Can't delete text box in PowerPoint

Anonymous

I've recently had a problem deleting text boxes in PowerPoint. I'm able to select the box by clicking on the box perimeter (which changers the little circles and squares at the perimeter from open to solid, as it should). But when I hit delete, it deletes the last text character within the box, rather than the box itself. I also can't copy the box. When I select the box and hit command-C, I hear a little whish, signifying (I suppose) an disallowed action. The boxes in question are not part of a slide background. This problem does not occur with pictures.

I've found a workaround which is to select the box differently, namely by dragging the cursor around the box with the mouse button held down. Then I can (sometimes) delete or copy it. Still looking for a real fix.

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Anonymous

I stumbled on a fix today.

Under system preferences, chose Keyboard, then chose Shortcuts, and then at the bottom under Full Keyboard Access, click the "All controls" radio button.

Previously, the "Text boxes and lists only" radio button was selected. I can recreate the problem by clicking this other radio button, i.e. the fix is fully reversible. I don't think I ever touched either of these buttons before yesterday.

I believe this fix completely resolves for me the issues with selecting text boxes in PowerPoint.

Note that it's very puzzling that a system tabbing option should have anything to do with selecting text boxes in PowerPoint. I expect there is still an underlying bug.

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43 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-02-12T05:24:27+00:00

Rich,

I don't think it can be a mouse setting in any normal sense, because I am not having any trouble selecting the box with a single click on the perimeter. In other words, I'm not having trouble hitting the frame and lighting up the little squares and circles on the perimeter with a single click. The problem is that I don't get the expected respond to hitting the delete command when the box is (seemingly) correctly selected.
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Anonymous

2014-02-11T19:31:35+00:00

Jim,

I have no problem with text boxes in Word. I've never used text boxes in Excel, but just gave them a try, and they seem to check out mostly okay also. I say mostly because, although I can delete them without any hitch, I can't drag the box as a whole. But perhaps that's normal in Excel, and I never use text boxes in Excel anyway, so that doesn't bother me. (I have no problem dragging text boxes in Word or PowerPoint.)

I'm wondering if the PowerPoint delete problem is somehow related to needing to double-click instead of single-click on the box perimeter. Although I can't achieve a reliable work-around by double-clicking, it does work often enough that it seems possibly relevant.
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Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP

2014-02-11T18:12:09+00:00

Do you have the same problem deleting boxes in Word or Excel?

Running OK in a new user account points to a problem with a preference file in your regular account.
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Anonymous

2014-02-09T00:43:30+00:00

And I'm not aware of any similar issues in other apps.
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