Lost keyboard functions

Question

Today, I have lost the CRTL-END and END keyboard functions on Word and Excel. CTRL-END now runs File/Open instead of going to the end of the document, and END opens File/Save As instead of going to the end of the line or cell. Running system repairs, and reinstalling Microsoft have not fixed the problem. The Keyboard Troubleshooter no longer exists. Any suggestions or insights gratefully received!

Answer 1

Starting Word in Safe Mode - I got the error message "winword/safe not found". Unable to srart Word in Safe Mode

Note that there must be a space before the slash, but not after:

winword /safe

The screen shot below is the Run dialog box.

Answer 2

Starting Word in Safe Mode - I got the error message "winword/safe not found". Unable to srart Word in Safe Mode

See https://support.office.com/article/dedf944a-5f4b-4afb-a453-528af4f7ac72 There are multiple ways to start Word in safe mode.

Renaming NORMAL.DOTM to OLDNORMAL.DOTM and restarting Word - problem persists

This tells us that the problem is not in your Normal.dotm file.
Safe mode also ignores your Normal.dotm file.

Checking COM addiins - no add-ins loaded or available

Office has multiple kinds of Add-Ins and they can all change how the applications behave. Starting in safe mode stops any from running.

https://www.addbalance.com/word/addins.htm#PageStart

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I suspect a hardware or driver problem. You may want to try attaching a different USB or bluetooth keyboard and see if the problem persists.

Answer 3

1

Open Command Prompt, then paste in this command and press Enter:

msdt.exe -id KeyboardDiagnostic

Run that Keyboard Troubleshooter to see if that can solve the problem.

2

If that does not resolve this for you

Open Device Manager

Expand the Keyboards section

Right click your keyboard and choose 'Uninstall'

Then restart your PC

3

If the problem is still not resolved:

Bring up the on-screen keyboard, are those keys working correctly on that keyboard?

Connect another external keyboard to your system, are those keys working correctly on that keyboard?

Answer 4

In Word and Excel on Windows, the End and Ctrl+End keys should behave as follows:

• End: move the cursor to the end of the current line or cell.
• Ctrl+End: move the cursor to the end of the document or used range.

The behavior described (End opening Save As, Ctrl+End opening Open) indicates that these keys have been remapped, most likely by a corrupted Word/Office customization (Normal.dotm) or an add‑in that hooks keyboard shortcuts.

Use these steps to diagnose and fix it in Word; if the cause is an add‑in or a shared component, Excel will be fixed as well.

1. Confirm the expected shortcuts
   • In Word, the official shortcuts are:
     • End: move to end of current line.
     • Ctrl+End: move to end of document.
   • See the documented behavior in the keyboard shortcuts list.
2. Test Word in Safe Mode
   1. Close all Office apps.
   2. Start Word in Safe Mode (for example, by using the documented safe‑mode method from the support article referenced in the Q&A): this loads Word without add‑ins and with a fresh Normal template for testing.
   3. Test End and Ctrl+End in a simple document.
   • If they work correctly in Safe Mode, the issue is caused by either:
     • the Normal.dotm template, or
     • one or more add‑ins.
3. Reset the Normal.dotm template
   1. Close Word.
   2. Locate and rename Normal.dotm (for example to Normal2024.dotm) as described in the Q&A guidance.
   3. Start Word normally; a fresh Normal.dotm will be created.
   4. Test End and Ctrl+End.
   • If the shortcuts now work, the problem was in the old Normal.dotm (custom key assignments or macros). Re‑create only the customizations that are needed, or restore a known‑good backup of Normal.dotm using the documented template‑restore process:
     • Find a backup such as Normal.dotm.old or NormalPre/NormalOld.
     • Copy it, rename the copy to Normal.dotm, and restart Word.
4. Check for problematic add‑ins If the problem persists even with a fresh Normal.dotm, follow the add‑in isolation steps from the Q&A:
   1. In Word, disable all COM Add‑ins and Word Add‑ins (via the Developer tab or Options → Add‑ins → Manage).
   2. Restart Word and test End/Ctrl+End.
   3. Re‑enable add‑ins one by one, testing each time, until the faulty add‑in is identified.
   4. Once identified, leave it disabled or contact its vendor for an update.
5. Apply the same checks for Excel
   • Because the same behavior appears in Excel, once the underlying Office customization or add‑in is fixed in Word, Excel should also return to normal behavior. If not, repeat the add‑in isolation steps in Excel’s Add‑ins dialog.

If after these steps the keys still misbehave only in Office but not in other apps, continue focusing on Office templates and add‑ins. If they misbehave system‑wide, use Windows keyboard troubleshooting (driver, language/layout, or third‑party keyboard/macro utilities) as described in the Surface keyboard troubleshooting article.

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References:

• Keyboard shortcuts in Word
• Missing customizations in Office Word after an update
• In MS Word, when I hit the "end" key, it deletes the first paragraph of the document - Microsoft Q&A
• Troubleshoot problems with your Surface mouse or keyboard