Typing ‘t’ character causes new browser tab to open

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OK, this has been going on for months and months and I have not been able to figure out WHY.

Intermittently when typing in a browser (Chrome, Edge, old Firefox), as I type a word with a ‘t’, a new browser tab is opened once I press the ‘t’ key.  This occurs where I am writing comments, never on the address line.

I am not pressing any other key, such as a the Alt, Windows, Ctrl or Shift.

I then have to close the new tab window, which returns me to my previous open tab, where I can then continue my comment, type the ‘t’ character and [usually] now doesn’t take me to a new tab page.

Typing of further ‘t’ characters in the comment block page [usually] does not invoke a new tab page although yesterday, I was getting multiple new tab interruptions in Edge whenever I typed a “t” character.

This problems also occurs at a variety of websites, not just a single one.

I have tried different keyboards but the problem persists.  Currently using a new Microsoft 600 wired keyboard.

I have deleted the keyboard driver and then rebooted to force Windows to reinstall it but this has not fixed the problem.

I am on Win10 Pro.

I searched Google on this and I am not alone in (JUST GOT BOUNCED TO A CHROME NEW TAB AS I WENT TO TYPE THE WORD “this” HERE!) this problem.

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Maybe Sticky Keys?

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You mean like some food or something on the key?

No, that isn’t the cause.

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Sticky Keys is a setting which would let you press Ctrl then T for a new tab.

Make sure it’s off AND the shortcut that turns it on after shift is pressed five times:

How to Turn On or Off Sticky Keys in Windows 10

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steeviebops

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^^ This is the most likely situation. It can be triggered by pressing the Shift key 5 times in quick succession, so quite easy to turn on if you’re the type that fidgets (such as me!). I usually end up turning the keyboard shortcut off as a result.

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b

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Sticky keys is not on.

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Be careful about both Ctrl keys.

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I’m not clear as to what that means?

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Only that Ctrl + T opens a new tab in all browsers and you have both left and right Ctrl keys on that keyboard. If you’re sure nothing is touching either of them, forget I spoke! 🙂

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“I am not pressing any other key, such as a the Alt, Windows, Ctrl or Shift.”

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@ibe98765 –

You haven’t said if the computer this is occurring on is a desktop or a laptop, nor have you said how old the computer and/or keyboard is. Age can sometimes be a factor in things acting weirdly.

If the computer is a desktop, see if you can get your hands on another keyboard from another computer that is known to NOT have the problem you’re experiencing. Once you have that keyboard, (and with the computer completely OFF) disconnect your current keyboard and plug that other one into the same port that you just unplugged your current keyboard from. Start your computer and let it finish booting. It might say that it found new hardware and that it’s currently installing a driver for that hardware. Let it finish doing so.

Once it’s finished, begin browsing the way you normally would and see if the problem recurs on you. One way to test it would be to go to the testing forum here on AskWoody and attempt a test posting to see how it goes. In that post, please indicate that you’re testing a different keyboard, and make reference to this topic in case someone asks themselves why you made such a post, even in the testing forum.

The purpose of this procedure is to eliminate (or confirm) the keyboard as a possible source of the problem.

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TechTango

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It’s a desktop.  I swapped keyboards previously because of this problem.  I’ve deleted the driver and rebooted to force Windows to reinstall the driver.  Did not help.

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Bob99

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Just now did a search at Reddit and it sounds like someone had the same issue a couple years ago.

The Reddit host contributor replies to this issue – https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/qtxowt/help_needed_with_chrome_opening_new_tabs_when/

“2 yr. ago
Disable extensions?”

“Anthony_303
OP
“2 yr. ago
No idea how I managed to not think about this, thank you so much for helping me!

Did not expect that it can be fixed that easily!”

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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TechTango

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It’s not extensions as the same problem occurs in Edge and old FF.

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I tried using NirSoft’s KeyboardStateView to see if I could trap the keystroke(s) that show up when this happens but it wasn’t helpful.  The timestamp 3:55:36 is from when the new tab opened.  Here is the actual output.  All that output doesn’t make sense although I don’t actually know what happens when a new tab opens in a browser:

Can anyone point to another freeware keyboard logger that I might try?

