Weird Keyboard Behavior in Firefox

Sometimes when I hit the ' or " key or the arrows - - - they work as they should.

Other times, when I hit that key, it sends my cursor down to a little bar at the bottom - - - quick search or something like that.

I have no idea what causes this and how to stop it. As far as I can tell - it seems random (when it happens and when it doesn't) but I'm sure there is some key I am inadvertently pushing.

Help!!! I'm going insane here....

Hm, default shortcut for the search toolbar to appear is Ctrl-F. What also changes the focus of input boxes is the TAB key. There the cursor jumps to the next link or textbox within the page.

Thanks Always Curious.

I did both of those just now - - - and that isn't the same as what is happening here. Right now, my keyboard is functioning as I want it to.... I'm able to type an abbreviation such as I'm.

Other times - - - (seems random to me) when I type the ' the cursor jumps down to the quick find field....

Weird. Do you have Google desktop installed or other type of system wide shortcut helpers? Maybe those are going berserk...

If not, please look into the Firefox advanced configurations, if you have activated any "search while typing" options.

Last guess could be a broken keyboard. Do you have a spare one, to temporarily exchange? I would give it a try.

no google desktop.
looked in firefox options - can't find anything...


and - this has done this in the past on two different keyboards!!!

I've also noticed that when my cursor jumps as a result of pushing the ' key - - - the arrow keys don't work.

hmmm. should I give a prize to the one that figures it out?

The ' (apostrophe) key is purposely set up in Firefox as a shortcut to the quicksearch feature. The way it's SUPPOSED to work is that if you have a text input box selected (meaning that the typing cursor is flashing in the box) then you can type apostrophes into the box without activating quicksearch. If you don't have a text box selected (no cursor blinking in the box) and you press the apostrophe key then Firefox opens the quicksearch. It doesn't always work perfectly though. The problems don't seem to happen as much with the newest version of Firefox (3.0), so if you don't already have the newest version I'd try upgrading.

If you've upgraded to 3.0 and you're still having problems: Usually the problem is that you think that you have your cursor in a text box but you don't. Clicking in the text box to select it before typing should help. Sometimes on pages that are supposed to automatically put the cursor into a text box for you, like a login field, the textbox won't automatically select until the page is finished loading, or as the page is loading the selection hops in and out of the text box. In these cases, either be patient and wait for the page to load, or click on the text box to select it before you start typing, and again if it becomes inactive.

Thank you John!!!

Let me see if I understand you correctly.

When my cursor jumps to the quicksearch box - it probably means that the page has not loaded fully yet?

So - - - to correct the problem - I need to be sure the page has fully loaded before I begin typing??

Thanks again!

Correct. If the cursor jumps to the quicksearch box when you press the apostrophe key, it means that you pressed it while your cursor wasn't in a text box. Sometimes if you click on a text box and start typing before a page has completely finished loading the cursor will jump out of the text box on it's own while you're typing, making your next apostrophe keypress activate the quicksearch box.

Got it!! Thank you, thank you.

That is exactly what has been happening.

I'll be happily typing away in the quick reply box at the bottom of the screen on these forums - - and the next thing I know, my cursor has jumped out of the box!!

Okay - I'm still having weird keyboard behavior.

All morning - the apostrophe key was sending the cursor to quickfind field. (seems to be back to normal right at the moment though) I checked to make sure the page is fully loaded first - and it was.

At the same time, I have noticed that the back slash key ( / ) is sending the cursor to quickfind. And... tab does not tab the cursor to the next field.

These three things seem to be happening at the same time. Either they are all working "properly" or they are all working in weird ways that I don't appreciate.

Okay, so now I'm wondering if it is my keyboard in general... I was just doing some work in excel and the tab isn't working their either. Kids were playing a computer game this morning, I wonder if they somehow changed a setting???

How old is the keyboard? Is it possible that something was spilled on it? Personally, I would replace the keyboard with a new one or one from a 2nd PC and see what happens.

I am an avid fan of coffee at my PC and I go through a few keyboards a year. Hmmm.. just thought of another possible business idea...