Option key not working osx 10.9.4

Question

Hi!
i have a problem with the option-key for some shortcuts and specifically in photoshop.
does someone had this problem before or has any idea for a solution?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Yam, I'm using 10.6.8, not 10.9, but I wonder if you might have the same problem I had. It turns out I had inadvertently pressed a keyboard combination that invoked Unicode/Hex Input from the Language & Text preferences, and this prevented the option key from working.
To see if this is the problem do the following (these instructions are for OS 10.6.8; 10.9 will probably have these configured differently):
Open System Preferences > Language & Text.
Click the Input Sources tab.
At the very bottom, on the right, check the box beside "Show Input menu in menu bar" (there may be an easier way but I don't know of it).
Now, in your Mac menu bar, find the Text Input menu which may look like your national flag, but may not (especially if this is your problem).
On my system, the icon is just to the right of the speaker volume and just to the left of the battery level icon.
You should see your flag and/or language (U.S. in my case.)
Instead, what I saw was this:
To change it back, click the Text Input icon in your menu bar and choose your language from the drop-down menu:
If this was your problem, you'll want to disable the keyboard shortcut so that this doesn't happen again:
Open System Preferences > Keyboard.
Select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
Find Select next source in Input menu in the list on the right. If it is checked, uncheck it.
I hope this helps you or someone else. I spent a long time looking before I stumbled upon the answer.