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MS Word behaves differently when typing certain Unicode characters

Anonymous
2021-04-15T09:06:38+00:00

I have this setup:

  • Windows 10 x64 20H2
  • Italian or US keyboard layout (tested both)
  • Office 365 ProPlus version 2002 build 12527 (but this happens in other versions used before)

In Word, I wanted to type the character ḛ (Latin Small Letter E with Tilde Below). Its hex code is U+1E1B, decimal 07707, so I use this combination of keys to write it:

ALT (keep pressed) 0 7 7 0 7 (release ALT)

(digits are typed using the numeric keypad)

When ALT is released, nothing is shown in the document, but I have to type one other random character (a-z, 0-9, RETURN key, ...) and then ḛ appears, while the random character is "discarded".

Strange things:

  • The very next character in the Unicode list Ḝ (Latin Capital Letter E with Cedilla and Breve), hex U+1E1C / dec 07708, works as expected without needing to type another character.
  • If I switch to Wordpad (!!), ḛ works as expected as it appears right after ALT is released.

Why this behavior?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-04-15T13:44:48+00:00

    Hi Alessandro Francesconi,

    Thank you for your post in our forum. And we will try our best to help you if we can do something.

    Per your description, we test on our end, and we do reproduce your problem on all channels:

    Current Channel Version 2103 (Build 13901.20400),

    Monthly Enterprise Channel Version 2102 (Build 13801.20506),

    Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel Version 2008 (Build 13127.21348),

    Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview) Version 2102 (Build 13801.20294).

    When I select Windows display language is English (United States) US keyboard, and follow your steps to do, I do get the same result as yours, before getting “ḛ”, I need to type one other random character (a-z, 0-9, RETURN key, ...).

    But, when I select Chinese (Simplified, China) Microsoft Pinyin, I will get “”.

    And, when I select Chinese (Simplified, China) Sogou input method, I will get “ḛ” directly after “ALT (keep pressed) 0 7 7 0 7 (release ALT)”.

    After my multiple and long-time tests, we think it may be some unknown reason which causes this phenomenon, we also think there may be some reasons which should explain this. To get more targeted help and get more direction, we think you can feedback, in this way, your insight will be sent to the related team directly and it’s the best way to submit feedback on Office products. We believe those developing teams will investigate this phenomenon for more information.

    Appreciate your patience and understanding. And thank you for your time. 😊 Have a good day!

    Best regards,

    Cindy

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-15T11:57:00+00:00

    Instead of using hex codes, you can type the Unicode glyph number and press Alt+X. If you use the character frequently, it would make more sense to assign a keyboard shortcut to it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-15T12:29:30+00:00

    Thanks Suzanne, with Alt+X it works immediately. Anyway, I still can't figure out why the other way does not. It seems more a bug since only the "ḛ" character seems to be affected (not considering other chars I didn't test).

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