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

2014-02-24T09:07:09+00:00

Sir, yes sir. Quit all that was open, deleted all microsoft .plist files, shut down and restarted: here we go again. The problem is persisting. I'm out of any clue now...
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Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.7K Reputation points

2014-02-22T12:50:51+00:00

Just so we're absolutely clear :-) Are you sure you actually Quit all Office programs before deleting the .plist file? It does no good to just close the various document windows... the program continues to run unless you go to its File menu & select the Quit command or use the Command+Q keyboard shortcut... or actually log out/log in or Restart the Mac.

The programs read the preferences on launch. If the program is still running when the file is deleted the program simply recreates the same file based on what's in memory at the time. It's only if the file is 'missing' on launch that the program generates a new [i.e., clean] preference file.
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Anonymous

2014-02-22T11:54:50+00:00

Thanks for all your suggestions and tweaks. Problem not solved. With a new user (e.g. a guest user) all is right. But even after clearing the preference files left by my old user, nothing changes. Tried several times at no avail... It's becoming an unnerving experience.
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Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.7K Reputation points

2014-02-20T19:25:30+00:00
Hey Jimmy -- That's one of the first steps taken...

Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz replied on

MVP !\[\](http://answers.microsoft.com/static/images/contentcreator.png)

OK, unless there is a problem at the system level I'm thinking that it may be a corrupt preferences file. Try this;
1. Quit all Office apps
2. Go to ~/UserName/Library/Preferences
3. Locate & delete the file named com.microsoft.Powerpoint.plist
4. Empty the Trash
See if things are right when you next launch the program.

[Note that if you're using OS X 10.7 or later Apple has chosen to Hide the Library folders for User Accounts. If you aren't familiar with accessing it see this Apple KB.]

Please mark HELPFUL or ANSWERED as appropriate to keep list as clean as possible ☺

Regards,

Bob J.

![](http://answers.microsoft.com/static/images/defaultuser50.png)

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RalphKeeling replied on

Thanks Bob. Unfortunately, the steps of deleting the com.microsoft.Powerpoint.plst file etc. didn't help. The problem persists. If it's relevant, I'm using OS 10.9.1

Seriously, Jim, I'm getting a little concerned about you :-)
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