# Don't press tab and space **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110 "2011-05-16T17:23:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/41 "2019-06-12T12:08:03Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Remind me not to try that again. Don’t press “tab” and “space” at the same time, otherwise you will submit your post prematurely. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/42 "2019-06-12T14:24:35Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Don’t press “tab” and “space” at the same time, otherwise you will submit your post prematurely. Premature edification? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/43 "2019-06-12T15:23:13Z")
**Kent Clark** , it is a combination of how “tab” and “space” work in web pages\* and the sequence of the fields of the edit window and the “Submit Reply” button. In web browsers, “tab” sends the cursor to the next active field. We expect tab to work in the edit window like it does in a word processor, and provide _tab_. Instead, it works like a web browser. This is how it works in other non-word-processing functions on the computer. The next active field in most browsers is the “Submit Reply” button. Then comes the “space”. Apparently in web browsers, hitting the space bar is a way to activate a button by using the keyboard instead of requiring a mouse. If the button is the active field, space activates it. Ta da! You get an accidental premature epostulation. * * * - i.e. non-word-processing functions of a computer ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/44 "2019-06-12T15:53:25Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Is this a message board thing or is it my brow > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > ser? 8 years ago it was the browser. Today, it’s still the browser. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/45 "2019-06-12T15:55:27Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Premature edification? 😃 He didn’t say WHEN to remind him, so I figured I’d better do it right away just in case. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110/46 "2019-06-17T01:57:49Z")
let me test this in the quick reply box Edit - that happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-press-tab-and-space/582110.md?page=2)