Issue with Keyboard Switching and Text Selection

General Help
1

Hello Zorin Community,

I'm encountering a peculiar issue with my Zorin OS setup, specifically when switching keyboard layouts. I hope someone here can provide some insight or assistance.

I'm frequently using the keyboard shortcut (Win+Space) to switch between languages while I'm typing. However, when I do this, I've noticed that occasionally all the text I've typed in a text field so far becomes selected automatically. This causes any further typing to replace the already typed text, which can be quite disruptive.

Here are the details of my system:

  • Zorin OS version: Zorin OS 16.2
  • Laptop model: Lenovo P50 20EQS0TR01
  • Keyboard layouts: [('xkb', 'us'), ('xkb', 'cz+qwerty'), ('xkb', 'hu'), ('xkb', 'sk+qwerty')]

But the issue appeared also with Zorin 15 and with my previous laptop HP EliteBook 840.

I've attempted the following troubleshooting steps so far, without any luck:

  1. Updated the system using sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
  2. Checked and reconfigured the keyboard settings under "Region & Language"

Unfortunately, none of these steps have resolved the issue. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this or if there are other troubleshooting steps I can try. I'd appreciate any guidance on how to prevent the text selection from happening when switching keyboards.

Many thanks for your assistance in advance!

Best regards, M

2

Extremely disruptive. You could lose a lot of work that way.

The only thing I can think of is that in the act of switching, the keyboard layout misreads the command. The "select all" shortcut is ctrl+a

As a test, you might disable or change the ctrl+a shortcut and then reboot and test a few times if tapping super+space no longer selects all text.

3

Fortunately, I do not recall to experience the behaviour while typing long texts, in a notepad or LibreOffice or in Evolution email messages -- and there I'm switching keyboards while typing quite often.

The OS login password field is where it [the selection after switch] happens often. But not when I try to replicate the behaviour. It maybe has to do with something i do very quickly while typing -- although, I'm sure, I do not touch the CTRL key.

4

Painfully, I admit I agree with this possibility. I have run into this issue with myself many times.
I do not think you are hitting the control key, but that in entering the super+space quickly, the keyboard layout switched so quickly it registers while your keypresses are still down.

1 Like
5

OK, I'll give it more time to observe the behaviour and myself.

6

I'm positive that this issue is not user behaviour induced, but website form or browser or OS settings.

I occasionally find a website where the forms are misbehaving and switching language is a well-defined Win+Space that highlights the already entered text.

E.g., it is the check-out form (address) for https://www.hotchilli.cz/

7

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