Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Direction Arrows Confused.
Pat reports that something really strange has happened with one of her Word documents. For some reason, the arrow keys have become confused. Pressing the left arrow moves the cursor right, while right goes left. Similarly, pressing the up arrow moves the cursor down and the down arrow moves it up.
The first thing you'll want to do is to open the document on a different system to see if the problem is evident there, as well. If it is, then you know that the problem is with the document itself. If it is not, then the problem is with the original system.
If this behavior is evident in only a single document, then there are only a limited number of reasons as to why it could be happening. The first thing to check is whether there are any macros associated with the document. It could be that the macros redefine the behavior of the arrow keys. If that is the case, then you can delete or edit the macros to make the behavior change.
The other possible cause is that the document is corrupted in some manner. Corrupt documents can display all sorts of strange behaviors, including keyboard quirks. If you suspect this is the case, then you'll need to go through some rather standard steps for dealing with corrupt documents. (How you handle corrupt documents has been discussed in other issues of WordTips.)
If the problem is with the computer itself, then you might try swapping out the keyboard for a new one to see if that takes care of the problem.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11464) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Direction Arrows Confused.
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2021-11-07 11:51:30
Jeff Lindsay
Some languages like Hebrew run right to left. In a passage with Hebrew text, for example, the right arrow key will advance the cursor by moving it to the left, and the left arrow key will move the cursor back by going to the right. Perhaps the document has become corrupted and think the passage in question is from Hebrew script (just setting the language to Hebrew for me does not change arrow behavior -- it has to be text from a right-left script). Maybe examining the code of the XML might show something odd has happened. But I would just try copying the text of your document into a new file and seeing if the problem persists.
2021-11-05 06:26:24
Kiwerry
Thanks for a useful tool, John
2017-08-18 08:59:57
John Dockery
Occasionally the enter key will act oddly. I discovered that somehow it was being reassigned. This macro will list all redefined keys in a separate document. The last line restores the default behavior of the enter key
Sub KeyAssignments()
Dim kbLoop As KeyBinding
Dim CurrentKeyCommand As String
Dim NewKeyCommand As String
CustomizationContext = NormalTemplate
For Each kbLoop In KeyBindings
CurrentKeyCommand = kbLoop.Command
selection.InsertAfter kbLoop.Command & vbTab _
& kbLoop.KeyString & vbCr
selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
Next kbLoop
' This line resets the return (Enter) key to its default behavior.
FindKey(BuildKeyCode(Arg1:=wdKeyReturn)).Clear
End Sub
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: 
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