Forum Discussion
cursor not placing properly and not highlighting text to edit
MS Office apps recently not functioning properly. Most noticeable is in Excel when I try to place the cursor inside an already typed sentence in order to edit some text, the cursor automatically goes to the end of the sentence. I have to back space to get to the part of the text that I want to change. Also, I cannot highlight text to edit the text. If I save the document then attempt to edit, it works only once and then does not work again. Also noticed the same thing in Outlook just started to happen. It does not happen in other non-MS apps i.e. I can use my Google Chrome browser with no issues when editing and highlighting text so it must be just a MS Office issue. Any suggestions?
21 Replies
- It might be a glitch in the Office apps. Have you tried updating them or repairing the installation? Sometimes just restarting your computer can help too. If it keeps happening, you could also check if any add-ins are causing issues.
One of our users is having this exact issue.
No add-ins.
Restarting does not help.
Issue appears to be intermittent, since potentially either closing & re-opening Word or unplugging & plugging an external monitor back in resolved the issue (both were performed simultaneously, but probably closing & re-opening Word, since other people said that fixed it for them).
User completely uninstalled & re-installed Office.
Most notable in Word, although I think this issue also occurs for other Office apps.
No problems with any other apps; all other apps function normally. This is only an issue with Office apps.
same issue just randomly started last month. I have a fast paced job with massive spreadsheets and the fact that i cannot just click and edit the cells is causing hours and hours of backlog. This is ridiculous. its a widespread problem it seems but i don't see a single Microsoft employee with accurate solution for a fix. There is no reason to uninstall/reinstall, reboot, check your mouse. It is a bug that needs to be fixed. if someone has figured it out please reply.
Hi, I don't know if this will help you as it helped me with the same Excel problem.
1. Select a cell or highlight all cells
2. Right Click and select Format Cells
3. In the tabs above Select Protection
4. In Protection Tab if Locked is check please uncheck it and click OK
5. Restart the Excel
6. DoneI have no idea what is causing this problem but it is relatively recent with me and highly annoying and inconvenient! I tried updating Office, I tried the other things suggested online. Nothing works. I assume this problem has been caused by some software update that Microsoft passed along to my computer, because there has been no other change to my computer.
Eaton10 Experiencing the same problem for the last 2 or 3 days after a Windows update.
Whenever My mouse is hovering a text area of any software, cur cursor becomes inaccurate (off on the right).
I wonder if there's a solution that doesn't involve uninstalling an app because i don't want to uninstall Visual studio, Word, etc, basically all my software.Hello, I cannot keep the cursor where I need it. It goes back several lines up. Same when I want to highlight some text, it goes somewhere else prior and highlight something else.
What is the solution for this problem?
Thanks.
BrigitteRichard@brigitte10
- Totally agree!!
Hello MWessel, Caralina and everyone who might see this question!
Caralina Thanks for replying this thread and updating it.
It's Ahmed 🙂
Sorry, that noone answered yet!
Such issues are both sided like software or hardware, and need more than a Troubleshooting step to solve the issue!Let me try to summarize those steps for you and for future users who may face the same issue 🙂
- Restart the affected Microsoft Office app
- Check for updates
- Repair the Microsoft Office installation
- Check for conflicts with other software
- Reset the Microsoft Office app
- Restart the device
- Update the device
- Repair or reinstall Office
- Check for malware or viruses
- Check for conflicts with other programs
- Check for hardware issues... check for RAM usage as you mentioned Chrome so it uses a huge RAM capacity! and freezing usually returns to the RAM response rate. Freezing for Apps may also come due to the mssing Device/Software Updates.
If my solution was helpful, please mark this question as answered and consider giving it a thumbs up.
Your positive feedback motivates me to continue assisting others.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey to finding a solution!
Ahmed
Microsoft, this is a real issue and clearly an O365 bug.
I experience the same intermittent issue in Word, Excel, OneNote and Outlook on all three computers I work on: my Microsoft Surfacebook Pro, my workplace HP workstation, and my home desktop computer. All have a different brand of mouse and different mouse drivers. The problem began when I was running W10 on all three. I have replaced two of them and currently run W11 on my laptop and home computer and W10 at work. The issue occurs on both. I have reinstalled Office and mouse drivers on all three, checked for updates, followed Microsoft's repair recommendations, changed the mouse settings etc and nothing has made any difference.
In summary, for no obvious reason, the cursor loses its coordinates. In Excel, it highlights a cell several along and/or above or below the cell where the cursor is flashing. In Word it highlights words in the wrong line, and to the left of right of the flashing bar cursor. Same in Onenote and in Outlook.
Sometimes the problem can be fixed, as Caralina suggests, but rapidly scrolling left or up to the margins. Other times the only thing that fixes the problem is closing the application and restarting it. I've got very slick at doing that rapidly but it is a nuisance.
This has been such a commonly reported issue for a number of years now, in W10 and W11, that Microsoft needs to put some resources into resolving it and stop blaming the user or the user's machine.
It is because Microsoft has become so flawed because they are more concerned with bells and whistle than functionality.
I have the same problem randomly, I have to keep the cursor 3-4 lines down to highlight the characters or space I need.
I have sent emails to report bugs and still...no fix.
The amount of time I waste working on a doc, have to close and reopen when this happens is ridiculous. I should bill them for the time they take away.
Sir I'm sorry, this is not helpful at all. This is the equivalent of "I don't know". People would be better off with Tech Support Contact email...
MWessel I am having the same issue in Microsoft Word (but I'm using the software that came with the laptop, not the 365 app). It is so frustrating (and maddening) to highlight a word or sentence (in order to cut, paste, or delete) and then NOT have it stay highlighted to execute the task. I can't figure out what the problem is or why it's happening. Having to use the arrow key, delete key, or backspace for everything is ridiculous and such a waste of time. Unfortunately, I didn't see a reply to your call for help - we can't possibly be the only people on the planet having this issue. I hope someone can provide some insight!
Caralina I noticed that the text is not displayed correctly. So when you click (or doubleclick) on a displayed word, some other point gets the click. This point can be about 6 to 10 lines higher than where you clicked. If you scroll all the way up to the top of your document, you will notice that the first few lines are missing. This is clearly an embarrassing bug.
If the above description matches your predicament, one way to force Word to correct the display is to scroll to almost the top of your doc, then use the scroll bar HARD to move all the way up. Smash the scroll bar to the top with all your pent up frustrations. The missing text will appear and your mouse will be synched with the text. It works for me.
The answer provided by the MS guy was so bogus.
What was your work around .. all I have been able to do is save the file, close it and re-open it.
