Participating Frequently

Question

Arrow Keys Unresponsive After Using Align Options in Control Panel (InDesign 20.3.1)

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
May 4, 2025
7 replies
2946 views

Hi

After latest update align options stopped working like before update. For example:

1. select objects

2. use align option (any of it)

3. try to use arrow keys to move objects - doesn't work

help 🙂

Bug

A

andyk49459754

Participant

My align key "shift" and drag do not work, as well as scale, "control + shift" shows curser turning into scale tool, but it does not scale. I feel like I mistakenly hit a random key command to make this all happen. I have reset preferences, but it does not fix this. Next is remove app and re-install...

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @andyk49459754,

Our team has tried fixing this in the latest update for InDesign. Would you mind installing it and letting us know if it helps? If the problem persists, kindly confirm the exact version of the OS/InDesign and share a small screen recording of your exact workflow and the problem, so I can check this with the team.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi @Anubhav M ,

I see this bug is fixed with my German InDesign 20.5.

Kind regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Diguru-Studio

Participating Frequently

still no fix?

K

k34097905j6uaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Latest update - no fix.

K

Kati Berwald

Participant

I am experiencing the same issue. Go to align multiple object, then try to move them with the Arrow Keys and they do not move. If you hit the enter key, then they will move with the arrow keys after you hit enter. But that is silly. Adobe please fix this bug soon!

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi @Kati Berwald ,

as for now until this bug is fixed, use the Properties panel or the Align panel and not the Control panel to align and move objects.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your continued feedback and detailed reports regarding the Align tool issue in InDesign 20.3.1, especially when using the Control panel.

I've connected with the product team, and based on the inputs shared, a bug has now been officially logged for this issue. The team is actively working on a fix.

I'll continue to stay in touch with them and will share any updates here as soon as I receive them.

Appreciate your patience and support!

Abhishek

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi @Abhishek Rao ,

I guess you merged two threads into this one.

Was surprised that some posts were added and was not notified by mail.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Laubender,

Yes, I did the merging on this. Both threads were related to the same issue, so I combined them for better context and continuity.

Let me know if you're consistently not receiving notifications for merged threads or if it was just this one. I'll be happy to look into it further.

Abhishek

Phoenix15

Known Participant

Mac OS 15.4.1

InDesign 20.3.1

Something has changed with the align tool. When i highlight a series of text boxes then align them (eg bottom edge), the align button 'sticks' and doesn't allow me to move the boxes with the keyboard arrows.

This is a definite change from the previous edition and is very annoying.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

I can confirm the same behaviour - the icon sticks and you have to hit Esc or click somewhere.

Don't see any option to modify the behaviour

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @k34097905j6ua,

I just tested this on my end using the 20.3.1 version of InDesign and was able to see it behaving this (see attached recording) way. In the video, I selected the objects, clicked an align option, and then immediately used the arrow keys to nudge them(without pressing Enter), and it worked for me.

Could you confirm if it doesn't work the same way for you? If you're noticing something different, it'd be super helpful if you could share a short screen recording showing what you're seeing. Also, please let me know the OS you're using and the exact version of InDesign you’ve updated to, so I can take a closer look with the team.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

Alignment.zip

K

k34097905j6uaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi,

It works the same as on video, it only doesn't work (as should be) from the dock bar.

Ventura 13.7.2

INDD 20.3.1

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @k34097905j6ua,

Thanks for confirming! I just tested this again on Mac and Windows as well, specifically using the alignment options from the dock bar, and it seems to work the same way for me too. No issues with nudging the objects using arrow keys right after alignment.

To help narrow this down further, could you try launching your Mac in Safe Mode and test the same steps there? This will help check if any third-party desktop management tool or extension might be interfering. Reference: https://adobe.ly/3YxyX3j.

Also, just to be sure, if you've only tested this in an existing document, could you give it a try in a newly created file and see if the issue still occurs?

Let me know how it goes.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

Joel Cherney

Community Expert

I tried this a few different ways.

1) Using the Align tools on the main Control panel (the panel that appears by default at the top of the screen)

a) I select objects

b) I click an Align button

c) I can't use the arrow key to move objects, because the button I clicked on the Control panel is still highlighted

d) I hit the Enter key

e) I can now nudge my selected recently aligned objects with the arrow key

2) Using the Align panel in Window -> Objects Align

a) I select objects

b) I click an Align button

c) I can nudge my selected recently aligned objects with the arrow key without issue

K

k34097905j6uaAuthor

Participating Frequently

THX, this „enter” solution is OK but they should fix it anyway. Have a nice day.

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