Did the delete key function change?

Tech Support
1

This is driving me nuts. fn+delete no longer deletes text in front of the cursor. This is happening with every keyboard I own on two different Macs and an iPad Pro. What is going on?

2

I just did a test on my Mac. It works fine here.

1 Like
3

Thanks for checking it out. If it was just one device I’d have some thoughts on troubleshooting, but all of them over both Mojave and High Sierra, plus iOS 12? I’m still completely stumped by this.

4

I had this problem on a work laptop (a MacBook Pro, probably around 2012). All of the other Macs I use have full keyboards, with separate “Delete” and “Backspace” keys, so I wouldn’t notice it there. I’ll have to check on Monday whether the MacBook Pro has been updated to High Sierra (I know that my employer hasn’t upgraded anything to Mojave).

Did you upgrade the OS recently?

5

I googled around and found mentions of changing modifier keys in System Preferences. It seems fn might only appear there if you have an external keyboard attached.

Also saw mention of USB Overdrive causing the issue. So it could be that (if you use it) or some other extension that you have loaded.

Have you tried creating a new user, logging in as them, and trying fn+backspace?

6

I’m on Mojave, so yes, recently updated; but the fact it happens on the other devices, too, makes me think it isn’t a Mojave issue. Any external keyboard attached to my iOS devices does the same thing. For the MacBook I’m using the built in keyboard.

7

Tried a plain vanilla new user on the MacBook and got the same keyboard behavior.

Although I typically use the built-in keyboard, just for kicks I tried using a Logitech K811. fn-delete worked as it is supposed to (on my regular user account with all my typical utilities loaded). Will need to try this keyboard with the iOS devices.