Shift key always on

My shift won't turn off on my iMac. I thought it was keyboard so switched with another one and have the same issue. Help me please, can't log in to anything while shift is stuck on

Hi, sorry I did not respond sooner, I am moving house. Well, I did not reinstall Lion that night but went to bed instead. Next day I tried logging on again and everything was working perfectly and has been since. I don't know if all the actions I took the night before made any difference or not (removed shift keys, sprayed with compressed air, pressed repeatedly a hundred times, cursed them etc) but since then I have changed my login name and password to be in entirely upper case so that if it happens again I can at least login to my machine. Good luck!

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Left SHIFT key always truncated with OPTION key

Every time I press down the left shift key the option key also gets activated. For instance, leftshifta=Å, leftshiftq=Œ and so forth. I noticed that when I went through the initial setup and confirmed with the keyboard viewer. How can I get this fixed without taking the computer back?

Welcome to Apple Discussions
You can't fix this yourself you'll have to take it back to Apple and have them replace the keyboard.

HT1338 My MacBook Pro (running Leopard 10.5.8) won't allow keyboard to type an upper case 'C' using the shift key...works fine with caps lock, or, with my Typinator workaround using double-typed lower case c (not always best). Any ideas?

My MacBook Pro keyboard won't type an upper case 'C' using the shift key... only with caps lock. Workaround has been to use Typinator by typing a double lower case c, not always the best solution. Mac is a refurbished model, which initially was fine. Apple tech helped me correct the quirk when it first appeared, but now it has returned and refuses fixes. Any ideas?

I'm willing to bet that this has something to do with iCloud. I've been facing a frozen computer nearly every time I go into it.
In Activity Monitor I have seen two programs associate with iCloud that take up about 2.5 GB of memory (I only have 4 in the computer) -- causing everything to freeze. One of these is called "iCloud Helper" and the other one is something like "Address Book Sync helper" -- I see parts of these names in the stuff you have posted.
I am at my wits' end with these and have written to Apple asking them to do away with these or fix them. To get rid of the Address book sync thing I have gone into system preferences for iCloud and unchecked Contacts -- but then spontaneously it gets rechecked. And oftentimes after I Force Quit the iCloud helper, it spontaneously turns on again. My conclusion --- the iCloud is basically unusable. It turns a Mac into the most useless, clogged, sluggish PC. If this is happening to a lot of people's computers -- and I see no reason why yours or mine should be an exception -- these programs just might destroy Apple itself.
So -- I'm about to completely give up on iCloud, and I suspect that others will too unless this gets fixed.
Cheers,
Bob

Left shift key of my new macbook pro retina 13 is always pressed.

My 1 month old macbook pro retina 13 inch model has a problem now. Left shift key is always pressed which results in booting to safe mode.
Currently i have overcome the issue by pressing "option" while booting and used keyremap software to disable "left shift key". Since this a temporary solution, I would like to know what would have caused the shift key to behave like this. If the key not working would have been better, but it is always in pressed state.
Please let me know what I can do to rectify this. If keyboard to be replaced, approximately how much it will cost for the same? I am looking for a positive response....
Regards,
Jibin

Hi BobRz, you are probably talking about the screen display which normaly dims during low light conditions, and that's true. but my concern is the keyboard brightness, it suppose to increase in low light conditions, but instead it dims to the point that i can no longer see the letters on the keyboard. I have viewed a youtube video about the normal adustment function, and mine is doing the opposite

R key always capitalised and Righthand shift key bRings up launchpad

Macbook PRo 15" eaRly 2014 model
EveRything was woRking fine then suddenly got a pRoblem with my R key. Shift / Keylock makes no diffeRence. Some fuRtheR symptoms:
- Holding R then pREssing any otheR letteR makes a capital (i.e. holding R and b = B)
- Righthand SHIFT key bRings up launchpad veRy slowly
I've tRied tuRning off and on, and attempted a PRAM Reset - but the R key causes PRAM to do something else.
Using a USB keyboard it woRks OK - r
Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot, problem solved. No idea how the problem occurred.... I went into system preferences and the application exposé was set to the default F10. Just to see what would happen, I disabled this option and was directed to 'keyboard shortcuts', which simply indicated that the particular shortcut had been unchecked.
Sure enough, my R shift was functioning normally again. I went back and enabled the application exposé shortcut and everything is working just fine.

