Second Paragraph and Cursor Disappear After Pressing Return After the First Paragraph

[myvancouver]

When I use the Type Tool to place a text box and type my first paragraph, when I press enter for the second paragraph my cursor disappears and as I try typing the second paragraph which does not show either. I have tried adjusting my paragraph spacing and I have looked through my paragraph rules, but nothing stands out. A little help needed. Thanks.

[Joel Cherney · Accepted solution]

If, instead of hitting Enter, you go to Type -> Insert Break Character -> Paragraph Return, what happens? 

If you can still see your cursor and your second paragraph, then probably the Return key you're using on your keyboard is actually sending a Column Break. That's usually the number pad enter, on most 101 key keyboards, but over the years I've seen people have laptops that sometimes send a Column Break. If that's the case, we can show you how to use the Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts menu to fix it. 

If you still can't see your second paragraph when using Type -> Insert Break Character -> Paragraph Return, then there's something else going on. You could try setting your paragraph spacing to 0 and your leading to Auto, and so on. In your shoes I'd copy that frame and paste it somewhere else, then try that kind of experiment to figure out which formatting is causing your frame to "overflow." There's a little icon (a red plus in the lower right hand corner of your frame) that indicates when there's more text in your frame that is not being displayed. 

[Scott Falkner · Accepted solution]

On some keyboards, Enter and Return are different characters. Return means noxt paragraph but Enter means Break, which in your case might be a column break. This forces the cursor into the next column or text frame.