Shift key constantly activated

One of the shift keys (I'm not sure which one) seems to be constantly pressed down, even though nothing is touching them. Caps lock is not on or anything like that, and I had to use an external keyboard to type this which does seem to work.
I figure it's either a system problem or a hardware problem with the keyboard.
It may be unrelated but a day before the problem started I spilled some water on the keyboard, but the problem didn't immediatly present itself so I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not
I would appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks.

As it turns out I didn't find the cause of this issue as the next day the issue came back when I restarted my MBP.
Two days later I have found a working solution so I can limp back to Australia in a month's time, but continue working.
If I start my MBP (with the Shift stuck) it wires 6GB or RAM just at start up and I have to disable the keyboard via terminal (sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBTCKeyb oard.kext/) and then use an external USB keyboard. Very annoying to say the least.
My solution is during restart press the Control and Option keys so that they override the start up with Shift function in OSX. When I attempt to log in I the shift is still stuck so normally my password wouldn't work (so I have changed my password to one that will). Once logged in the Shift is no longer stuck although the Left Shift key does not work so typing takes an extra few hundred milliseconds to use the Right Shift for all capitals (annoying but bareable).
Not an ideal situation, but it is workable until I can get it fixed.

Similar Messages

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!

Odd glitch causing shift key to be randomly activated

Hi... I seem to be having some sort of glitch with my keyboard. On various programs (IM, Word, various Internet browsers) I will have times where my letters are being randomly capitalized (aNd wiLl apPeaR lIke ThIs). This is a great annoyance, and earlier an instance such as this prevented me from starting up my computer because I could not enter my password correctly with the randomly capitalized characters. It appears that when this happens, it is as if my shift key is randomly being activated (numbers will appear as symbols, such as @ instead of 2, and Internet pages will open in new windows when I do not want them to). Hopefully someone can help me out here- Thanks!

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
It's hard to say what the cause is here, but I'm wondering if the unwanted shift is associated with one or both shift keys. You can go to Systems Preferences>International>Input Menu and check the box that says "Keyboard Viewer". This will install a little flag in the menu bar. You can click on it and get the keyboard viewer, which will highlight the keys as you type. It should also highlight the random shift that occurs when you don't strike a key. If this turns out to be confined to just one shift key, it might be that something has gotten into it or under the keycap that is making it malfunction. You can pull the keyboard out and look at the shift keys from the edges. You can look for foreign objects and also check the action of both to see if they are equally crisp or if one seems to be sticky. Has anything ever been spilled on the keyboard? If so, that could be related to this problem. If so, it's possible that cleaning that shift key will help:
http://mij.oltrelinux.com/ibook/cleaning_keyboard/
This looks like lot of trouble, but it might be worth trying for one or two keys.
At the moment, I am assuming some sort of physical glitch that has a physical fix. But I don't know if it could possibly be a software glitch. But it's probably worth trying to find something simple first.
Good luck!

Mission control is activated by my shift key even though i have it set to ctrl, up. how do i make it stop? i can't capitalize anything without using the right shift key.

in playing with key commands to activate mission control in the system preferences i have somehow made my left shift key one of the keys to activate it even though it does not show it in system preferences. i need my left shift key for typing and having mission control come up all the time is a pain! how do i make it stop?
I evidently didn't leave system preferences properly or something. I fixed it by going back to system preferences and changing the keyboard shortcuts to "-" then quitting system preferences by command Q. Then I went back in and reset the mission control setting to us cntrl, up and then command Q and now it all works fine.

Check out [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1008706 bug 1008706]. It's related to safe browsing, and is a known issue.

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 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.

Left Shift Key Remapped, How?

MacBook Air running OS X.
Left shift key when depressed remaps my keyboard, how can I get it to not do this? Example below:
Right Shift Key - ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ?><
Left Shift Key - ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒÂ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸¿¯˘
Help please.
Kent

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you boot, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, reboot as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

Left shift key is stuck down

My daughters MacBook left shift key is stuckndown. The computer is constantly on "safe boot".
What's a mom to do?

Did you double check to make sure you replaced the shift key correctly?

The shift key

Every time I press the shift key multiple times in succession on my Powerbook, I'm given a beep which increases in pitch and every time after that, a short stationary beep. Later, it ends with a decrease in pitch and the noise stops. This is so annoying I keep the mute on constantly. This has been puzzling me for months.

T Moore,
Regarding 9.x...see if you have the Easy Access control panel enabled; certain settings will give audio feedback for users who have physical limitations.

I cannot start my mac book. Apple logo and spinning wheel on gray screen. Tried pressing shift key on start up nothing happen. Tried shift command V screen is still stuck

I cannot start my mac book. Apple logo and spinning wheel on gray screen. Tried pressing shift key on start up nothing happen. Tried shift+command+V screen is still stuck

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
=======================================
Reinstall - Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Reinstall Mountain Lion or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is
three times faster than wireless.

