Indesign 2020 Shift and drag not working

[justinep40552527]

I recently updated to Indesign 2020 and i have noticed some issues with my keyboard shortcuts. First off i used to be able to use the space bar as a shortcut for the hand tool, and now it has changed to "H"??? This is very frustrating, is there a way i can change this back? Also i just tried holding shift and dragging an element on the page, it used to lock that element so u could drag it horizontally without the element moving up and down, but now holding shift while dragging does nothing. Please help!

[Steve Werner · Accepted solution]

It could be that there is a browser extension or application that's interfering ("stealing") you modifier keys like the space bar. Can particularly happen with virus blockers, password managers, etc. 

The way to test: Reboot your computer. Try to disable start up applications. Launch InDesign FIRST and see it the problem goes away. If it does, one by one, check after launching new applications (especially your browser) to see if the problem reoccurs.

[justinep40552527 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Thanks this was the issue actually, i have webroot on my computer and it was blocking my shortcuts. After some digging i figured it out. In the menu bar select webroot and then check "Pause Secure Keyboard Entry"

[AdobeLearner15]

I do not have Webroot or know what that is and if I do have it I can't find it in my menu like suggested. I've rebooted the program and my computer nothing fixes this. I would expect that Adobe would be able to fix this bug and am surprise it's taking this long. I don't have this problem with any of the other programs.

[charlotteg96317838]

Hi, what menu bar? I am having this problem in Indesign but I can't find what you're referring to...

[m4au312]

Adobe should f**king stop blaming other programs. Just f**king fix the bug! If illustrator has no problem at the same time when InDesign becomes absolutely useless (with broken option and shift key) then there is no excuse to blaming on other programs. It is clearly an Indesign problem. Stop keep tell your paid user to find walk around, relaunch and reboot every time the stupid bug appear. Fix you sh*t Adobe!!!

[JimmyAC]

100% agree. I'm sick of lazy Adobe just blaming everyone else except themselves. And the fixes being described are nothing more than 'old wives tales'.  If so many people are having the SAME problem then what does that tell you?? This is an Adobe thing.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @JimmyAC ,

We're so sorry to hear about the trouble, I'll try my best to assist you with this. I tested this on the latest version of InDesign v17.3 and macOS Monterey and it's working, so could you please share a few more details so that we can try to reproduce the issue, we'll need details like:

1. The version of InDesign and OS.
2. Is this happening with a specific file or multiple files?
3. Does this happen when only InDesign is launched?

We're here to help, just need more information.

Regards

Rishabh

[nathanc89952229]

In the Menu Bar? In InDesign? If so, it falls under what menu header? I've searched it and nothing comes up.

[Meghan McBain WOCo]

Hey Nathan, I didn't have Webroot, but had this issue. I opened Force Quit menu and closed a few third party apps, and the functionality came back in InDesign. I should have quit one at a time, but I'm sure you'll have success with this solution. Good luck, if not already solved! This has been driving me mad for a few months, on and off... clearly dependant on what apps running in the background.

[AdobeLearner15]

I don't have any other programs open except adobe programs. Still not working for me.

[Amanda0D4D]

I am having the same problem. Rebooted computer. Opened InDesign No other applications open. Still not working.

This is incredibly frustrating. 

Adobe, you literally have a business to facilitate good design (including UX design). Shift+drag / option+drag should work always, regardless of what other apps are open. This is a bad look. 

[ACG0101]

The menu bar at the top of your main screen - its a green circle with the W in the middle. if you click that, you have a couple of options to open, scan, remove. but at the bottom of the list is the "pause secure keyboard entry". tired it and this worked for me!

[dugaldm70883257]

HI, I have a similar problem that has just occurred. The Shift and O keys do not produce a cap O. I do not have any start up applications nor things like webroot and I have rebooted several times with no success.

There does appear to be a problem with In Design because in other applications such as Word or Safari, the keys work perfectly.

[Mahonki]

Same problem here. How long does it take to fix this? Cheers.

[Pippermint]

Like other on here, I don't have Webroot. After force-quitting every application I had open, to no avail, I force-quit Safari. That's what was doing it. Hope this helps someone.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @Pippermint ,

Thanks for reaching out and sharing the solution. I am sure it will help other community members.

Regards

Rishabh

[robert000187]

I can confirm that the missing modifier keys bug still is an issue in InDesign 18.2.1 on macOS Ventura in 2023.

There seems to be no solution for me but a reboot of the os …simply quitting all other apps incl. ID multiple times doesn't get me the shift-alt-keys back. The bug appears at random. This time, I had a few weeks without propblem. Put my Mac to sleep for the weekend, bug strikes after wakeup, had to reboot to solve it.