# Google searches - letters showing up as spaces **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405 "2014-06-09T13:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/1 "2014-06-09T13:37:56Z")
There’s this annoying thing that Google does to me sometimes. When I go to [google.com](http://google.com) and type in a term I’m searching for, some of the letters show up as spaces instead of letters. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens often enough that I’m sure it’s not just a one-time fluke. It’s starting to drive me nuts. Does this happen to anyone else? Why does this happen? Is it possibly because my computer’s a little slow? Does it have to do with typing speed? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/2 "2014-06-09T14:02:24Z")
Do you have a cordless keyboard? I do and it’s this kind of problem that starts showing up when the batteries need replacing. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/3 "2014-06-09T14:13:12Z")
Things like this can also happen if you have a slow computer on a laggy connection. You can go into google settings and disable showing results as you type to eliminate the problem. This problem can also be caused by malware on your system. Basically the malware can hog enough of your computer’s resources to cause the same type of symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/4 "2014-06-09T14:46:34Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Do you have a cordless keyboard? I do and it’s this kind of problem that starts showing up when the batteries need replacing. I’m using a laptop with the usual built-in laptop keyboard. Also, this is only a problem when I search for things on Google, and not anywhere else that I type. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/5 "2014-06-09T16:02:18Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > When I go to [google.com](http://google.com) and type in a term I’m searching for, some of the letters show up as spaces instead of letters. Do you mean that the spaces appear in the search bar, or in the results? Can you give an example? (I absolutely hate when bugs appear intermittently, because it does make the problem extremely difficult to recreate and solve. My sympathies.) ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/6 "2014-06-09T19:10:34Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Do you mean that the spaces appear in the search bar, or in the results? Can you give an example? > > (I absolutely hate when bugs appear intermittently, because it does make the problem extremely difficult to recreate and solve. My sympathies.) The spaces appear in the search bar. For example, earlier today I typed brazil carnival into the search bar, or tried to. Most letters in the word “carnival” ended up as spaces, so my search term ended up looking like “brazil car(space)(space)(space)(space)(space).” Google then gave me search results related to cars in Brazil instead of information on the Brazilian carnival. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/7 "2014-06-09T19:51:21Z")
You’re computer is not processing your keystrokes day enough. What type seeing are Google’s live search results, which gives you results as you type, without waiting for you to complete your search terms ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-searches-letters-showing-up-as-spaces/690405/8 "2014-06-09T20:52:53Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > You’re computer is not processing your keystrokes day enough. These can explore many things…