What’s causing my typing to disappear?

What’s causing my typing to disappear?

Q I suffer with dyslexia and so when typing emails in Outlook, I frequently need to delete and re-spell words. Sometimes, I’m midway through an email when I realise half my typing has been deleted. On my HP 255 G7 laptop’s keyboard the Delete (Del) button is next to a much-larger button labelled Ins. I have no idea what the Ins button does, but I wonder if it and my fat fingers might be the problem? Is there a simple fix?

Edmund Hobby

A In this context Ins is short for Insert and, yes, it is likely to be the cause of your problem. When pressed the Insert button activates overtype mode in Outlook and many other programs. When it is switched on anything ahead of the text-entry cursor is overwritten, and thus replaced, by whatever is typed next. Some people find this useful, but for others it’s a nuisance. Clearly, you’re in the latter camp.

There are a couple of solutions. First, it seems you’re using the Del key that’s embedded in your laptop’s numeric pad, with numbers and functions activated by pressing the Number Lock (or NmLck) key. This Del key is indeed right next to the larger Ins key. However, the computer also has a second, distinct Del key, on the top row (pictured above). Perhaps you’ve never noticed it?

Regardless, if you use this there should be no risk of you hitting the Ins key. However, we suppose you might instead then accidentally hit the Home key that sits to the right of this second Del key, which will send the text-entry cursor to the top of the email or document – perhaps resulting in a different frustration.

A better solution for you, then – for Outlook at least – would be to disable the overtype function. To do this in Outlook, first click File followed by Options. Next, in the left-hand pane of the Outlook Options menu that appears, click Mail and then, in the right-hand pane, click the Editor Options button. Then, in the left-hand pane of the Editor Options box, click Advanced and, finally, in the right-hand pane, click to untick the ‘Use the Insert key to control overtype mode’ box. Click OK twice and you’re done.

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