T61 - Help needed to re-attach the "Shift" key

I accidentally popped off the shift key when cleaning my keyboard. Unlike most other keys on the keyboard, underneath the actual "shift" key cover is a raised point made of a blue rubber-like material. I cannot figure out to re-attach the cover to the shift key and hoping someone can help me out!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

You need a pair of tool tweezers and sober pair of hands or a small screwdriver like the jewelers driver included in those eyeglass repair clips on grocery store endcaps.
The blue cone you're referring to is often called a "chute" and black and white scissors is sometimes referred to as a "pantograph"
Use your tool to snap the pegs into the plastic brace on your deck and it should stand erectly over the blue chute.
The important part is installing the scissors with correct orientation because it can still snap fit but upside down and prevent proper key attachment before overwhelming frustration. On the bottom of your Shift key is likely the scissors and this should be snapped off the key. The white half of the scissors should be oriented north to the LCD
Then snap the scissors into the brace, the shift keys have a metal U bracket and this should be unfurled as far as possible towards the bottom / mousepad.
The shift keys are the hardest keys to reinstall but not impossible, if you become frustrated and break it,, you can buy replacement keys from third parties and we use http://www.machinaelectronics.com/store/ (no affiliation except always satisfied) for $6 replacements shipped first class.
Don't just sit there, take a second and use the Kudo's button to compliment the people who help you.

Selecting Multiple Files With Shift Key

Am I right in understanding that the only way to select multiple files with the Shift key in Finder is by using File view? Seems kinda silly.
Thank you, Scott

I'm at my Snow Leopard machine right now, and I'm not sure that nothing was changed in Mavericks, but I never noticed that it was.
I have four view modes: Icon, List, Column and CoverFlow.
I almost always use Column view, but I am guessing that you are calling Icon view File view. In Icon view, Shift clicking seems to work the way Command clicking does in Column view (and probably the other views as well): it allows you to add randomly selected files to the selection. In Column view, Shift clicking works like it does for most things (like text selection); it selects every thing between the previous click and the Shift click.

InDesign does not react on on-screen Keyboard (Shift-Key) of MAC OS X

Hello everybody,
I want to use the on-screen keyboard of Mac OS 10.9.2 for working with InDesign CS6.
(We're working with physically disabled persons who're able to work with a mouse only)
Apparently holding the Shift-key of the on-screen keyboard doesn't have any effect to InDesign
(for aligning straight or scaling proportional etc.)
Is there any adjustment I can make or is this some kind of problem with InDesign?
Thanks!
- Felix
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When modifier keys don't work, it's almost always because of an external application, start-up utility or the operating system capturing the keystroke.
Even though I wrote this post in 2006, it's still accurate:
The Missing Keystrokes Mystery | InDesignSecrets

Using shift key to extend line or paint stroke

Hello all. I've been using a very old version of Photoshop for the last 10 years and I'm used to using the shift key to extend a line or paint stroke. By that I mean, I use the paint tool to make a dot and then hold down the shift key and make another dot elsewhere and that creates a straight line. I just purchased CS6 and that function doesn't seem to be happening. Is this something I need to activate in a preference?
Thanks very much for any and all help.

There's something strange going on here...
Like you, I have always relied on Shift giving me straight strokes from last point to current point. However, I just tried it with the setting both ways and in both cases it worked.
Click this to see an animation...
-Noel

How to turn on the shift key

before when I pressed the shift key there would be an upshift icon on the screen. now it has disappeared. so now I have to always hold the shift key to use upper case
please help

Never saw what you are referring to. You always have to use the shift key individually when typing a capital unless of course you press the caps lock key (lights up).

How to boot up in Normal Mode when Shift Key is stuck

Due to a water spill my Shift Key is stuck. I was able to enter my password that included lower case letters by using an external (bluetooth) keyboard. This allowed me to start the computer and access the contents but only in Safe Mode because the shift key was stuck. Does anyone know a workaround this until I'm able to have the shift key fixed?
Thank you,
Jeff

Liquid damage is very hard to recover from.
Best option is to take the computer to Apple store and see what can they do for you.
Suggestions in this article may or may not work, but at least interesting.
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/4485/My+shift+key+is+always+on.
Best.

MacBook stuck with shift key enabled and numbers not working - even the keyboard app in languages wont type lowercase nor numbers?! Anyone know whats up? no spillage...cant understand why the keyboard app wont do anything.

