OneNote cursor jumps around when I try to enter symbols with Alt codes

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OneNote cursor jumps around when I try to enter symbols with Alt codes

Giraffe20 125

I'm finding that if I try to add symbols such as em or en dashes using alt codes (Alt + 0151 or 0150) to the title of my note, it jumps to the final page in the section and inserts it in the title there. It's really annoying.

Other unusual behaviour also occurs. If I press enter to start typing the note itself and add one of those dashes as the first symbol, it types it but creates the paragraph indented on the far right of the page.

If I insert the star symbol (Alt + 9733) it jumps back briefly to the first page before typing it in the final page.Also, while I was typing this I tried to insert the star symbol using its shortcut and Edge changed my current tab to the new tab page and inserted a club suit symbol instead of a star.

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Answer 1

Xavier-D 9,800 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Giraffe20

Thank you for the detailed description of this issue.

The behavior you described is not expected, especially since the cursor moves to another page or inserts a different symbol.

Alt codes can sometimes conflict with app or browser keyboard shortcuts, particularly when the Alt key remains active while numbers are entered. Microsoft’s guidance for inserting ASCII characters is to hold Alt and type the code using the numeric keypad with Num Lock enabled, but if this causes navigation issues in OneNote.

Please try these workarounds instead: Insert ASCII or Unicode Latin-based symbols and characters explains that Alt codes require the numeric keypad and that Character Map can be used when character codes do not work as expected.

Use Windows emoji/symbol panel: press Windows key + . and choose the symbol from there.
Use Character Map, copy the symbol, then paste it into OneNote.
For em dash/en dash, copy and paste: — / –
Test in another app such as Word or Notepad. If the same issue happens there, it may be a Windows keyboard/input issue rather than only OneNote.
Check whether Num Lock is enabled and whether you are using the physical numeric keypad, not the top number row.

OneNote also has keyboard shortcuts that use Alt for navigation, so if Alt-code input keeps triggering page movement, using the Windows symbol panel or Character Map may be the most reliable workaround.

Feel free reply back to this post and update me on this issue, I'll be happy to help.

Giraffe20 125 Reputation points

2026-07-09T15:03:23.0733333+00:00

Thanks for those suggestions @Xavier-D . The issue only occurred with OneNote. Oddly enough the issue had cleared when I checked OneNote again just now. I found that it the behaviour I described still occurred when Num Lock was off, leading me to believe that it was off when the issue was occurring (even though I was sure I checked it was on). It seems that the keypad can still be used without Num Lock to insert symbols (though not always the expected ones) in some apps (OneNote, Excel, PowerPoint, Edge, Notepad and even Publisher, but not Word). So the keys were both inserting symbols and performing their other functions. I assume the reason I didn't spot it when using the other apps was because I was testing it in otherwise blank documents, so it couldn't go back to the beginning or to the end.
Xavier-D 9,800 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:53:30.1166667+00:00

Hi Giraffe20

Thanks for responding.

That explanation makes sense, especially if the numeric keypad was both entering Alt-code symbols and still performing navigation actions when Num Lock was off.

Since the issue has cleared for now, there may not be anything further to change at this point. If it happens again, I’d suggest first checking the Num Lock state and testing in a note/title that already contains text, since the cursor movement may be easier to notice there.

If the behavior returns consistently only in OneNote while Num Lock is on, please share your OneNote version and Windows version, and it may also be worth submitting feedback from within OneNote so the product team can review the behavior.

Glad to hear it is working normally again for now.

Have a nice day.