Space for grab and pan document (temporary hand tool) doesn't work

[Andreas Jansson]

I've got this problem on a freshly installed Windows 10 (ver. 10.0.17134) with latest InDesign (2019 ver 14.0 x64). Pressing space transforms the pointer icon into the hand, but the document doesn't move when I press the left mouse button and drag to move.

Pressing and holding down Alt, and then also space, works as just Space did on my previous computer with Windows 7 and InDesign 2018.
I wish to use Space only, just like on my old computer.

* Disabling the touchpad within the "Synaptics Pointing Device" made no difference. There is a suggestion about touchpads leading to this error).

* Trashing the preferences doesn't help.

* Restarting and starting InDesign only. No browsers open. Same behaviour. (There are suggestions that chrome or browser plugins can cause this error)

Don't know what other application it can be. Perhaps some graphics driver, but I really don't know what to look for there.

I Also tried restarting Windows in Safe mode, but then InDesign didn't work at all, no part of the interface was then accessible, no menus folded out when I tried to access them, the whole UI was just like a dead image.

What should I do to get the Space functionality back in InDesign?

Thanks,

Andreas

[Laubender]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Andreas+Jansson  wrote

I've got this problem on a freshly installed Windows 10 (ver. 10.0.17134) with latest InDesign (2019 ver 14.0 x64). Pressing space transforms the pointer icon into the hand, but the document doesn't move when I press the left mouse button and drag to move. …

Hi Andreas,

I'm on Windows 10 InDesign CC 2019 German and cannot see the issue.

I have no clue what's going wrong on your side. If I press the space bar the hand turns up and I can move around.

FWIW: Panning will not work if your zoom is showing the whole pasteboard with all spreads of the document.

Regards,
Uwe

[hammer0909]

It's working fine on my end as well. Maybe try resetting the preferences?

[Steve Werner]

Keyboard modifiers (Space Bar or Shift) are sometimes captured by third party applications and extensions, often in web browsers.

Try restarting and disable startup applications. Open only InDesign and see if the problem still exists. If it does not, look for browser extensions in particular that might be conflicting.

[Andreas Jansson]

It's a new windows installation. As I wrote in my original question I've restarted (many times), trashed the preferences and open InDesign first of all (No browsers open). Real restart (not just fast shut down/start that perhaps may leave garbage from previous session). Also the only web browser plugin I've installed is uBlock Origin, and disabling that makes no difference. I also doubt web extensions are allowed to interfere with the environment outside the browser in Windows, I've not heard of such a browser extension, after ActiveX (COM) was "banned".

In startup I've disabled 4 of the 9 programs, leaving a couple of sound drivers, some default camera rotation utility, and Adobe GC Invoker.

As I wrote, I've already been looking for other software or drivers that may interfere but no success yet. Perhaps one of the two graphic cards has some strange setting hidden somewhere, or the synaptics pad / pointing device may be involved... but changing settings and disabling devices has resulted in nothing yet.

(Actually the pointer does turn into a hand when I press Space, but it doesn't pan the document, when I press the left mouse button move the hand.)

[brittsbrew]

FINALLY SOLVED for me at least. Thank you! I recently subscribed to SetApp which has 150 mini apps such as CleanMyMac (which is awesome), etc. Their default keyboard shortcut was... you guessed it... the space bar. I turned it off and was immedatiately able to use space bar in Indesign to move my board around.

thank you Steve Werner, I thought I was turning into the old washed up CD. Still got a few years in me now.

[Andreas Jansson]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Andreas%20Jansson wrote

* Trashing the preferences doesn't help.

[Andreas Jansson]

Hi Uwe,

I believe you are the only one here (yet) who actually read my question in full. So thank you for trying to find a solution, that I had not written that I already tried : )

But I'm sorry to say, I'm zoomed in. And holding down the "Alt" key along with space does pan the document, it gives the same effect as only space ought to do (unless the document is undocked as a window of its own, then I also get a menu folding out from pressing Alt).

I've been using InDesign for about 18 years. This fault is new to me. My colleague does not have this problem, on a very similar setup.

[Andreas Jansson]

Now I uninstalled the Synaptics Pointing Device altogether, so "gestures"  and double finger scroll no longer works anywhere in Windows. But no difference as to the temporary-hand-using-space-key problem in InDesign...

[BobLevine]

Let’s try something else. Create a new user account and try it there.

[Andreas Jansson]

I've got a local account on the computer, that was created when Windows was installed, and then never used, so I logged into that now and tried, but it was the same.

Another note: Selecting the hand from the tools bar (shortcut H) I get a functioning hand (pan tool). But just tapping the space bar it's as if there is a "lock" for one second... the hand can not move the document. The same is true while holding down the space bar and trying to use the (already active) hand tool - the document doesn't move, until releasing space bar and click-dragging anew with the mouse button.

[BobLevine]

Check for updated video drivers and mouse drivers.

[Andreas Jansson]

According to the HP Support Assistant I've got the latest graphics drivers. Windows reports the same.

After uninstalling the pad drivers, and pulling out the mouse, I'm running with the most rudementary mouse drivers possible for the moment.

I installed the previous version of InDesign (2017, which works on my old computer), and also Photoshop. They both act the same way as InDesign 2019 on my new computer. Space key doesn't pan the document on its own.

Also, there is a slight delay after changing tools. About 1 second or perhaps jusst 0,5 s before I can actually use a new tool that I select using shortcut keys for quick access to them. I don't recognize that behaviour either.

[Andreas Jansson]

Instead I reverted to an older nvidia driver, but no change. I think I may have gotten that one immediately from nvidia's home page, and not from the list over drivers for my computer on support.HP.com.

