Paul Seymour1

Q: Hitting the space bar displays the Finder

I've had a very odd thing happen a few times. With no warning, suddenly every time I hit the space bar, the computer switches over to the Finder. If it were happening now as I type this, in between every single word, I would have to switch from the Finder back to Chrome to continue my note. It's quite an awful error. The only way I've found to make it go away is to restart.

 

Because it happens so consistently once it begins, I was wondering if this might be some crazy feature found somewhere in OSX. Has anyone ever heard of this problem before?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Jan 19, 2016 6:24 PM

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Q: Hitting the space bar displays the Finder

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  • by CT,

    CT CT Jan 21, 2016 6:41 AM in response to Paul Seymour1
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 21, 2016 6:41 AM in response to Paul Seymour1

    Consider the possibility of a third party software conflict.  One way to get a look at what is installed/running is via EtreCheck.

  • by Nubz N.,

    Nubz N. Nubz N. Jan 21, 2016 6:59 AM in response to Paul Seymour1
    Community Hosts
    Jan 21, 2016 6:59 AM in response to Paul Seymour1

    HI, Paul.  

     

    Thanks for the question and I believe I know what is happening. I understand that the Finder or Spotlight search options appear when you hit the Space bar.  This actually sounds like a keyboard shortcut may be activated when typing.  If you select Command–Option–Space bar, the Finder window will pop up.  If you select Command–Space bar, the Spotlight Search option will appear.  

     

                     
    Command–Space barSpotlight: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight.

     

    Mac keyboard shortcuts

     

    You can disable these shortcuts by opening System Preferences, click Keyboard and then click Shortcuts.  Once there you need to select Spotlight on the left, then deselect the checkboxes for "Show Spotlight search" and "Show Finder search window."

     

    OS X El Capitan: If Spotlight or the Finder opens when you switch input sources

     

    If you are still experiencing this issue, try going through the steps in the article below.  You may also want to look for any stuck or depressed keys when looking at the keyboard viewer.  

     

    If other keys don’t work

    You may have accidentally set an option that changes how your keyboard operates.

    Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Dictation & Speech, then click Text to Speech. If “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” is selected, deselect it or click Change Key to select another key.

    Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Keyboard. Make sure Slow Keys is turned off. If Slow Keys is on, you must hold down a key longer than usual before it’s recognized.

    Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Mouse & Trackpad. Make sure Mouse Keys is off. If Mouse Keys is on, pressing keys in the numeric keypad moves the pointer instead of entering numbers.

    Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Input Sources. Select “Show Input menu in menu bar.” Open the Input menu, then make sure the correct keyboard layout is selected.

    To see the keyboard layout, click Keyboard, then choose “Show Keyboard, Emoji, & Symbols Viewers in menu bar.”

     

    OS X El Capitan: If keys on your keyboard don’t work

     

    I hope this resolves your issue and thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.  

     

    Cheers

  • by 750 H2C,

    750 H2C 750 H2C Mar 14, 2016 4:15 AM in response to Paul Seymour1
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 14, 2016 4:15 AM in response to Paul Seymour1

    I just experienced the same thing. Never seen it before, but suddenly I couldn't type a space without finding myself in Finder. Had to restart.

     

    I work with Spotlight hotkeys disabled, so it can't really be anything connected to Spotlight.

  • by 750 H2C,

    750 H2C 750 H2C Mar 14, 2016 4:38 AM in response to 750 H2C
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 14, 2016 4:38 AM in response to 750 H2C

    I've just managed to reproduce the problem. When I drag one image onto another in Photoshop, to create a new layer, the problem appears. Any space I type in Photoshop, or other app, will take me to Finder. Quiiiiite annoying.

     

    I've also realised that restarting Finder is sufficient to get rid of the problem and get back to normal behaviour.

     

    I'll file a bug report.

  • by cupflppr,

    cupflppr cupflppr Apr 19, 2016 8:25 AM in response to 750 H2C
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 19, 2016 8:25 AM in response to 750 H2C

    is there any resolve for this? it keeps happening to me. every time i hit the space bar it pulls up my finder! and every time i need to FORCE RELAUNCH the finder. this is HORRIBLE and just started happening to me this week.

     

    i cant even type a space bar space in a browser window!!!

     

    OSX 10.11.4
    iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
    3.2 GHz Intel Core i5
    32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

  • by Paul O'Loughlin,

    Paul O'Loughlin Paul O'Loughlin Jun 1, 2016 7:49 PM in response to Paul Seymour1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 1, 2016 7:49 PM in response to Paul Seymour1

    I had similar symptoms and found this thread. Specifically, the space bar would open a new finder window, and also the mouse cursor was erratic. It was driving me crazy and I was beginning to think I'd picked up a virus.

     

    But it was nothing to do with Preferences and nothing to do with any conflicts. It wasn't a virus. In fact, it was embarrassingly simple.

     

    I have two keyboards (the laptop plus a second bluetooth keyboard). I also have a messy desk. The second keyboard was left on and tossed aside, then something else was tossed on top of that and...well...I suggest that if you have another keyboard or input device then checking that it's turned off.

     

    Embarrassing - and I'm not suggesting it's the same issue you're suffering from - but if it helps only one person then it's been worth it.

     

    And thanks to you guys and Nubz N. It was through checking preferences that I noticed the battery condition of the bluetooth keyboard and that led me to the resolution.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Paul

    MacBook Pro mid-2009 (upgraded to 8GB and 512GB SSD)

    OS X 10.11.5

  • by digital_artist_4_U,

    digital_artist_4_U digital_artist_4_U Aug 18, 2016 9:26 AM in response to 750 H2C
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 18, 2016 9:26 AM in response to 750 H2C

    Interesting. I have the same issue. I dragged a new layer into another in Photoshop, had the issue, but I could not recreate the problem. I don't recall if I did anything else after that to trigger the glitch. I always restart to resolve the issue. This time, I clicked spacebar + enter + esc, and it stopped the glitch. Though, I probably could have restarted the finder.

     

    Do you happen to have Photoshop CS6, or the Google Viveza plugin installed? I just uninstalled that plugin in hopes that this was the source of the problem and that it will not happen again.

  • by digital_artist_4_U,

    digital_artist_4_U digital_artist_4_U Aug 30, 2016 8:05 AM in response to digital_artist_4_U
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 30, 2016 8:05 AM in response to digital_artist_4_U

    I uninstalled the Photoshop plugin but continue to have this strange spacebar issue from Photoshop. It randomly takes me to the finder instead of panning the image. Relaunching the finder fixes the problem at that time.

     

    The problem occurred again today. I can't replicate the problem by dragging a test image into another, but when the problem does occur that is what I am doing, dragging an image into another.

     

    Does this happen to anyone using the latest version of Photoshop? Or is it just happening with CS6?