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User profile for user: Marvy2718
Marvy2718 Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Arrow keys on external keyboard don't work with Office products, e.g. Word

I often use an external Bluetooth keyboard with my iPad, but when I use it with OneNote and Word the arrow keys don’t behave properly. They work fine for Apple applications but not the Microsoft ones.


The external keyboard is practically useless without the arrow keys. The only way I’ve found to get them to work is by turning off “Full Keyboard Access” in Accessibility/Keyboards.


Does anyone have any better solutions? I’m running iPadOS 15.6.1 on my Mini 5 so everything’s up-to-date. I see lots of other people have had this same issue. Can’t these two play better together?

iPad mini 5, iPadOS 15

Posted on Jan 3, 2023 7:55 PM

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User profile for user: Tom Gewecke
Tom Gewecke
User level: Level 10
118,322 points

Posted on Jan 3, 2023 8:30 PM

Marvy2718 wrote:

The only way I’ve found to get them to work is by turning off “Full Keyboard Access” in Accessibility/Keyboards.

You have found the basic fix. To make it unnecessary, MS will have to fix its products I think.


Do you reallly need Full Keyboard Access to be ON for some reason? If so, you can try customizing the "Commands" in the settings for Full Keyboard Access.


Adjust the onscreen and external keyboard settings on iPad - Apple Support




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User profile for user: Tom Gewecke
Tom Gewecke
User level: Level 10
118,322 points

Jan 3, 2023 8:30 PM in response to Marvy2718

Marvy2718 wrote:

The only way I’ve found to get them to work is by turning off “Full Keyboard Access” in Accessibility/Keyboards.

You have found the basic fix. To make it unnecessary, MS will have to fix its products I think.


Do you reallly need Full Keyboard Access to be ON for some reason? If so, you can try customizing the "Commands" in the settings for Full Keyboard Access.


Adjust the onscreen and external keyboard settings on iPad - Apple Support




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User profile for user: Marvy2718
Marvy2718 Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jan 4, 2023 5:18 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks, I finally discovered this fix through much searching so I haven't had a chance to see if it affects anything else, but so far so good. Thanks for the tip about Commands, and I agree with you that it only seems to be Microsoft products that have this issue on my iPad. All other apps work fine with the "Full Keyboard" turned on.


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Arrow keys on external keyboard don't work with Office products, e.g. Word

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