Strange problem pasting and backspacing in Mail.app

Question

Level 1

0 points

Strange problem pasting and backspacing in Mail.app

I've been having a strange problem in Mail.app when composing messages. Suppose I have a short, three-line message like this:

Hi John,

Here's the quote from Einstein:

Simple enough, right? So then I go to another application -- for example, Firefox -- to copy some text that I want to paste in. I put the text cursor at the point where I want to paste the text; in this example, after "Einstein:". I paste. And then it looks like this:

Hi John,

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

Here's the quote from Einstein:

That's right: it pastes the text ABOVE the line where I want it, instead of just on the same line. It doesn't matter if I choose regular "Paste" or "Paste and Match Style."

Now, I tried to be smart, and put a blank line below where I wanted to the text. When I paste it in, I get the pasted text below "Einstein:" just as you would expect. But if I click at the beginning of the pasted text, and then press backspace so it goes up to the previous line, then it jumps ABOVE the line I want and the result is identical to the one illustrated above.

Any ideas? This is driving me nuts. When I have copied text that I want to paste into an e-mail, I have to compose my messages elsewhere (usually BBEdit) and then paste them into Mail.app in their entirety. HELP!

Also, no: I have zero copy/paste problems in any other application. I have no clipboard add-on software, either.

(note that I'm at OS X 10.5.8 despite the "product" remark below)

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Feb 28, 2012 11:08 AM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,111 points

Feb 28, 2012 11:46 AM in response to Dekortage

Hmmm, seems there used to be a setting for this, like Place Reply above/below quoted text, but the only thing I find related is if you're using Signatures, Mail>Preferences>Signatures>Place Signature above quoted text, which can have some strange effects.

Have you tried it composing in Plain Text instead of Rich Text?

I think the problem is likely the source, do those interim Apps allow you to show Invisible characters, I use Tex-Edit Pro to display those Home, Paragraph. GR, LFs, etc.

Reply

Answer 2

Dekortage Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 28, 2012 12:52 PM in response to BDAqua

I'm not sure what the Place Reply feature might do, since this isn't a reply, but of course ya never know with a bug like this.

I'll see if I can view the invisible characters. Thanks for the advice.

Reply

Answer 3

Dekortage Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 2, 2012 2:43 AM in response to Dekortage

Heh. Here's an even crazier example:

If I am in Mail.app, and I select text in a message I am composing, cut it, then try to paste it somewhere else in the message -- the text is inserted ABOVE the paragraph in which I'm trying to paste. (just like my example earlier)

If, however, I switch to a text editor (BBEdit), paste my text, reselect it, cut it, then switch to Mail.app to paste it in -- it pastes precisely where I intend.

Why on earth would copied text in a mail message be impossible to paste properly???

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 18, 2014 12:34 PM in response to Dekortage

I have the same problem. It also happens in notes.

Now I created a note in Mail on my Macbook and had this problem: Backspacing a line moved it above the previous paragraph. Then I opened the same note on my Ipad, and I did not have the problem, I could simply backspace the same line and it was connected to the end of the previous paragraph. What I did see in my Ipad note however was that the two paragraphs had a different font (which was not visible on macbook, until I edited it on my Ipad). Somehow my macbook mail creates unsolicited separate paragraphs, which use different invisble fonts, and these paragraphs may not be merged.

The same problem probably also causes email messages that I compose on my macbook to end up at the recipient in a very different font (i.e., lines/ paragraphs are larger and/or in different font.) than what I see when composing the message. This is really annoying, because it makes you look like a complete moron who is unable to compose a properly edited message.

Reply