[Fix] Arrow Keys Not Scrolling Webpages, Navigating Through Text in Google Chrome
Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this annoying issue. He was using Google Chrome web browser. Whenever he was trying to press Arrow keys on the keyboard to scroll up or down on webpages, Chrome was not scrolling the page. Instead the mouse cursor was navigating through the text character by character displaying on the webpage.
The cursor was behaving just like it works inside Notepad, Wordpad, Microsoft Word, etc text editing programs. The cursor was going through the webpage text like you are trying to type or modify the text in a word processor program.
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If you are also facing this issue in Chrome, this tutorial will help you in fixing the issue and make Arrow keys working again in Chrome browser.
Actually Google Chrome and other web browsers come with an accessibility feature called “Caret Browsing” which allows users to activate and enable a movable cursor in the web browser. Once a user turns on Caret Browsing feature, the Arrow keys no longer scroll the webpages. Instead the Arrow keys move the cursor through the written text on webpages. This feature has been implemented in web browsers to help people in selecting text on webpages more easily using keyboard.
That’s why if Caret Browsing feature is activated in a web browser, Arrow keys stop scrolling the webpages and move the cursor through written text.
There is a universal keyboard shortcut or hotkey to turn on/off Caret Browsing mode in web browsers and if a user accidentally presses the hotkey, it activates Caret Browsing feature and the user starts facing this issue.
If you are facing this issue in Chrome browser, you just need to press F7 key on your keyboard, Chrome will show a confirmation box asking for your permission to turn on/off Caret Browsing feature. Click on “Turn Off” button and it’ll immediately deactivate and disable Caret Browsing feature and Arrow keys will start scrolling webpages.
So remember you can press F7 key anytime in your web browser to enable/disable Caret Browsing feature.
There is another way to enable/disable Caret Browsing feature in Chrome. You can also use Chrome Settings page to turn on/off Caret Browsing feature as mentioned in following steps:
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1. Open Google Chrome web browser, click on 3-dots menu (Main Menu) and select Settings option. Alternatively, you can directly open the Settings page by typing chrome://settings/ in Chrome address bar.
2. It’ll open Chrome Settings page. Scroll down to bottom and click on “Advanced” link.
3. Again scroll down to bottom and you’ll see “Navigate pages with a text cursor. To turn caret browsing on or off, use the shortcut F7” option present under “Accessibility” section.
If the option it set to ON, it means Caret Browsing feature is enabled in your browser and the Arrow keys will navigate inside the text on webpages.
If the option it set to OFF, it means Caret Browsing feature is disabled in your browser and the Arrow keys will scroll the webpages.
To fix the issue, disable the option and that’s it.
Also Check:
How to Fix Arrow Keys Navigation Problem in Mozilla Firefox?
Oh, thank you! It was so annoying!
it absolutely works maybe ii pressed f7 by mistake and it was driving me crazy to always drag down the bar in order to scroll down !!! gosh, thank you very much.
Still saving us from going insane . Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you so much!!!! this was driving me crazy 🙂
thanks it worked
This article saved my life. It was really annoying.
Awesome! Worked a treat.
Best support help guide ever!! Once press of F7, job done! Thank you.
I’m not sure why these little changes occur but SO ANNOYING. This issue arose in last week or so and the other annoying issue was the function key settings needing to be changed so volume keys etc could be used on the keyboard. Thanks for posting the fix for this.
thanks
Thank you for the fix!
Thank you for your help I was struggling with it for last 10 days.
I would like to thank you for this. I have been literally trying to fix it for hours.
oh my gosh thank you i thought chrome was broken and i had just been using my cursor to scroll but thank you, i had been searching for the solution for like 3-5 months now
I am saying the same thing as everyone else. Thanks. I got used to using the arrow keys and they started hopping from text to text and it was getting on my nerves.
thank you so much. tried trouble shooting ,rebooting etc etc then found this article. only pressed the ‘f7’ key and now my problem is solved !!!! 10/10 <3
My cat had stepped on F7 (and many other keys), it took me a few days to find this post and it sure helped.
OMG! Thank you so much for this, it was so annoying!
Thank you so much bro 🙂
thanks it worked I kept pushing the f7 and it kept putting my laptop in airplane mode, I forgot I has to hold the Fn and f7 at same time but it worked thanks
this did not work
I appreciate alot, that was very helpful. It has been annoying for the past few weeks. Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot and was facing this issue last two weeks. And now its fix.
Disabling caret browsing works, thank you!
THANKS A LOT
Thank you so much! Been dealing with this problem for weeks! Realized recently that the issue was only on Chrome. Your steps were easy to follow and fixed my issue.
As simple as F7.
Thanks!!!
Thanks! I didn’t know it was a browser only thing until I started trying with different apps, drive me insane although I just had it for like 15 minutes, lol.
“If you are facing this issue in Chrome browser, you just need to press F7 key on your keyboard, Chrome will show a confirmation box asking for your permission to turn on/off Caret Browsing feature.”
THANK YOU!
I don’t know what kind of sorcery I did to turn on Caret Browsing. But thanks to your advice I pressed F7, clicked on turn off and boom My arrow keys are back to their normal scrolling behavior. You are a genius!
(brave browser)
a bit late to the party but, yes, turning off caret browsing worked !!