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in Windows XP, when I type an apostrophe ', or dumb/typewriter quote ", no character is displayed. If I type another character, the apostrophe or dumb quote and the next character appear at the same time. This happens with double quotes ", apostrophes ' and tilde ~ characters.
What could possibly be causing this?
This occurs in all applications I have tested - wordpad, firefox, ms word etc.
fastmultiplication
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 1 615
47
Edit: since people are complaining that this answer does only answer the "Why" question, and does not provide a solution to the problem (which wasn't the question asked by the OP), please find the solution to the problem in the next answer https://superuser.com/a/343483
This is because you have a keyboard where ' ~ " are set to be a dead-key.
The behaviour of a dead key is ... well... to be dead! So no reaction when you press it.
A dead key is gonna be waiting for the next key to be pressed, to alter what that key is gonna print. For example ' + a might produce á if the quote key is configured as a dead key.
Usually, when a keystroke has no meaning after a dead key, it defaults to printing the character of the dead key, followed by the new character that has been typed.
So you can follow advice of other posters on how to change your keyboard (look at which KB you have configured). You can also get the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to map a new keyboard and see how you can program dead keys.
Update: with the keyboard editor, you can also load the current keyboard and modify the dead key setting
M'vy
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 3 540
3it's still better... – user1916182 – 2016-09-10T19:15:04.970
1@user1916182 lol! – Crimbo – 2016-09-19T20:11:44.333
1Link's dead btw.. :( – Julian Declercq – 2016-11-28T08:14:28.710
There site is broken. But I've but another link to it – M'vy – 2016-11-28T08:22:04.053
@ron Better? Am I really the only person ever who wants a US international keyboard without dead keys? That answer doesn't solve problems for people who need accents but want regular quotes, AND doesn't explain the real issue. Thanks to M'vy now I know what to Google for. – Agustín Lado – 2017-11-08T20:56:06.497
UPDATE: Installing Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator, opening US-International and only changing the two dead keys (saving and installing as a new keyboard) works flawlessly, so THIS is definitely the non-US-centric better answer. – Agustín Lado – 2017-11-08T21:30:47.333
@M'vy This question has been viewed 156,092 times. Its more likely people had a problem and googled it and came here to find a solution. – DollarAkshay – 2018-04-08T10:26:33.703
@AkshayLAradhya your point being? – M'vy – 2018-04-09T08:42:48.423
Gabriel's answer shows you how to solve the problem. Which makes it better – user32882 – 2018-09-03T12:55:00.920
Don't wasting your time and life to read this answer, it's an unclear solution. – Yohanes AI – 2019-12-12T16:44:50.340
@YohanesAI this answer never intended to be a solution, as the original poster only asked the question "What could possibly be causing this?". I've edited that answer to link to other answers providing a solution to change the keyboard used and refined the wording in my explanation with hopefully better English than 8 years before. – M'vy – 2019-12-13T16:29:54.150
31Gabriel's answer is better. – ron – 2014-04-20T08:45:48.850
1OP asked what can give that kind of behaviour. Not how to change it. So this answer is explaining why this is happening, whereas @gabriel answer treats it from a local point of view. By the way, I referred to other answers for the practical way of switching keyboards maps since they address this problem clearly. – M'vy – 2014-04-21T11:23:04.057
201
The reason is because you are using US-international keyboard.
Here is how to change this:
control intl.cpl or control international.
Gabriel
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 2 011
1This is the correct answer. "English (United Kingdom)" as the language and "US" as the keyboard. Works with Logitech TK820 – Derek – 2014-09-12T08:13:02.527
Try pressing Ctrl+Shift (Alt+Shift for some) for quick change. – theunexpected1 – 2014-09-17T08:03:52.740
This answer doesn't just answer the question, but rightly identifies the pain point and solves it.' – Nirav Zaveri – 2015-07-24T08:14:59.543
I'm on Windows 7 with the Logitech Wave keyboard and mouse combo and this is the exact opposite for me. I have to set it to International to get quotes to come out when I ask for them... – Jake Smith – 2015-09-02T21:26:59.257
This works for me too! As a programmer, it was so difficult when " does not show up... – Anand – 2016-09-08T13:04:50.447
18For Windows 10, the fix from control panel did not work. I have to use "Settings" -> "Region & Language". Then, selecting on the language -- in my case, EN(UK) -- gave me the options button to go to "Language Options" where Keyboards can be changed; in my case, add "US-Qwerty" and remove "US-Intl". – antreality – 2016-11-23T21:52:47.653
Happens to me every time since forever, lol. – Apache – 2016-11-28T08:22:56.960
@antreality You should make an answer for Windows 10 :) +1 – MickyD – 2017-02-19T03:33:57.767
This doesn't work for people wanting to use the International version. Turns out that to get US International with NO Dead Keys you have to create or download and install a custom keyboard. Check M'vy's answer for an explanation on how to do this. Plus the way of getting to these options is gone as of Windows 10 – Agustín Lado – 2017-11-08T21:35:33.877
This solved my problem. My problem was, my keyboard layout was English (India). Now i changed it to English (United States) and it is working fine. Thanks for the help – Vishnu – 2018-01-31T12:34:43.467
3
be aware however about the differences of the International, the US, and the British English keyboard layouts.
