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Office for Mac, keyboard shortcuts not working

Anonymous
2020-02-23T14:21:16+00:00

Over the last few months, I've started to notice a persistent problem related to keyboard shortcuts. I most frequently encounter this with OneNote, but I've definitely also noticed it with PowerPoint.

Problem:

  • I open the OneNote app.
  • I attempt to use standard keyboard shortcuts (command-1 for a ToDo, command-shift-1 to format as Heading 1), and nothing happens. There is no error message or beep or anything. I can look at the Keyboard Viewer, and it verifies that I am entering the intended keyboard combination. However, the app itself is not responding to the command.
  • I quit OneNote.
  • I reopen OneNote.
  • All of the keyboard commands now work as expected. As long as the app stays open, I do not see the problem recur.

I have not managed to recognize any definite events that trigger this behavior. Most likely, the computer has "slept" in between, but even that I don't know for certain. I restart extremely rarely, and so it is not triggered by a restart.

Has anyone else experienced this problem and found a solution?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2021-02-11T15:51:01+00:00

I think I solved it in a different way.

I went into the Edit & View section of the Onenote Preferences.

The Default paste option was set to "Select one..."

I changed that to "Keep Text Only" and now it seems to work.

I have Quit Onenote several times and started it again - and I don't get the beeps any more.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-09-21T17:50:59+00:00

    I also have this problem - very frustrating that something so basic doesn't work.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-23T18:15:35+00:00

    Hi TJ,

    Thanks for the updates.

    In this situation, I would like to suggest you start up in safe mode to exclude other programs' interference, then you can work on OneNote for Mac for a while to check the results.

    Step1: Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display.

    Step2: Release the Shift key when you see the login window.

    *To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

    **Since some features aren't available in safe mode, you may choose a free day to do the test.

    Besides, I noticed you post this question in the Office 365 for business category, you may ask your colleagues to check they can reproduce this issue.

    Feel free to post back.

    Best Regards,

    Hugo

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-02-23T17:32:12+00:00

    Hugo,

    Thank you for the reply and suggestions.

    Yes, other keyboard commands also stop working. I know that command-B for Bold and command-A for Select All and command-S for save do not work when OneNote or PowerPoint are in this state. 

    I confirmed that I do have version 16.34 installed.

    Best regards,

    TJ

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-02-23T15:51:58+00:00

    Hi TJRabbit,

    Sorry to hear that.

    Per your description, may I confirm this issue only occurs to the mentioned keyboard shortcuts (Command + 1 and Command + Shift + 1)?

    I tried to search the mentioned keyboard shortcuts in both Keyboard Shortcuts in OneNote for Mac and Keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint for Mac, but it seems only Command + Shift + 1 was recorded as Keyboard shortcut of PowerPoint for Mac and the function is Format the selected object.

    Since this issue occurs intermittently, you may try the below suggestions and check the results.

    1. Make sure the problematic Office applications have been updated to the latest version, the Version 16.34 (20020900) has been released currently.
    2. When the issue occurs again, you may check whether other keyboard shortcuts function and then whether the affected keyboard shortcuts back to normal.

    We appreciate your feedback.

    Best Regards,

    Hugo

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