Mac book pro keyboard acting as Option + Shift are constantly pressed

Hi guys,
My MBP keyboard is acting as if Option Shift are constantly being pressed. For example, pressing on letters brings up special characters (pressing k will bring up ). I have tried disabling all the modifier keys in "System Preferences", but the result is still the same. I have also tried installing all updates on my OS (Mavericks). The onscreen keyboard acts in the same manner as the physical keyboard, but an external USB keyboard was working as expected.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I have similar issue: both left and right shift keys time to time being pressed, it disappears after a while...but once I couldn't log in as the shift option puts caps lock on....really annoying.
The only reason in my case is the keyboard cleaning that I have done recently...
There is no quick fix for this I am afraid.
Options:
1.Apple replaces the keyboard you pay around £200 I think....
2. Buy new keyboard on Ebay and replace it yourself £40....
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Keyboard+Replac ement/23632#s61162
Anyway lets see.

Difference between opening PDF within IE with pressing SHIFT key and without SHIFT key

Hi,
I want to know when we open a PDF file within Internet Explorer it is using ActiveX control AcroPDF.dll behind the scene.
Now If I open PDF within IE with keep pressing SHIFT key the behavior is different then without pressing SHIFT key?
Is AcroPDF.dll behaves differently in this situation?
Thanks,
Twinkle

I've saved two files on my desktop:
f1040.pdf - downloaded from www.irs.gov - 187 KB
afmod07.2.1g.pdf - downloaded from my intranet - 1,04MB
I've powered off my PC and restarted for each file. I've opened files with double-click on them. I've encountered the same problem, when double-clicked on files in task manager two Acrord32.exe appeared, the PC was doing anything for about 10 second, after that I've encountered no activity in task manager (numbers not vary) for other 10 seconds (like freeze) and after that other about 10 seconds of loading. So after about 30 seconds the file opens with stand-alone Acrobat Reader (11.0.10).
If I retry now (after the first slow startup "of the day") the file opens in 2-3 seconds.
So:
- first open of the day or rebooting PC: 30-45 seconds
- second open of the file: 2-3 seconds
This is happening only with PDFs with forms.
Yuri

Alt and Shift keys act like "sticky" keys - don't work if held down

My 8830 Alt and Shift keys mysteriously stopped working normally, and now operate exactly how a one-thumbed person would love.
It seems I've activated some rare acessibility feature that I can't turn off. (Tried pulling battery.)
If I hold down the Alt or Shift keys and press another key (e.g. the "W") nothing happens - no character is typed. BUT if I press the Alt key and release it, the up/down arrow icon appears in the upper right of the screen. Then if I next push the W key I get a "1" and the icon disappears. The next keypress of any key gives its regular (letter) function.
The same behavior applies to the right and left shift keys too, except the CAPS icon appears in the upper right.
How do I turn this "feature" off?
Thanks!

I had the same problem in my BB 8100, i read this below, and it works to me too. The trackball seems to stay pressed or bad working so it makes the shift and alt not working. After this muy Alt and shift button returns to work correctly.
sorry, I´m not so good english writer.
Re: Alt Key mysteriously changed function
Options
11-04-2008 09:08 AM
I popped off the ring around the track-ball with a screw driver and cleaned the sensors. I also depressed the sensor on the circuitboard of the device with a metal tipped pen and things started working fine again. Rebooting and cleaning the track-ball had not helped until I manually pressed the circuitboard at which point everything returned to normal including track-ball clicking and having to press the Alt-key once every time I needed to use a number.
hope that helps.
- The Alaskan

My left shift key on Macbook Pro Retina (15") is behaving like the F11 key (show/hide open windows). The key behaves the same for the laptop keyboard and for an external Apple keyboard? This just started in last week after 6 months of use

My left shift key on Macbook Pro Retina (15") is behaving like the F11 key (show/hide open windows).
The left shift key behaves the same on the laptop keyboard and on an external Apple keyboard.
This just started in last week after 6 months of use. The right shift key and other keys on the keyboard all appear to work correctly.
Suggestions greatly appreciated.

I have a solution to this issue now after a discussion with Apple Support. Some where in the last few weeks, there was a change in the key that would do a Show Desktop under the Mission Control settings in the System Preferences. Even though the key sequence that was shown for the Show Desktop setting did not include the Left SHift key, by changing this first to having no key sequence and applying that and then changing it back to the F11 key, the Left SHift key issue that I was having has cleared up.
A second issue that was uncovered was that the SSD had some issues (uncovered when I ran Disk Utility using the Repair Disk key). I had to restart and use the Disk Utility through the Command R sequence to get to the stand alone Disk Utility. The SSD appears to be running better as a result as well.
Hope that this is of use to someone else in the future.

How do I fix my left shift key? Any open windows leave and make the desktop visible.

How do I fix my left shift key? Any open windows leave and make the desktop visible. I have tired to go into system preferences and reset all of the keyboard settings to default but the issue hasn't gone away.

You are not running as administrator, I think, which may be required and the only way to properly work and register. Also check for compatibility mode settings, UAC and DEP, all of which may require to be adjusted for a legacy app like PS CS2 to run properly. Also turn off Aero and switch to a conventional visual theme. The brush issue may be related to that or is a more generic problem with your graphics card and mouse config, but since you didn't provide any info on that, it will be hard for anyone to advise.
Mylenium

Shift key constantly activated

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