Anyone have a clue? I can understand the keyboard being broke / shift key being stuck but why in the world would I not be able to type the numbers on the language keyboard app on the operating system? Numbers show up on the app but when I press them I still get the special characters like #^&#* and it wont type lower case. Nothing has ever been spilt, just stopped working one day. Rebooted from Time Capsule restore dated a month ago and its still doing it. (problem started two weeks ago). Only way to get lower case or numbers to actually show up is the copy and paste.
Any help would be amazing!
Details on computer: 13 inch MacBook6, 1 (Late 2009) / Intel Core 2 DUO / 2.26GHZ / 2GB / Memory running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5

If you can afford it, I would recommend replacing the topcase and keyboard as Apple suggests. If like me, you can't afford it or are open to a hack fix, then read on.
The problem
Yesterday, a little water spilt on my 13" MBP keyboard. I turned it around immediately, drained out the water and used tissue to suck it all up but the keyboard was still acting funny. I turned it off and left it out in the sun for a couple of hours and turned it on again but problems remained. Like Rickdubya, my warranty had run out just a month ago and I knew Apple would not cover this under warranty. I tried to clean the shift keys and left it overnight with some rice on them with hopes that the moisture might get sucked out. Nothing worked. (The rice bit is an urban legend that seems to work with some electronics). Went to the Apple Store this morning and was told that they wouldn't even take out the key and clean it, and that the entire top case would have to be replaced. A total bill of 156 Euros which I cannot afford. I had a USB keyboard that would let me use the Mac for the moment so I decided to try to work out a fix.
Symptoms
- Boots in safe mode everytime (which I later found out was because the shift key is pressed)
- Cannot login because password is in lower case or has numbers
- Cannot boot in super user mode and try to disable keys or override password as some commands won't work in uppercase (I wouldn't recommend this anyway because its super user mode)
- All text is in caps and numbers are symbols as though shift key is always pressed
- Audio doesn't work
- Keyboard viewer would not always show the shift key pressed. The key seemed to get pressed at random
Fix
1. Hold the Option button down on boot to bypass the Safe Mode ensure a normal boot
2. At the login screen, plug in a USB keyboard and enter your password to login
3. Change your password to one that uses all caps and no numbers
4. Download and install KeyRemap4MacBook .
5. Use a combination of the functionalities of the Keyboard Viewer and KeyRemap4MacBook to figure out which shift key is the problem. In my case, I found out that it was only my left shift key.
6. Disable the left/right shift key on KeyRemap4MacBook and click on the 'Reload XML' button to make that take effect.
If only one shift key was the problem, then you are done. If both shift keys were shorted, then its likely other keys are too. In which case you should probably just replace the entire thing. If you think other keys are not affected, then you can use KeyRemap4MacBook itself to remap the shift functionality to a lesser used key like the Left Option key.
7. Under System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items , add KeyRemap4MacBook as an application that should start on login. This will ensure that your disable/remap of the shift key is active everytime you login.
Usage change/Things to remember
1. Remember to hold down the Option key everytime the computer boots or reboots to bypass safe mode. The fix above is at the software level. The key is physically still shorted at the hardware level and will affect boot.
2. Remember that at the login screen, the disable/remap is not active. So your password now has to be all caps and only letters.
As soon as I can save some money, I will get my topcase and keyboard replaced but until then this solution works great with minimal change. Hope this helps!

The Shift key isn't working in InDesign CC

I just upgraded to InDesign CC and the shift key isn't working. I can't scale in proportion or even move items in alignment. Please help! Did Adobe change the key to complete this task? Is it a bug? Is there a setting I need to change. This makes absolutely no sense!

A number of Mac user have reported this, and it seems always to be some other program or a system setting hijacking the key.

Angle increments using shift key. How to set it up?

How to set up the angle increments (stops) to be used with the shift key? I need to set it up to 30 degrees increments.

The Shift key only constrains to 90° and 45° (based on the Constrain Angle in Prefs) and I don’t think you can change that.
At least I have been using Illie for several generations of donkeys and have never hit on (nor needed) a method involving Shift like you are asking for.
I have always found it easier to use the specific tools for Rotating, Scaling etc. rather than using the Selection tool and bounding boxes (as I assume you are doing). Maybe I’m old-fashioned and maybe it’s just a personal quirk, but hitting R or S keys seems to me to be a more convenient way of working.

Shift key not working - usual fixes not working

Hi there, I'm sure many of you have heard of this problem before and I've had it many a time before but at this time, I'm stumped.
The shift key isn't working to constrain proportions etc. in Illustrator. I have no (nor have had any) microsoft office programs open. I have trashed the preferences and restarted. It is not a keyboard issue.
Any other ideas?

Both of you are having an unfortunate issue you can help the forum folk by telling us something about your system and hardware and applications you have install.
I can tell you on both the mac and Windows platform there are a couple of plug ins and third party software that might cause this I think one was called Zume or Zune but there were a couple.
Quicken of course and there is another popular software on the Windows platform as well.
But I can only guess with the no information about the system. You should always give the most amount of information and least amount of conjecture as possible.
Of course one of the most common thing to try is to reset the preferences.

Shift key always on

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