Backspace key in Outlook

[Dirk Schmeckthal]

Hello,

out of the sudden the backspace key stopped working in Outlook.
Usually pressing the backspace key in editing mode each press does delete the last letter.
It works in every other program.
Now i have to press shift and backspace for that functionality.

What happened and how to restore?
Office 365 is already updated and the problem exists too in Outlooks safe mode.

[#2]

In newer versions, it performs "Archive", not "delete". Hit the Delete key for the latter.

[#3]

Sorry, but no.
I wrote about editing mode, not archive emails and am using the newest Outlook 365.

[#4]

In Outlook 2016 and Outlook for Microsoft 365, a "feature" called the backspace-to-archive keybind was introduced. It allows one to archive messages by selecting them and then pressing the Backspace key. Folks who don't like this feature can turn it off by editing the Registry on their computer. Unfortunately, that edit disables the backspace key altogether. See the Disable the Backspace keyboard shortcut section of https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlook-2016s-archive-button/. Perhaps someone in your organization made a group policy change that disabled your backspace key.

BTW, a much better way to disable that backspace button's archiving feature without disabling the button altogether can be found at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/archive-in-outlook-for-windows-25f75777-3cdc-4c77-9783-59...

[#5]

Thanks. Just to clarify: I use Office 365 always with the newest updates since many years.
This change is only a few days old. When i log in with another user account in windows,then Outlook is working there as expected (bachspace does delete letters).

[#6]

I have had items randomly going to the Archive folder in Microsoft since they rolled out some updates in January 2021. I get random emails, sometimes current and just sent, sometimes just received or just deleted, sometimes recent within the week or weeks, and sometimes months or years old. There is no noted rhyme or reason. Microsoft could not find with 2 months of setting archive settings to not archive, setting some rule to not move anything automatically, and I am still getting items randomly archiving. I don't touch the archive button up top, I am certain I hit my backspace when typing in my account and had no clue about a backspace key to archive, but not sure if that is cause or not or how to disable. I am just an independent user, so my skills are barely enough to be dangerous and more dangerous than not. This has been months and I am really exasperated. Any guidance appreciated. All started after Microsoft 365 started rolling out near weekly and daily updates in end of January and it has not resolved. 

[#7]

I have had items randomly going to the Archive folder in Microsoft since they rolled out some updates in January 2021. I get random emails, sometimes current and just sent, sometimes just received or just deleted, sometimes recent within the week or weeks, and sometimes months or years old. There is no noted rhyme or reason. Microsoft could not find with 2 months of setting archive settings to not archive, setting some rule to not move anything automatically, and I am still getting items randomly archiving. I don't touch the archive button up top, I am certain I hit my backspace when typing in my account and had no clue about a backspace key to archive, but not sure if that is cause or not or how to disable. I am just an independent user, so my skills are barely enough to be dangerous and more dangerous than not. This has been months and I am really exasperated. Any guidance appreciated. All started after Microsoft 365 started rolling out near weekly and daily updates in end of January and it has not resolved.

[#8]

@hoope003 I first discovered the backspace issue while reviewing the list of emails in my Inbox.  I had selected one email from the list so I could read it in the preview pane below.  I pressed the backspace key (why? I don't know) and the message in front of me disappeared.  I did it again to see if I was imagining things.  Then I wondered where the messages went.  I used the search box at the very top and looked for messages with that day's date.  I found the messages in the Archive folder.  A Google search found the explanation of what was going on.

[#9]

Wow, it's 2021 and I have to hack my registry in order to prevent Outlook from archiving my email by mistake. Did anyone think to ask if anyone wanted the backspace feature? I can't imagine anyone actually did. With so many applications/monitors open it's easy to forget where the focus is and accidently hit the backspace key.
Rule #1 as a software vendor: always provide a feature flag to have the ability to disable newly introduced features. And the registry doesn't count as a feature flag.

[#10]

@Dirk Schmeckthal 

In fact it seems that all answers look irrelevant. You asked about the behaviour of the backspace while editing, they answered about the behaviour of that key on the message list.

Anyway, I suffer from a maybe related issue. While I am typing text quite fast an use the backspace key to delete the last letter, it is deleting the following "end of line". As a result, the following paragraph is appended to the text I am just editing.

Did you notice something like this?

I noticed this on 2 different Windows 10 computers (only my hands are identical).

[#11]

@Dirk Schmeckthal 

Hi, you need to go Options>Mail> Compose message > click Editor Options > Advanced > Editing options and make sure "Typing replaced selected text" is ticked

Restart Outlook to ensure it is working. Hope it helped

[#12]

@CandaceLebelThat article you linked to doesn't even mention the backspace key...

[#13]

@Liz_Wick if you are referring to the second link I supplied, you need to choose the ‘Classic Outlook’ tab of the two presented within the article. 

[#14]

@smf723 

It is rather ridiculous, it's about as bad as searching in a specific folder defaulting to search ALL folders if there are no results in the selected folder.