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So the image above shows no hint of the T key being pressed, but it does show one of the Control keys being pressed at the time of the new tab opening. Did you perhaps take the snapshot the moment the new tab opened, before KeyboardStateView had a chance to document your having pressed the T key?

Remember, as @b pointed out above, the Ctrl+T combination in all browsers opens a new tab. If you DIDN’T follow the key press sequence documented in the image, then it’s time to do a thorough scan for malware on your machine using your choice of scanner. That is an odd-looking key press sequence unless you’re testing something in particular, which you were. BUT, there’s no indication of the T key having been pressed.

If you did indeed follow that key press sequence, then maybe it’s time to look within Windows itself to see if there’s an issue with the core system files that might be causing this problem, in that they’re misinterpreting the info they’re being fed from the driver somehow.

To check the Windows system files is very easy. From an elevated command prompt (one that has administrator privileges) type the following command and let it run. It’ll take at least a few minutes to complete and will tell you what it found (even if nothing was found) at the end of its run. If it found anything, the report will include whether or not it was able to fix everything it found. The command is “sfc/scannow” without the quotes.

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Myst

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Here’s another link to check out – https://www.techguy.org/threads/solved-t-key-opens-new-tab-on-internet.868617/

It’s an old post from 2009, but the problem sounds similar. This was his workaround for a fix –
“It’s the touchpad causing the issue. Go into the touchpad properties and turn off the zoom in/out feature. Basically the left side of the touchpad is configured like the right side, except instead of scrolling up and down, it’s set to track zooming in and out. Every time you rest your palm and you get the slightest touch on the touchpad, the keyboard registers CTRL key presses (that is how the zoom feature works).”

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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Sounds like that was a laptop.  This is a desktop with a separate keyboard and mouse.

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Myst

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What is the physical port connection for the KB?
“PS/2” (aka mini DIN 6); or USB?

1 – Have you the capability of swapping KB port types, that is, a keyboard with the ‘other’ type of connection?

2 – If there exist USB ports only, has a KB swap been done to a different USB port?

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It appears that the problem has been solved by swapping out the keyboard.  Have not had any instances of the problem today, so far.

I will now take a sledge hammer to the old Microsoft 600 keyboard (which was brand new out of the box when I hooked it up a few months back).

 

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Myst

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Original post: “I have tried different keyboards but the problem persists.”

January 13, 9:49 pm: “I swapped keyboards previously because of this problem. … Did not help.”

Now: “… problem has been solved by swapping out the keyboard.”

So, what has changed in the swappings?

Would it be (diagnostically) worth loaning the 600 to some other user to see if the problem is repeated?

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b, NaNoNyMouse

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ibe98765 wrote:

I will now take a sledge hammer to the old Microsoft 600 keyboard (which was brand new out of the box when I hooked it up a few months back).

The Microsoft 600 keyboard has a 3 year warranty so you should be able to return it as defective.

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1/31/2024 update:

After the Microsoft 600 keyboard, I switched to an ACER keyboard.  Have not had any problems since then.

A couple of days ago while in a 2nd hand store, I stumbled on a brand new Logitech Classic  keyboard 200 (which turns out to be from 2006).  It was $1 so I purchased it.  It is about an inch smaller than the ACER, so I switched to to it.

And soon, the mysterious “T” problem resumed.  I rebooted but the problem continued.  I pulled the keyboard, plugged the ACER back in, did not reboot and have not had the problem since.  So doesn’t sound as if the problem is with the keyboard software driver although I am unsure if the ACER keyboard would use a different driver than the Microsoft and Logitech keyboards.

Since this Logitech keyboard is so old, I am assuming that the Microsoft 600 keyboard might also have been manufactured by Logitech and perhaps this problem is something to do with Logitech’s hardware design.

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Tried a Dell keyboard today.  Ran into the same problem when the character ‘t’ was occasionally typed.

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