Why does the backspace key sometimes become a back-page key in Firefox? How do I get it back to deleting text?
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M$3 Answers
browser.backspace_action
change the value based on what you want it to do (2 disables):
"browser.backspace_action in about:config which defaults to 0, which is the default action of going back one page. Setting it to 1 scrolls back one page, with an option to shift + delete to scroll down one page (neither of which seem that useful to me). And setting it to 2 (or any other value) disables any action other than simply deleting a character."
From the comments at:
http://ffextensionguru.wordpress.com/2006/09/22/disable-backspace-navigation/
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M$
It's annoying, but that's just the way that Firefox functions.
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M$
Like jonathan said, if the cursor is in a text area, the keys function in word processing mode. When you're not in a text area, backspace would just be a big, conveniently located, useless key, so developers have given it a function. I actually use backspace to go back a page all the time.
If you'd like to reassign your keyboard shortcuts, however, there are some extensions you can use to do that, the use of which is not within the scope of this question.
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So, for those of you who actually like this function, doesn't it ever happen at the wrong time? Typing in this box right now, if I so much as lightly graze my laptop's mouse pad with my wrist (I assume that's why?) before I hit backspace, it will navigate to the previous page and I will lose everything. Who cares if the backspace is useless while I'm not typing? So is f, and e, and, well, I could go on. If you want a special Go Back button, then make a special one. Far away from my backspace.
Yeah, I really don't like having that as the default behavior. It is really nice to be able to turn it off.
Wow! Thanks! I didn't make the question but I had the same problem.
I found the why on http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.backspace_action
"The backspace key was mapped to the browser ‘Back’ function in Mozilla for consistency with Internet Explorer. However, to improve consistency with other applications running on Linux, it was decided that this mapping should be optional—and set based on which platform the browser was running on. As a compromise, this preference was created to allow the backspace key to either go back/forward, scroll up/down a page, or do nothing."