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why do help answers not address the question asked

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by ilikefree09

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My cursor defaults to the top left and I want it to default to the top right When I ask the question how do I change this, the answers have NOTHING to do with cursors and don't come close to answering the question How do I change the default cursor position?

My cursor defaults to the top left and I want it to default to the top right When I ask the question how do I change this, the answers have NOTHING to do with cursors and don't come close to answering the question How do I change the default cursor position?

Chosen solution

Hi ilikefree09, when you click a link in a web page, when the new page opens, the cursor normally is not placed in any particular place in the page. Instead, the "focus" is on the entire page body. So if you press the down arrow key, the page should scroll; if you press Ctrl+a, the body contents should be selected.

Sites can modify this basic behavior using a script to set the focus to a particular element. For example, Google moves the focus to its search box.

I don't know of any built-in setting to change this.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (18)

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Is this about the cursor in a text field?

Can you attach a screenshot to clarify what you want to achieve?

Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot.

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Or are you referring to the mouse cursor position?

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When I do a search or almost any browsing my cursor always goes to the file menu item at the top left I want to be able to switch it to the right top

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Could you please attach a screenshot to clarify what you mean with this menu bar?

You may have switched on caret browsing.

You can toggle caret browsing on/off by pressing F7 (Mac: fn + F7).

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Accessibility: [ ] "Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages"
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Yes the mouse cursor on opening a new tab jumps to the top left and goes to the Firefox icon I want it to stay where it was before I click on a link or go to the top left

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Who mentioned a menu bar?

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Yes the mouse cursor on opening a new tab jumps to the top left and goes to the Firefox icon I want it to stay where it was before I click on a link or go to the top left

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If you open the about:home page then the cursor will be positioned in the search bar on that page. If you want the cursor to stay in the location bar then you can set another page as the new tab page by modifying the browser.newtab.url pref on the about:config page.

See also:

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Didn't see where I could set it to browser.newtab.url pref to search box My cursor always goes to the Firefox Icon or the file menu item

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Is this some new behaviour in Firefox after 24? If I open a new tab, the cursor is in the address bar, and that is where it is the most useful. I use FF 24esr.

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Hi finitarry, in Firefox 27, as in earlier versions, if you open a new tab using Ctrl+t (for Windows), the new tab page displays and the cursor is in the address bar waiting for you to type the desired address. I use the default (about:newtab) as my new tab page. Pages that move the focus to their own search box may override Firefox's default behavior.

Hi ilikefree09, as far as I know, there is not a built in setting to move the cursor to Firefox's search bar when opening a new tab. The address bar shares search engines with the search bar, so if your search has more than one word, you can just type it in the address bar. (If your search is only one word, then the address bar will test whether it is a valid server name out on the network, which may not be what you want.)

By the way, I've attached a screen show showing what I mean when I refer to the address bar and the search bar in case you use a different name for those features.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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When I click on a link the cursor jumps to the Firefox icon (top left) I want it to stay where it was or go to the search box. I don't want to load another add-on to get it to do this. I'm using Firefox 27.0.1 which I think is the latest but I did try a Beta version and had the same problem where I have to go looking for the cursor every link I click on. Example I do a search with Google and click on a search result page link and then have to go look for the cursor. Why can it not stay where I used it last. At least then I would be able to find it quicker. I don't have a problem when opening a new blank tab as it goes to the address bar it is only when I click on a link in a search result page.

Modified by ilikefree09

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Chosen Solution

Hi ilikefree09, when you click a link in a web page, when the new page opens, the cursor normally is not placed in any particular place in the page. Instead, the "focus" is on the entire page body. So if you press the down arrow key, the page should scroll; if you press Ctrl+a, the body contents should be selected.

Sites can modify this basic behavior using a script to set the focus to a particular element. For example, Google moves the focus to its search box.

I don't know of any built-in setting to change this.

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Thank you jscher2000 your last comment answered the question "I don't know of any built in setting to change this" My Google search defaults to the Firefox icon not the search box though.

Now can anyone tell me why answers to questions don't address the question asked. In fact most answers are totally off the subject and have nothing to do with the asked questions. Does the Firefox forum need a new search engine?

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I'm still not sure what you mean with "the focus jumps to the Firefox icon".
We would assume that you mean the Firefox menu button, but that button can't be focused, so if anything gets focused in the user interface then that would be the location (address) bar or the search bar on the Navigation Toolbar or possible search bar on a web page.
If you could post a screenshot to clarify what you mean with the "the focus jumps to the Firefox icon" then we might be able to provide suggestions how to deal with this issue.

See:

Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot.

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Here is the icon the cursor jumps to when clicking on a link. I have now fixed it (I think) so the cursor problem could be marked as solved at this time. Thanks for your help

Modified by ilikefree09

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That is the Firefox icon on the window title bar (a right-click or Alt+Space would open its context menu).
I'm not sure how you would be able to set focus to this button.

Can you tell us how you solved this problem?

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Focus was going to that icon but now cursor stays where it was when I click on a search result after a Google search. (makes it easier to find). I didn't want it moving. I have had the cursor jump about on a couple of searches but mostly it stays where it was when clicked. Only thing I changed was a setting in Status-4-evar, an add-on I have. I changed show status in location bar to show status in toolbar. Thanks for your help

Modified by ilikefree09