Once again I shall post my ignorance of basic computer issues.
I have a laptop. I use it to edit text. Every once in a while (a few times a month) the Insert function stops working.
For those who don’t know, if the Insert function is on and you type in new text it goes in where you are typing and pushes the follow-up text back without deleting it. But if the insert function is off, the new text you are typing goes over the existing text and deletes it as you type.
If I’m typing and I notice the Insert function has stopped working, I can just hit the Insert key on the top row of keys and everything is fine. But sometimes I don’t notice until I have deleted several words of text. And then I swear.
I never intentionally hit the insert key to turn the function off. I can’t imagine any reason why I would ever want the insert function to be off. It’s possible that I am hitting it accidentally when I’m intending to hit an adjacent key like the delete or backspace function. Or there is something in the system that is turning off the Insert function by means other than hitting the key.
So is there some other way that I an unaware of that would cause my Insert function to be turned off?
And is there some way I can lock in the Insert function so it is always on? As I noted above, I can’t imagine any situation where I would want it off so I’d be happy to remove the possibility.
Yes, PowerToys can do that. Install it, go to the “remap a key” section, there are prompts to follow, but you’ll hit the “insert” button and then choose “Disable”. On my laptop, I’ve used it to disable the keys (and key combos) I hit by accident. NumLock, Copilot and “Right Shift+Enter” are all disabled.
Make sure the insert function is set how you want before you finish, otherwise you have to go back in, disable it, hit the insert button and reenable it.
By the way, the annoying behavior might not solely be because the insert key on your keyboard.
I think some apps also have a place where you can accidentally toggle insert/overwrite by clicking on a part of the screen.
Also, if you accidentally double-click on a word, it will select that whole word. If you accidentally triple-click, it will select that whole paragraph. Then if you start typing, it will replace that selection, regardless of your insert settings.
So my additional suggestion is this: Practice with copy (CTRL-C) and undo (CTRL-Z) more often.
If you saw that you accidentally replaced a bunch of text, do this:
First select the text that you want to keep (the newly inserted text), and CTRL-C to copy it into the clipboard. Do not type anything else. Do not paste it anywhere yet.
Hit CTRL-Z a few times, undoing step by step until you get back to the original text from before the accidental insert.
Then click, once, where you want the new text to go. Just move the cursor there; don’t select or type anything.
Hit CTRL-V to put the new text in its rightful place.
This way, you keep the stuff you already typed, recover the old text, and then move the new text to where it belongs.
I’ve done that so many times on my laptop when I accidentally drag my palm across the touchpad, highlighting everything I typed, then go to type more and delete everything.
Heh, I have the opposite problem: I wish I could do that (double and triple click to select) everywhere. I can type faster than I can accurately think, lol, and frequently have to edit out entire swaths of text after a moment’s reflection and subsequent regret. But not all programs support this (like video games or terminal programs) and it’s a huge pain to select entire lines or paragraphs there.
All those random computer functions… probably somebody somewhere finds them useful, while at the same time they piss off a bunch of other somebodies… (I’m in the OP’s camp. I’ve never once found insert/overwrite to be helpful.)
The overwrite functionality was once much more useful back in the days of non-windowed terminals and one line word processors were more common. These days the dedicated insert key is more detriment than benefit.
I don’t often hit it by accident on a laptop but I do occasionally run into the problem on a full keyboard with numpad. If the numlock is off, the “0” key doubles as an insert key and can trigger the mode.
I know MS Word has an advanced setting “Use the Insert key to control overtype mode” that you can disable. Notepad++ and UltraEdit have a configurable keyboard mapping to also disable it. You did not name the editor you use, but it is worth looking at the advanced settings menu to see if the application itself can ignore the Insert key.
And this highlights an important point. This is a problem with an application-by-application solution, unless you go all sledgehammer on it and effectively disable the key entirely with a keymap tool.