Computing desk
< December 10	<< Nov \| December \| Jan >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

December 11

Quote marks will not appear until I type a second one

Hello all. I have a seemingly one-off, weird and annoying issue. I am using an HP laptop computer:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home

System Model HP Spectre x360 Convertible

Version 10.0.19045

Build 19045

Every time I type a quote mark on this computer (or an apostrophe using the same keyboard key without shifting) nothing happens. It is only when I invoke the character key a second time (in a row, without moving the cursor) that anything happens, which is that, only then, TWO quote marks appear. I then I have to delete one of them. Same thing for apostrophes, though I use quotes far more frequently. This happens anywhere I attempt to type the character, including when I placed this one " right now. Please note that the key is not gummed up or anything, it always works to place the two after I type the character the second time. Any ideas? --68.129.153.226 (talk) 17:23, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

When did this start happening? Has it always been like this? If not, what changed? Be honest. MinorProphet (talk) 20:29, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

My 13-year old Mac Mini has stopped working. (I have already purchased a new computer, arriving in about two weeks.) I thus borrowed this HP from my sister a week ago, whereupon I discovered this issue. I thus have no idea of the timeline of the problem.--68.129.153.226 (talk) 21:07, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What happens if you type a single ' or ", followed by some other character, like a letter?

It sounds like you're in some strange mode which is attempting to interpret various multi-keystroke sequences. Those can be perfectly ordinary — for example, as you may know, on a Mac you can type Option-U to get a bare umlaut, which when you then type a letter like A or U combines with it to form Ä or Ü. But obviously these " and ' sequences you're encountering are bizarre and unwanted! (I've never heard of combining sequences starting with " or ', either.)

My guess is that these sequences are defined for the convenience of typists in some language other than English. I would go to the relevant control panel — perhaps "Keyboard", although under Windows I'm not sure — and make sure you've got English specified as your language, with no funny extra options specified. —scs (talk) 22:10, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Per the below, it sounds like you might well see different behavior depending on whether you type the " or ' followed by a vowel like A or U, versus a consonant like B or S. —scs (talk) 22:16, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes you're right. When you're on the international keyboard (or other non-English one) if you type a quote and then a vowel you get an umlaut. With this keyboard layout the first time you press a quote key it will not type it, and you have to press it twice to type a quote.

On Windows 10, on the bottom right, to the left of the date and time, there is an area where you can click to change the keyboard layout. For the international keyboard it is "ENG INTL". If you click it you can change to the normal keyboard, "ENG" or "ENG US" or whatever you prefer. ―Panamitsu (talk) 22:23, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See dead key. I suppose your system is configured to see ' and " as dead keys, producing no direct output, but combining with the next character you type to create a letter with acute accent or two dots. I haven't used Windows since XP days, but I suppose that if the following character doesn't accept those diacritics, the ' or " is inserted after all. Try switching to a different keyboard layout. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:37, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried a "+space sequence? I've seen such behavior of a keyboard in Windows when working in a language with diacritic letters. It simulates old typewriter - hit a diacritic symbol first, which gets printed with no carriage move, then hit a letter, which gets printed at the same place and then a carriage advances to a next position. Following this mode you hit a diacritic + space sequence to get a diacritic symbol alone. --CiaPan (talk) 15:38, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Well, 68.129.153.226, we're all agog to know whether any of our suggestions have worked. Be honest. MinorProphet (talk) 17:35, 13 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I am on Windows 10 on Dell laptop. I have experienced this behavior and I suspect it started after some OS update.

But note that, when you wish to include anything in double/single quote, you must continue to type as usual. The double/single quote becomes visible only after you type any following character (not just single/double quote).

You may be already aware of it, but I thought if you don't know, it will be less frustrating experience once you know how it works. manya (talk) 06:04, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]