hello Lancs, please press F7 in order to leave caret browsing mode - then the behaviour should be back to normal...

Philipp! You're an absolute hero! Thank you SO much! xXx

you're very welcome - these cat-induced errors every now and then really make me smile :))

Note that this is an accessibility feature.

• Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Accessibility: [ ] "Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages"

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/accessibility.browsewithcaret
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Scrolling_with_arrow_keys_no_longer_works
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Accessibility_features_of_Firefox

I found this ad-on. Check it out. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/caret-out/?src=api

You do not need an extension to disable the F7 key.
Firefox has a built-in pref setting to disable the F7 key.

Set the accessibility.browsewithcaret_shortcut.enabled pref to false on the about:config page.

Where/How do I get to that setting, please?

Type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key to open the about:config page, just like you open a website by typing the URL in the location bar.

• If you see a warning message then you can confirm that you want to access the about:config page.

• use the Search bar at the top of the about:config page to locate preferences more easily
• preferences that have been modified and do not have the default value show as bold (user set)
• preferences that are user set (bold) can be reset to the default value via the right-click context menu
• preferences can be changed via the right-click context menu: Modify (String or Integer) or Toggle (Boolean) or by double-clicking the line with the pref
• preferences can be created via the right-click context menu: New -> String, Integer, Boolean

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

Amazing - thanks :)

Learning how to "kitten-proof" my laptop!

Seriously - THANK YOU!

You're welcome.

Thanks for that answer Philipp...I know this is a few months late but I guess mine stopped working cause my cat barges over my keyboard for no reason either haha. The caret browsing mode you mentioned that causes this, does it make anywhere you click on a webpage bring up a text cursor like you're editing a field?

Yes, when caret browsing is enabled then you get a cursor on the web page if you click to set focus to that page.
When caret browsing mode is active then the cursor keys behave differently.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/accessibility.browsewithcaret
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caret_navigation

Thank you so very much for your great solution. I have been dealing with this issue for awhile and it was driving me crazy. The computer help online provided solutions (ugh) that were extensive and complicated that I did not have any faith in implementing any of them. YOUR F7 SOLUTION WAS RIGHT ON!! Now I have registered for Firefox help. Thank you AGAIN!! Peace! Cuefox

hey Cuefox, thanks for your feedback - i hope you can now enjoy your browsing with firefox again as you're used to!

Hello Philipp, Yes, I enjoy using Firefox and the help was great. Being haunted by this annoying problem was frustrating. But, a simple F7 key did the trick. I am not aware how the "caret browsing," whatever this is, occurred. Instead of searching online, I ought to have searched Firefox first. I thought it was a computer problem and not the browser until I noticed that the problem did not occur when I tried it on IE8. Also, I would like to mention that I could not open only the TV Program Guide on my Optimum internet website but eventually realized that it might be an add-on that I recently installed named, Ghostery which thought be useful in not sending my information to other websites. I don't believe I am aware of how it works and/or maybe did not enable the correct settings. So, I disabled it. Thanks, cuefox