Option key stopped working

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Level 1

20 points

Option key stopped working

The option key on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2015; MacOS 10.12.6) just stopped working. In the first half of typing a sentence, it worked (on shift-option-hyphen). In the second half of the same sentence, it stopped working. Since then, it has not worked. Any combination of the option key and another key produces nothing. This is true in Word, Notes, TextEdit, Safari, and any application I try.

I've restarted the MacBook Pro. There's no change. The option key doesn't work.

I've connected an external keyboard. There's no change. The option key on the external keyboard doesn't work. So, apparently, it's not a hardware problem with the MBP keyboard.

Any suggestions? (Of course, I can take it to an Apple Store.)

MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Aug 31, 2020 2:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Sharhari

Level 5

6,293 points

Aug 31, 2020 2:57 AM in response to Gaius-in-PA

In Menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources, enable 'Show Input menu in menu bar'.

Select Show Keyboard Viewer from the Input Menu in the menu bar. Test the keyboard.

Also check if you have same issue in safe mode.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Note: Safe mode prevents your Mac from loading certain software as it starts up, including login items, system extensions not required by macOS, and fonts not installed by macOS. It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

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Answer 2

Gaius-in-PA Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 31, 2020 5:40 AM in response to Sharhari

Good call, Sharhari!

I already had the Input menu in the menu bar. Apparently, while I was typing, I accidentally typed a key combination that moved the Input to the next sources, which happened to be Unicode Hex Input, which doesn't use the Option key.

I moved the Input back to my usual source (U.S.) and all is well.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,088 points

Aug 31, 2020 6:08 AM in response to Gaius-in-PA

Gaius-in-PA wrote:

Unicode Hex Input, which doesn't use the Option key.

It does use the Option key, you hold it down while typing the hex code to make any unicode character. The code for em dash, shift option hyphen, is 2014.

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Answer 4

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,088 points

Aug 31, 2020 2:49 AM in response to Gaius-in-PA

Check to make sure system preferences > keyboard > modifier keys still has Option set to Option and not something else.

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Option key stopped working

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