minecraft chat (
MC-2781), it turned out not to work with Macs (MC-91132), but according to comments there, this was something that had to be fixed by the LWJGL team. This issue could be similar. I know some of the Mojang team do use macs, so the assertion that they would fix it immediately is demonstrably false. It's possible that the fix is not that straightforward.It'd be nice to get some feedback either way. I don't see this behavior from other Java apps, so I can't imagine how low-level it could be.
If Mojang uses Macs I am a little shocked this doesn't drive them crazy- I know I'd want to nail it down if it were me. So you could be right, that there's some reason it's very hard to fix, that would be both surprising and a little disappointing.
Any possibility for a response from the team? The provided work-around really doesn't help anything, as you can see the numerous examples of how annoying this is. Yes it's "fixable" but not until after you're already frustrated about it. I'd love to say after years of dealing with it I've trained myself to mash command every time I alt-command back to MC, but apparently it's just not sticking in my brain.
Still exists in 16w21b.
Still exists in 1.10
Confirmed for Mac OS X El Capitan, running Java 1.8 with Minecraft 1.10.2 (vanilla, no mods).
This has been an issue for far too long, and is incredibly frustrating. Whilst I've never personally encountered it on Linux, it was always a problem on OS X. I've also tried under macOS Sierra running Java 1.8, with the same result.
Confirmed for macOS Sierra 10.12.1
Running Java 1.8, with Minecraft 1.11 vanilla.
I can confirm this too, with the same setup as Simon Wermuth. Is this perhaps a macOS bug?
Timothy Miller summary of this ticket:
Confirmed in 1.11.2.
This is so much worse now that command+digit saves hotbars in 17w06a. It was reported separately as
MC-113915. It is really a duplicate of this one, but it alone is bigger than this used to be. Please expedite fixing.Can confirm on `OS X 10.11.6 (15G1212)` MC 1.11.2 (Modded, Major Mods: MCForge, Optifine). Also is still reproducible after switching modifier keys, this can be accomplished by going to `System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys` and swapping the `Command Key` with another modifier key.
==EDIT==
After looking at Minecraft's source code (through the minecraft forge sdk) I have determined this: This is most likely a problem with LWJGL 2 or OSX, I do not know if updating to LWJGL 3 will fix this problem. The way that minecraft handles stuff like `Ctrl/Cmd + a` is as follows: Minecraft queries LWJGL to determine if the 'a' key is pressed, then it ensures that the 'Shift' and 'Alt' keys are not pressed, then it checks if the 'Ctrl/Cmd` key is pressed this is done by checking the keycodes `219` (L_META/L_CMD) and `220` (R_META/R_CMD) if minecraft is running on OSX, on Windows it checks for keycodes `29` (L_CTRL) and `157` (R_CTRL). Minecraft does all of these checks by using the method `org.lwjgl.input.Keyboard#isKeyDown(int)`. LWJGL 3 uses GLFW for keyboard input and I have not found any issues reporting the same problem on there github issue tracker. This possibly could be fixed by updating to LWJGL 3 or it could be an internal problem with OSX, this is not a problem with Java since all keyboard handling in both LWJGL 2 and GLFW is done natively (with C/C++ code).
==EDIT 2==
People have mentioned reproducibility on Linux so this is most likely a problem with LWJGL2. Possibly the Unix Kernel but OSX has modified the Kernel enough that it is probably not the case.
LWJGL has been implicated before. I think there's a mention out somewhere else that LWJGL 3 would fix it.
It certainly has nothing to do with the kernel. The kernels aren't even the same. What GNU/Linux and macOS share is a similar command line and POSIX-ish mid-level programming environment. Both higher and lower levels are fundamentally different. The relevant difference is in the UI APIs and how they're (ab)used by Minecraft and its libraries.
Whatever it is, it's extremely irritating.
Glad this was reopened. So annoying and makes the Minecraft chat almost unusable.
Fun new 1.12 side-feature: there must be some kind of key combination for the narrator, because it's constantly turning on for me as a result of this bug.
It really would be nice if this could get fixed.
Ah yes. The narrator turning itself on whenever I want to tab back into the game.
Giving a little more input: This must be related to LWJGL. It happened to me that there would be text in the chat box (when I switch tab out & in) which has been previously in memory (by another program) in an unused chunk of the memory (apparently the software did not dereference the string properly). Good news is: By using the command slash (one or multiple times) the bug usually disappears after a short amount of time.
TL;DR: Fixing stuck-on Command might also "fix" stuck-on right-click, which a lot of people rely upon heavily. Best not to create that much havoc over something fixed by remembering to tap Command an extra time.
Long version:
I would like to give a warning to those who are asking too vehemently for this bug to be fixed. This bug is annoying. No question there. But fixing it may have undesirable consequences for many.
For me, this meta key problem never became a huge nuisance until Command was chosen as the meta key for saving hotbars in creative mode. Every time I would switch from/to Minecraft, pressing a number key would wreck one of my saved toolbars. I had suggested using Option instead, but Mojang's choice of using C and X was all-around a much better solution. Now, the only times this is a problem is in chat and when I press Q, making throwing items vs. stacks inconsistent. And it's dealt with by trying to remember to just tap Command an extra time when returning to Minecraft.
This bug is caused by a bug in some library that Minecraft uses to process key input. I've written my own Java code to test this, and I find that if you Command-Tab away, the command key down event is delivered, but there's no key up even. Then when you command-tab back, the key up for Command event is delivered. For some reason that key up event is lost by this library, and I suspect it has something to do with a change of focus happening at the same time. I've spoken directly to Dinnerbone about this on IRC, and if I recall correctly, he said something about not having access to the source code to this library. So they'd have to rewrite it from scratch to fix the problem.
But let's say they fixed this problem. In fact, there are other keys that also get stuck on when there's a chance in focus. An important one is right-click. You can intentionally get right-click stuck on by holding it down and then pressing F11. People rely on this for things like AFK fishing farms and AFK sand sweepers for removing the water from around ocean monuments.
If Mojang were to go through the effort to fix this bug, then there's a distinct possibility that the F11/right-click trick would get "fixed" as well. A lot of people (including possibly some devs at Mojang) are somewhat antagonistic to AFK fishing, because they consider it overpowered. I'm sure there's an app you can install that will spoof keys to applications of your choice, but do you really want to go to that trouble?
Now, I personally would be happy to volunteer to rewrite this module from scratch. All I need to know is the API, and I could probably write a drop-in replacement. It depends on how much platform-specific issues I'd have to deal with, which could balloon the development time. I would release it under an MIT or Apache license or whatever people want. One of the problems here is that Mojang seems to have some massive fear of accepting code from outsiders, even bug fixes and from people begging them to take the code with no strings attached. I really don't understand what makes them tick.
I'm not seeing this behavior in 17W43A, the new snapshot which updated to LWJGL 3. May be fixed?
Same here. This appears to be fixed in 17w43a.
Currently on the latest Minecraft 1.12.2, a clean install with no modifications.
MacOSX.
I can confirm this problem still occurs. I'm still able to reproduce the issue. It has not been resolved.
17w43a is a 1.13 development snapshot; this issue is fixed in prerelease builds but not current releases.
This is happening for me in 1.16.5 on windows, hitting the alt or windows key fixes it temporairly i don't remember which one