Enter and shift keys not working. HELP!!!

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Level 1

10 points

Enter and shift keys not working. HELP!!!

A few days ago my mouse started behaving erratically all of a sudden. It would move by itself, click apps, and switch tabs rapidly all on its own. I've had this computer for over 2 years and this has never happened before. Restarting and rebooting into safe mode didn't work, but one user suggested a PRAM reset and that fixed the mouse problem. However, my enter and shift key on the right side do not work now (this is much less annoying than the mouse problem, but still very inconvenient!). Restarting the computer and doing another PRAM reset doesn't work unfortunately. I also used the keyboard viewer to confirm that all but those two keys work. I don't think the issue is with keyboard lint because both keys worked fine before I tried the reset. Booting up in safe mode also doesn't fix the problem. It would be great if I could find a way to fix this here since I won't be able to go to an Apple genius bar until December!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 14, 2014 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

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johngoodman6

Level 1

13 points

Apr 21, 2016 4:56 AM in response to JDfunky

I'm also curious if he got a solution. My MacBookPro5,5 has the exact same bad key problem - the Return key, and the Right Shift key - neither work. I have already tried all the suggestions above this post. No luck.

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Answer 2

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Sep 17, 2014 7:52 AM in response to sandi3s

Hello sandi3s,

The troubleshooting detailed below may help restore functionality to your MacBook Pro's keyboard.

Some keys don't work as expected

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.

From the View menu, choose Speech.

Click the Text to Speech tab.

If "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" is enabled, the key or key combination set to speak text cannot be used for other purposes or used to type text--click Set Key and change it to a less-commonly used key combination (try to use modifier keys such as Shift, Command, Option, and Control). Or, disable the "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" option.

Click the Accessibilty or Universal Access pane in System Preferences, then click the Keyboard tab.

Make sure that Slow Keys is turned off. With Slow Keys on, you need to press a key for a longer period of time for it to be recognized.

In the Accessibilty or Universal Access pane, click the Mouse tab, and make sure Mouse Keys is turned off. With Mouse Keys enabled, you cannot use the Numeric Keypad to enter numbers--instead the keypad moves the pointer (cursor). (There is an option to enable Mouse Keys with five presses of the Option key; you may want to turn that option off to avoid accidentally enabling it.) If Mouse Keys is enabled and you are using a keyboard with no numeric keypad or Num Lock function, see Unable to type while Mouse Keys is enabled in Mac OS X.

If the function keys on the top row of the keyboard are not working as expected, see Mac OS X: How to change the behavior of function keys.

If the issue persists, use Keyboard Viewer to help isolate the issue:Start from the Mac OS X Install Disc, choose Terminal from the Utilities menu and test the keys which were previously not working. If the keys work while started from the Install disc, then the keyboard itself is working correctly. Use How to troubleshoot a software issue to isolate the software issue that may be causing the keys to not respond.

Click the Language & Text pane (Mac OS X v10.6) or International pane (Mac OS X v10.5.8 or earlier) in System Preferences.

Click the Input Sources tab (or Input Menu tab in Mac OS X 10.5.8 or earlier).

Click the Keyboard & Character Viewer "On" checkbox to select it (click the Keyboard Viewer "On" checkbox in Mac OS X 10.5.8 or earlier).

From the Input (flag) menu, choose Show Keyboard Viewer.

If the keyboard is connected and detected by OS X, the keys you type will highlight in the Keyboard Viewer window. Open TextEdit (or any text application), and try to type something using the keys that were previously not responding to see if they highlight in Keyboard Viewer.

One or more keys on the keyboard do not respond

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1381

Cheers,

Allen

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Answer 3

sandi3s Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 17, 2014 10:42 PM in response to CarlAVII

Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately I have tried them all multiple times before and nothing seemed to work. Is there a way for me to have a different key function as the enter button?

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Answer 4

Oct 14, 2014 6:15 AM in response to sandi3s

Yes you can remap keys. https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/

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Answer 5

yb101

Level 1

0 points

Oct 27, 2015 10:12 PM in response to sandi3s

On pages, format--> font --> capitalization --> none

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Answer 6

JDfunky

Level 2

229 points

Apr 1, 2016 10:00 PM in response to sandi3s

sandi3s , Did you solve this at all? I had the same erratic trackpad cursor stuff suddenly occur, I believe my daughter spilled some drops of water onto the trackpad and keyboard. After a day the trackpad started working ok again, but I have now lost the function of my left side control, command, option and shift keys.

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Answer 7

lilyjun

Level 1

24 points

Jun 10, 2016 12:38 AM in response to JDfunky

Hey JDfunky, I have the same problem like yours after a minor coffee spill 😟. Just wondering, how is your mac now?

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Answer 8

JDfunky

Level 2

229 points

Jun 21, 2016 2:17 AM in response to lilyjun

lilyjun wrote:

Hey JDfunky, I have the same problem like yours after a minor coffee spill 😟. Just wondering, how is your mac now?

Sorry to say it is still the same; Shift, Option, and Control on the left side not working. I tried pulling keys off and poking around to no avail. I am getting by, having most of those on the right side, and remapped the Caps Lock key so it now functions as the Control key, (the only key not duplicated on the right). I looked into replacing the entire keyboard, that is a **** of a job that I will not attempt.

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