I started up Sysinternals Process Monitor, but don't know what filter I should apply or what I should look for among the thousands of entries I get while letting it run a few seconds.

[Andreas Jansson]

Now I went to the support.hp.com site for drivers (there are often newer drivers than in the HP assistant that actually analyzes your computer . very strange...!) and installed the latest Synaptics mouse driver (ver. 19.0.19.68 Rev.A file name: sp91562.exe). But no change regarding the hand that is not grabbing problem in InDesign.

I normally use a MarbleFX trackball (instead of a mouse) attached to the PS/2 port on the back of my HP docking station. But now I attached a USB mouse instead, and what do you know... the SPACE panning works when using USB mouse! And the delay (or locking of the mouse pointer for half a second) when switching tools is also gone, while using the USB mouse.

Using the touchpad, grabbing and panning still does not work.

So this error is somehow related to the touchpad or its drivers. Holding down Space bar, and the USB mouse button, I'm allowed to pan the document with the built-in pointing stick (the small "joystick" located between the G, H, and B keys on some laptops). But the pointer doesn't move when I hold down the USB mouse button and try to pan using the touchpad. Holding down the left mouse button of the touch pad doesn't make the hand "grab" (which is perhaps the heart of this matter).

I have noticed no problems in any other software than Adobe's.

Since I got this error even when the Synaptics drivers were uninstalled, I guess the problem is caused either by HP hardware or drivers, Windows drivers or Adobe software.

[BobLevine]

I have an HP Spectre x360 and just fired up InDesign CC2019. I can confirm this behavior.

[Andreas Jansson]

Great that you could confirm this, Bob!

Did you get the "locking" effect as well? Pressing the letter T to change from selection tool to Text tool, while moving the mouse pointer using the touchpad... (or switching between tools using the keyboard shortcuts) does the mouse pointer stop then, for half a second? And does it freeze when pressing space, while moving it using the touchpad?

I found your answer now, after installing InDesign on another HP ZBook G2, to make sure that the first one didn't have a hardware error of some kind.

On this other laptop I got a lot of errors from InDesign after installing CC2019 and starting it for the first time (dll:s missing GENERIC PAGE ITEM.RPLN, VCRUNTIME140.dll, MSVCP140.dll). Installing CC2017 also. This version started but crashed when I try to create a new document. I selected to "repair" the C++ redistributable packages on the computer since the errors seemed to be related to the missing dll:s of CC2019, according to other users with the same problem. It seems CC2019 doesn't contain all redistributable packages that it needs? Anyway.. it was not until installing InDesign CS6 (the version downloaded from the CC panel), that the other newer versions could be started without errors and I could create a new document in them without Indesign crashing.

Conclusion: The error with the SPACE-HAND-tool exists in CS6 too, on this other zbook G2 computer. (And in the newer versions as well.)

I've run Indesign CS6 and CC2017 on an older HP laptop, until a few days ago, and never seen this problem. I used the same PS/2 trackball then, and I believe I would have seen if the problem was on its touchpad too.

I'm surprised that this error has not been detected before, since these HP laptop laptops that we use (with the problem) are fairly common for professional users. Not that PS/2 connected peripherals are common (they certainlay are not!), but a lot of people use the touchpad when they are not at their normal office working place.

I use space bar to temporaily turn any tool into the hand, to drag... all the time. So this is vital functionality for me.

What can be done about it? I still can't pinpoint the cause.

[BobLevine]

Not seeing any issues with the type tool.

[Andreas Jansson]

BobLevine  skrev

Not seeing any issues with the type tool.

Try switching between any tools using a keyboard shortcut while moving the mousepointer. I would be surprised it the mouse pointer doesn't get stuck for half a second, just as it does on my two laptops, since you have the other problem (with space bar panning).

I'd like to know the cause of the problem with "spacebar grab and pan".

I guess I'll have to open a support case with Adobe, and/or give up my beloved trackball and buy another USB mouse (and never use the touchpad when working with InDesign).

[BobLevine]

BTW, I'm finding the same behavior in CC2018, so this is nothing new. I typically don't use the hand tool much on my laptop so I never noticed it.

[Andreas Jansson]

Since I wrote here the last time, I've noticed that the touchpad is in fact a PS/2 device, som that's why my PS/2 connected trackball behaves the same way as the touchpad.

I have also noticed that using the same function in Photoshop is even more disturbing, since Alt+Space doesn't work as a substitute as it does in InDesign (in Photoshop you get a Zoom function then).

We opened a support case with HP, since there was guarantee left on one of our laptops with this problem. They did not know what to do with it, suggested a number of things to test, but couldn't deal with it and thus closed the case.

As I see it, the right thing for HP to do would have been to contact Synaptics or possibly Microsoft to get the drivers right, since these are the drivers that HP deliver, the ones that are installed with the HP computers (from installation presets and updates).

[brian-CT · Accepted solution]

I had the same issue and just found an answer.

1. Go To Windows Settings
2. Go To Touchpad Settings
3. Change Sensitivity to "Most Sensitive"

I'm sure you found similar posts which suggested going to this same spot and suggested turning delay off; this no longer exists in Windows 10, so I was looking for a registry edit to do this, but in searching I found a post that changing to most sensitive in essence does the same thing, and did work for me.

Hope it helps.

To give credit, this post is how I came to an answer that finally worked: Touchpad Delay after Windows 10 Creator Update - Microsoft Community

[Andreas Jansson]

This is the first suggestion that actually helps!

My PS/2 connected trackball now works with the space-panning function! No longer any need to press Alt at the same time!

And the touchpad behaves good too.

I didn't believe it until I saw it!

Thank you Brian, this was really good news.

Andreas