How to fix reverse arrow key function on Mac Office 2011

[BonnieT]

I need some suggestions to fix an strange issue on my mac system. I had upgraded to Mac 2011 from an older version of office suite. I am using Macbook here. Now when I run the word processor, the arrow keys are reversed. For example if there is an 4 paragraph article and to move up I use the up arrow key the cursor goes down. In the same way the left one goes to right and right one goes to left. Does anyone encounter the same issue. I checked some of my settings, but there was nothing listed much. How to fix this. And also which is an best alternative for Mac system. Is there any more better office suite application and that too open source.

[Wali]

There are number of reasons behind this. It appears when the Horizontal scroll bar and Vertical scroll bar not checked under the preferences column. You can view that under your preference settings. To fix the the same there are minor adjustment you have to do in the system. Run Word and then go in Preferences. In that click on View. Now choose the option Horizontal scroll bar and the Vertical scroll bar. Click OK and then check back again. It will work. I also do not understand the reason why you are asking for alternative of Mac Office. It is an nice office suite which has all you need.

[Noble]

There another option by which you can fix this. The issue is occurring because the Normal template in word is corrupted. For this you have to perform two stuff. You will have to remove Word preferences and then run the reset settings for Normal template. I am below providing you settings by which you can run the default testings for Normal template.

• Exit all software running on your screen.
• Go in Menu > Home > Library. This folder is hidden. To get this you have to keep pressing the option key when you enter the Go Menu.
• Go to Preferences > search for com.microsoft.Word.plist.
• Move the file to the desktop. If you are getting error in moving then Word is using this file. If not then move it to desktop run Word and check back.

This might fix the issue. If not then there is another option. You will need to move the normal template file to trash. It is also located in the Library. You have go open Microsoft folder for that. In that open Office > User Template. Move the Normal file to trash. Run Word and check.

[Unequaled]

The above method will work. The issue belongs to corruption of normal.template file. And by moving to trash, you remove the old preferences. When you run Word it recreates the file back again.

[SalVatore]

I had worked on open office. It is nice, but I am very used to Microsoft Office. This the reason I am not able to skip this software. But surely open office is an best alternative.

[Deep123]

I am not sure that the below listing office application will work on Mac or Windows, but this are some of best office alternative you can try on your system. They are :

• Mariner Write and Calc
• Open Office
• iWork Suite
• NeoOffice 3.1.1
• Papyrus Office
• IBM Lotus Symphony

You can go for anyone of your choice. Remember that among them only open office is free. Other all are chargeable.

[mv]

Another recommendation in my views will be going for KOffice. This is an open source application suite made for Linux but also support Windows and Mac. See the below list what it offers :

• KWord - This is an text editor
• KSpread - This is an spreadsheet
• KPresenter - This is an application for making presentations
• Kexi - This is for managing databases more similar to Microsoft Access .
• Kivio - flowcharts.
• Karbon14 - vector drawing.
• Krita - manipulation of bitmap images.
• KPlato - project management
• KChart - Graphs and diagrams.
• KFormula - Mathematical formula editor.
• Kugar - Report Generator

[kraal]

That loos a bit more functional than what we got on regular office. The best thing about open source is that you are not limited to software editions.

[Nymphs]

The issue can also occurs when you run a system update. Sometime some settings do change the preferences which causing this bug. And if you are planing to quit Mac Office then you can go with openoffice for Mac. This is an free version of office suite. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux. All you need is to get the most appropriate download for the same. It complete everything needed for an document work. The suite includes a text editor, spreadsheet compatible with Excel, Presentation, Design, Database. It therefore offers virtually all the possibilities of Microsoft Office and free NeoOffice. Go for the most new versoin so that you get the best improvements in them. The performance of the same is simply awesome. I had found this working on very low memory. Best part is that on this you can work with any office document as it reads many of regular word processor and spreadsheet format. It is the complete package for the office has all of the programs - and completely free.

[Klockareson]

There another option by which you can fix this. The issue is occurring because the Normal template in word is corrupted. For this you have to perform two stuff. You will have to remove Word preferences and then run the reset settings for Normal template. I am below providing you settings by which you can run the default testings for Normal template.

• Exit all software running on your screen.
• Go in Menu > Home > Library. This folder is hidden. To get this you have to keep pressing the option key when you enter the Go Menu.
• Go to Preferences > search for com.microsoft.Word.plist.
• Move the file to the desktop. If you are getting error in moving then Word is using this file. If not then move it to desktop run Word and check back.

This might fix the issue. If not then there is another option. You will need to move the normal template file to trash. It is also located in the Library. You have go open Microsoft folder for that. In that open Office > User Template. Move the Normal file to trash. Run Word and check.

I've tried all of the above suggestions, but without any luck. It still makes my arrow keys messed up, and frankly, it's really frustrating to work with it. I've looked around on several different forums and you can find similar posts bringing this up, but without any real solution to the issue. Question is if Microsoft themselves will do anything about it.

Anyone else here having the same problem, not solving the issue with the suggested fix above? Anyone who can shed some light in my general direction to solve the matter?

[donnyl]

Did you ever find a solution to this? I am having the exact same problem. I have tried trashing the prefs and resetting the normal template, but it didn't work. I suspect it's in the custom keyboard settings in Word but I cannot check them due to I receive an "Insufficient Memory error" every time I select the menu (Tools/Customize Keyboard…).

[EINSTEIN_007]

Did you ever find a solution to this? I am having the exact same problem. I have tried trashing the prefs and resetting the normal template, but it didn't work. I suspect it's in the custom keyboard settings in Word but I cannot check them due to I receive an "Insufficient Memory error" every time I select the menu (Tools/Customize Keyboard…).

Can you try to go to the Edit menu and choose the Select All menu item. Next, choose Copy from the Edit menu. Go to the Apple Menu, select Force Quit, highlight Word, Excel or Powerpoint, and then click on the Force Quit button. Close the Force Quit window, start Word, Excel or Powerpoint and then select Paste from the Edit menu. Check if that solves the issue.

[Klockareson]

Can you try to go to the Edit menu and choose the Select All menu item. Next, choose Copy from the Edit menu. Go to the Apple Menu, select Force Quit, highlight Word, Excel or Powerpoint, and then click on the Force Quit button. Close the Force Quit window, start Word, Excel or Powerpoint and then select Paste from the Edit menu. Check if that solves the issue.

Not doing the trick. Still the same, getting the same message regards to not sufficient memory.

[EINSTEIN_007]

Not doing the trick. Still the same, getting the same message regards to not sufficient memory.

Which version of Mac OS X are you using? Apple recommends at least 512MB of memory for Leopard. 1 GB of memory will not cover having multiple applications open and especially those like Adobe and Microsoft that have high memory requirements.

[Klockareson]

Which version of Mac OS X are you using? Apple recommends at least 512MB of memory for Leopard. 1 GB of memory will not cover having multiple applications open and especially those like Adobe and Microsoft that have high memory requirements.

I'm running Mac OS Lion, version 10.7.2 on a MacBook Pro 2,8 GHz with 8 GB, so I would safely say that memory shouldn't be a problem...