# Using firefox on a mac and character set suddenly switches to eastern language

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 12, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252 "2005-03-12T22:37:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/1 "2005-03-12T22:37:22Z")

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I type really fast, and this seems to happen completely suddenly and I only notice after the fact. So for whatever reason, when i’m on a mac (i’m used to windows) and using firefox I get switched to an eastern character set. I’m not sure which language, but definitely japanese looking symbols. The only thing I can do is close the browser and reopen it, which sucks.

Any ideas what key combination I am pressing to make this happen?

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**Author:** ![cluelessnoob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@cluelessnoob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluelessnoob)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/2 "2005-03-13T02:53:14Z")

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When you say the character set switches, do you mean the webpage or the Firefox UI itself (i.e. menus, status bar, etc.)?

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/3 "2005-03-13T04:25:35Z")

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not the page itself, everything I type.

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**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/4 "2005-03-13T07:11:36Z")

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Possibly Command-space, which toggles between the last two international character entry languages you’ve chosen, or something like that.

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/5 "2005-03-13T16:47:23Z")

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awesome thanks. i will try this out.

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-firefox-on-a-mac-and-character-set-suddenly-switches-to-eastern-language/294252/6 "2005-03-13T22:56:10Z")

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That was it thanks!!!