Can't drag the cursor up in text messages on new iphone 15 Pro iOS 17

I switched from my iphone 13 pro with iOS 17 (no problems with the upgrade) and now I've lost a bunch of features. This post is about typing a long enough text message so the beginning is hidden at the top. I can scroll to read the whole thing but I can't edit at the beginning. I push/hold on the message (or spacebar) and drag to the cursor to where I want it. I let go and it pops back down to a different part of the message. I don't need it often but it's something that Apple should be aware of if it's happening to others.

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Oct 3, 2023 10:51 AM

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Posted on Oct 17, 2023 2:13 PM

I just wrote a long text and nearly cried. When I scroll to a place to edit the whole thing suddenly flips to another place. Trying to control the cursor is useless. If I put the cursor somewhere it immediately pops back to the last place it was — or some totally random place. I could scream. The caps key goes off before I even have a chance to type. It’s basically doing the same thing as the cursor. Totally uncontrollable. And this back arrow editing thing is insane. Almost everything it suggests is not a real word so just trying not to touch it. I’m so regretting iOS 17.

199 replies

Nov 17, 2023 2:53 PM in response to MaxGabriel1219

I am all updated to iOS 17.1.1. restarted phone and reset keyboard dictionary... None of your suggestions worked, but thank you. It's odd that some of the respondents on this thread said their update worked out the wandering cursor issue. Not for me. This same iOS update messed up my VIP emails and dumped all emails in that folder, but I resolved that through suggestions from this community forum. Hopefully, there will be another suggestion from this community that can resolve the disobedient text cursor when editing a long message. Frustrated!


Dec 7, 2023 6:34 AM in response to KateT1208

Tried everything from tips in this thread (very much appreciated, everyone!) plus others and some things worked - but only once. I have an iPhone 13 with iOS 17.1.2. I am the most Apple-savvy person I know and the go-to person for everyone in my family for everything Apple. This - and the other related issues people have brought up here - is absolutely a bug.


It's helping when I consider it a "feature" because my kids tell me my text messages are TLDR. Consider this a tip, lol.

Nov 19, 2023 11:34 PM in response to KateT1208

I have the same issue - can’t edit longer texts because can’t place cursor in higher sections of text.

I’ve been up to date with 17.1.1 pretty much since it came out and the issue persists. None of the fudges recommended in this post work. Including the most recent of dragging up from the space bar - keyboard goes grey yes, but cursor disappears and also still can’t scroll up. I booked an appointment with a genius and he tried this and failed. He tried various other things too, to no avail.

In addition to the scrolling up / editing issue in the messages app, the curser doesn’t function as it did in previous iOS in other ways as well. It is much poorer. For example when I tap to a position I wish to edit, sometimes it goes to where I want to place it, while very often it selects a word or even letter, and for the life of me I can’t just get it to flash in the spot I want without it selecting something. Whereas this wasn’t a problem in previous iOS. (It’s happening now while I write this, not in messages.) Then I tap in a different place and it does as one wishes and is the normal flashing cursor again. But it’s not where one wants it. I can’t see any pattern to it. It is infuriating for sure.

Everything is taking longer.

Getting the user interface right / having a curser working properly is obviously an absolute fundamental.

This is really poor and it’s been happening for way too long now.

Dec 29, 2023 1:06 PM in response to KateT1208

This is not a “fix” by any means but it is a little trick I figured out that helps moving the cursor within the text body that is out window view …

Plop the cursor where you need it, just like you usually would and, when it jumps back to the end of the message [and the cursor is out of view], TAP THE BACKSPACE BUTTON JUST ONCE and the screen view should revert back up to where you put it. You may have to correct anything that was deleted when you hit the backspace key but your cursor is, at least, in view and you’re able to carry on … saving you hours of fruitlessly tapping, slamming, swearing, crying, pulling hair, terrorizing loved ones and hurling your phone against the wall. Hope this helps!

Can't drag the cursor up in text messages on new iphone 15 Pro iOS 17

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