ERTYUIO keys stop working many times throughout the day

Question

Level 1

4 points

ERTYUIO keys stop working many times throughout the day

Every couple of minutes, the “E”, “R”, “T”, “Y”, “U”, “I”, & “O” keys on my MacBook Pro stop working. It is driving me nuts! I have found a way to get them to work again, but it involves typing a bunch of random keys until those letters appear again. Then out of nowhere they top working again. I am typing this in TextEdit, and am finding that they are not dropping out at all, which is very cool to find out but I did need to begin this question with a bunch of random letters to allow me the use of those letters in the first place, so this application is not immune to the problem, it just doesn’t seem to activate the problem.

Here are some things to know:

Aftphpptptptpehpouqerptuorqneptuoqretptrehpehpqetter typing a bunch of random letters really fast, it will work again.

The issue seems to begin in Safari. I just went to Safari to check some of the settings and when I started back up in TextEdit the letters weren’t working once again.

SAFARI PREFERENCES:

It doesn’t seem to matter whether I have auto-fill on or off, letters drop out with either setting.

I have Sticky Keys on OFF and Slow Keys on OFF.

Bluetooth is not activated.

I use compressed air to clear dust out from under the keys.

This problem is SO F-N ANNOYING!!!!

Does somebody have any idea what could be going on and is there any way to stop this annoyance?

I have a MacBook Pro with system 10.7.5 using Safari 6.1.6

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 8 GB RAM 1333MHz DDR3 2.4 GHz

Posted on Jan 17, 2015 11:14 PM

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Answer 1

spudnuty

Level 5

7,128 points

Jan 18, 2015 1:00 AM in response to edjgraphix

Hello edjgraphix and welcome to Apple Support Communities,

Try plugging in a USB keyboard. Any will do, even a PC. I'm on a Logitec now. Then see if the problem duplicates itself.

If not it's in your keyboard and probably the result of a small bit of moisture. Doesn't take much. I have pictures.

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Answer 2

edjgraphix Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 18, 2015 4:52 AM in response to spudnuty

I am almost certain that it is a Safari issue, because I can only type in TextEdit with no problem, the problem only happens when I type in a Safari window. I have to type almost everything outside of Safari and then paste it into the Safari window.

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Answer 3

spudnuty

Level 5

7,128 points

Jan 18, 2015 8:45 AM in response to edjgraphix

That is very strange. I can think of no software issues that would cause the " “E”, “R”, “T”, “Y”, “U”, “I”, & “O” " keys to get wonky and only those keys.

I'm running Mavericks here on my 2011 MVP 13" and Safari occasionally loses the two finger scroll and changes to enlarge/+/- but always comes back. It also occasionally pops to magnify and sometimes gestures won't bring it back. Only restarting Safari brings it back.

I also had a problem where the curser would jump around and "hover" select but that was because Bluetooth was enabled. Still does it but only occasionally.

I say keyboard because the " “E”, “R”, “T”, “Y”, “U”, “I”, & “O” " keys are electrically connected.

You'd expect a browser issue to affect all keys.

Wait just reread this part:

"I started back up in TextEdit the letters weren’t working once again. "

So it does happen in TextEdit but only after you've used Safari?

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Answer 4

edjgraphix Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 18, 2015 10:21 AM in response to spudnuty

It only happens in TextEdit when I use that application right after Safari, but once I type a bunch of random letters TextEdit works like it's supposed to. I am convinced it's Safari. I am also noticing that those same letters don't allow me to type as quickly. They need to be held down longer before they type the letter, so I need to slow down and keep those letters pressed down for about one second at a time for each of those particular letters. The blinking cursor seems to also be something that could be considered, because it seems that the computer is more focused on the blinking and each time it feels like it is canceling out those letters because the blink had the right of way - if that makes sense. Sort of like if you type two letters at the same time and only one of them shows up on the screen - even though you typed the other one too the computer doesn't bother with recording both keys because it can only handle one at a time. The other key didn't wait long enough before taking its turn. It feels like those keys work, but some other task has priority.

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Answer 5

Mar 1, 2015 9:45 AM in response to edjgraphix

I am having the same issue with the exact keys. How did you finally solve it?

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Answer 6

Nov 28, 2016 2:55 PM in response to edjgraphix

I've got this same issue. I recently upgraded to Sierra and i'm on a Macbook Air. It's intermittent however typing this out i've had to go back on myself and add in the missing characters where the problem has occurred.

I've seen a few posts after searching on Google about it being Mouse Keys, i've followed the instructions and yet it hasn't resolved the issue. I've ran Disk Utility and tried as much as i can to find a solution and yet it's still happening.

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Answer 7

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,210 points

Nov 28, 2016 8:30 PM in response to wldctadam

MMouse keys affects keys on three rows, not just the top one.

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