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jldmen99's avatar
jldmen99
Copper Contributor
Oct 13, 2021

Backspace key not working when Normal Style set to paragraph indent

This is actually an old issue that was fixed a long time ago, but somehow has now resurfaced. My Normal Style is set to indent first lines of paragraphs. The problem that has come back again is that ...
Stefan_Blom's avatar
Stefan_Blom
MVP
Oct 14, 2021

jldmen99 

 

As far as I can tell, nothing has changed. The "Set left and first indent with tabs and backspaces" option works the same it did years ago, when it was introduced.

 

Do you mean that the option has de-selected itself? In that case, the issue could be a damaged registry entry.

jldmen99's avatar
jldmen99
Copper Contributor
Oct 14, 2021
Yes, it was deselected when I went in to look at it. Once I selected it, the problem I reported went away. As I said previously, the evidence is just circumstantial, but the coincidence is suspicious that it happened immediately after the latest cumulative update. Perhaps the update changed something in the registry. I don't know. It was working fine before the update, which suggests that my registry was not damaged, and then not working after the update. So, it is a mystery. I'm just relieved that there was such a simple solution that fixed the issue. Thank you again.
  • Stefan_Blom's avatar
    Stefan_Blom
    MVP
    Oct 17, 2021

    jldmen99 

     

    Cumulative updates usually refer to Windows updates. These wouldn't affect the settings in Word at all.

     

    Or are you referring to some other type of update? 

    • jldmen99's avatar
      jldmen99
      Copper Contributor
      Oct 17, 2021
      You're right, of course. Cumulative updates shouldn't affect Office apps. I really can't explain it. All I know is that the WORD backspace issue I described always worked, and was working perfectly fine at 9 AM the morning this happened. I then clicked YES to install the latest cumulative update, and after it completed, the backspace feature stopped working. I discovered that the set left and first indent option under "Proofing - Auto Correct - Autoformat as you type" was unflagged. I flagged it, and presto, the backspace issue was fine again. How did it get unflagged? I have no idea. Was it flagged before the problem happened? I don't know. I'm just a user. I have no reason to look at or play with these application options unless something suddenly stops working the way it used to. Unless I did it in my sleep, I know I didn't unflag the Auto Correct option in question. If you or someone else with the techie skills wants to spend time researching this, have at it. Like I said, I'm just a user. I do freelance writing, so I use WORD heavily and rely on it to behave the way I originally set it up to meet my specific needs. It shouldn't suddenly and inexplicably reset itself to some factory default.
      • Stefan_Blom's avatar
        Stefan_Blom
        MVP
        Oct 20, 2021

        jldmen99 

         

        Thanks for the follow-up.

         

        I have no explanation for the behavior. Of course, it does happen that registry entries break.

         

        If you ever see this problem happening again, note the specific circumstances (such as Word crashing, an Office update being installed, or a Windows update being installed) and post back in this forum.

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