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

[k34097905j6ua]

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 🙂

<Title renamed by MOD>

[Joel Cherney]

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

[k34097905j6ua]

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

[Abhishek Rao]

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

[k34097905j6ua]

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]

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

[k34097905j6ua]

New and old documents. Safe mode the same.

It worked before INDD update.

[Joel Cherney]

I've only tried it in a brand-new document. Here are a few screen-recording GIFs I captured in 20.3.

From the Align panel:

And from the Control panel:

I can't think of an easy way to represent keyboard state in one of these screen captures, but that blue highlight on the Align to Top button stuck around until I whacked Enter, at which point I could once again nudge my objects. So that button is not receiving the mouseup, I'd imagine; it's acting like I still have the mouse button held down. 

Here's the same action on the Control panel in 19.5:

[k34097905j6ua]

this bug appeared in the last update

[leo.r]

this bug appeared in the last update

By @k34097905j6ua

Yes, I can also confirm this bug. It only happens when using the align buttons in the Controls panel. There's no issue when using the Align panel.

As @Joel Cherney has already mentioned, it appears to have something to do with the fact that the align buttons in the Control panel remain "focused" after clicking until the focus is relinquished by pressing enter or some other action. This doesn't happen with the Align panel buttons.

I can also confirm that it doesn't happen in InDesign 2024. (Don't know about earlier versions of 2025).