Shift bar not locking dimensions

[gabriel28091273dpqo]

Hello

About half the time when I open in design and try to resize an image, holding the shift bar no longer locks the dimensions. I need to restart my comp and then usually it starts working again. What is going on how do I fix this it's really annoying.

[Rene Andritsch]

Holding down the SHIFT key will only constrain the proportions of the image frame. If you want to resize the image you have to hold down the SHIFT key and the CMD/CTRL key simultaneously before starting to drag on a corner.

[gabriel28091273dpqo]

The shift bar isn't constraining the proportions of either. It's not working. I need to restart my computer every time and then it works. I think it's a bug 😞

[Frans v.d. Geest]

It is not a bug in InDesign or others would find the same. Almost always it is another piece of software (like Google Chrome, mostly well known for this to happen) that interferes with keys...

See also:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/can-t-scale-objects-type-using-command-shift-key...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-cc-shift-key-not-working/td-p/6070245

[gabriel28091273dpqo]

It works itself out once I restart my computer. 

What should I do?

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Well, if restarting your computer mostly 'solves' it that hints at some other software interfering 😉

[gabriel28091273dpqo]

How do I figure out what software is interfacing? And how do I fix?

[Rene Andritsch]

Do you have any helper apps installed? For example I also use a clipcoard manager which I have to quit for some apps as it interferes with certain keyboard shortcuts. I guess unfortunately this will be a trial and error process.

[gabriel28091273dpqo]

No Helper apps installed to my knowlege. It happened again and I quit chrome, restarted ID but was still broken :(((((

[Barb Binder]

Hi @gabriel28091273dpqo:

We see regular posts about other applications interfering with InDesign's shortcut keys. I would say that Webroot is the most-frequently-cited offender, followed by other anti-virus anti-malware applications. Take a look at the applications at auto load when you start your computer. Once you know this you can usually figure it out.

~Barb

[Tomas31167096pgzn]

I found that disabling smart guides solved this problem in InDesign. 
Now though, I can not lock angles or draw straight lines holding down shift. Doesn't work any more since I upgraded to a new mac :-(. 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Tomas31167096pgzn,

Would you mind sharing the InDesign version or macOS details? 

Could you also try the suggestions shared earlier in the thread? If the issue persists, test in Safe Mode to check if any third-party app is interfering with InDesign (make sure Smart Guides are turned ON). Reference:
Windows: https://adobe.ly/4kG0kBE
macOS: https://adobe.ly/4kWXdpd

I tested this on my end using InDesign 20.2 on Windows 11 and macOS, but I couldn’t replicate the issue. If possible, could you share a short screen recording of what’s happening? 

Looking forward to your update. 

^

Abhishek

[Tomas31167096pgzn · Accepted solution]

I'm on the latest version of everything. At the end a restart fixed the problems.
I do have a theory of what happend though. I did a transfer of my setup to a new mac through mac os, and I think that the preference files were corrupted somehow. Deleting the prefs and restarting did the trick.