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kassel
Known Participant
September 11, 2017
Question

Arrow keys not working in After Effects

  • September 11, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 4185 views

I'm having a really strange issue with After Effects. For some reason, the arrow keys on my keyboard don't work correctly anymore. I can use them to nudge layers position on the canvas, but anytime I use them to navigate within a text field (like when naming a layer, or editing an expression) they no longer work. If I have text selected, typing any of the arrow keys deletes the text. If I have the cursor somewhere in the text, the arrow keys do nothing. It's VERY frustrating.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

I've deleted my preferences to see if that might be the issue, but no. I've restarted several times and the problem persists. I'm pulling what's left of my hair out here!

Any ideas?

Thanks!

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    3 replies

    New Participant
    April 20, 2018

    I have the same issue just after I was trying to type a degree symbol, maybe the wrong combination of keys could generate/replicate this error.

    Resetting Preferences fix this for me.
    I'm on After Effects 15.0.0. & Mac OS 10.11.6

    Community Expert
    September 11, 2017

    You may want to reset your preferences:

    1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) while the application is starting.
    Community Expert
    September 11, 2017

    I could not reproduce your bug on the latest 4 versions of AE I have installed. What is your OS and AE version down to the last decimal point? Is your version of AE up to date?

    kassel
    kasselAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 11, 2017

    Resetting preferences seems to have worked. (Apparently, trashing the prefs isn't the same as resetting?)

    For what it's worth, I'm on After Effects 14.2.1.34 & Mac OS 10.12.6

    Community Expert
    September 11, 2017

    Both good steps when AE Starts acting wonky.