– n611x007 – 2013-09-05T15:54:05.5572this doesnt work on win 8. – numan – 2014-05-01T14:00:12.497
3Thanks! On Windows 8.1 I had to press Start, then search for "Edit language and keyboard options". The words are a bit different to Win7 / XP but its the same approach – will-hart – 2014-06-04T21:28:58.627
13
I checked my settings and they are set to English/US but the problem persisted. Then after closing the dialogue an icon appeared on the task bar allowing me to change from EN/International keyboard to EN/US Keyboard - Problem fixed!
8
Check your keyboard settings in Region/Language. If it is set to non-English/US it may be expecting accented characters, formed by pressing the accent (', ", ^, etc) and then a character.
Mike Fitzpatrick
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 15 062
8
The problems lies in the Input Language. To change between Input Languages, press Left Alt+Shift. This should solve your problem. If this doesn't work, do it this way:
Language in the Start menuChange keyboards or other input methodsKeyboards and Languages tabChange Keyboards...Advanced Key Settings tabChange Key SequenceSwitch Input Language
Ivan
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 81
2I have to press WIN+SPACE to switch languages – thumbmunkeys – 2016-01-16T13:16:50.090
Left Alt + Shift worked like a charm. Thanks! – Paras Shah – 2018-10-02T03:08:24.377
6
I experienced the same annoying problem since the fresh and clean install of Windows 7 a few months ago. It turned out, that during the installation of the additional input language, Windows has added Ink Correction. This is a keyboard service for "easy" entering of accented characters.
The solution is to remove this Ink Correction:
And don't forget to restart the Windows after you removed the Ink Correction.
EDIT:
Removing the Ink Correction fixed the problem only partially. (The dead-keys were gone in the Skype chat, but were still dead in Word 2010.)
Final Solution: Change the input language United States-International to US.
Emil Teofanov
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 89
5
I had the same problem too. My ' "keys were not working on the first stroke. I changed the input language to English(United kingdom) United states international to English(United kingdom) US. My keyboard is now working perfectly.
user205003
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 51
0
On Windows 10, the simplest and only working solution i found was to remove the keyboard shortcut that caused the mess in the first place from Control panel \ Clock, language and country / region \ Language \ Advanced Settings
The 28 MB English (US) input language pack and language bar visibility settings were not needed.
Cees Timmerman
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 1 240
0
Using Windows 10
I found that my language pack was associated with a keyboard that provided this behaviour instead of the behaviour that I wanted.
ENG
Zach Smith
Posted 2010-03-22T06:45:45.760
Reputation: 267
1this also applies to ~ marks. – fastmultiplication – 2010-04-06T06:46:01.937
3
United States-International keyboard was the problem for me. Had to remove it from Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\Language-->options and keep US in Input method.. This solve this issue in windows 10 as well .. source from http://www.ojnetworks.com.au/2012/04/solution-keyboard-issue-apostrophe-double-quote-quotation-marks-tilde-hat-key-pressed-windows-7/
– Aravinda – 2016-02-01T04:16:20.1302Windows 10 Users: See antreality's comment on Gabriel's answer below for a fix for this OS – MickyD – 2017-02-19T03:34:49.650
I'm having a weird problem where PowerPoint 2013 in Windows sometimes treats my apostrophe key (single-quote) as a comma and even more often as an open curly single-quote (instead of as an apostrophe). It's driving me crazy. I've checked my Windows keyboard settings and don't see anything abnormal. – Ryan – 2018-02-27T15:55:43.293
Duplicate of this question.
– JdeBP – 2011-05-24T17:01:49.017