Command+F not working on Mac across all applications

Question

Every once in a while, my Mac will do this thing where Command+F will no longer work to find/search in any application I use (Atom, Slack, Chrome, etc). Command+G still works in Chrome for "Find Next" as does Command+Shift+F in Atom. The problem seems to be solely limited to Command+F. It doesn't matter which Command key I use (left/right/built-in/external). When I pull up the Keyboard Viewer, the Command keypress registers correctly but not the F

Things I have tried:

• Closing all applications
• Fully restarting. The problem persists across full restarts.
• Resetting all keyboard settings to default
• Uninstalling Karabiner (which I use for a couple of shortcuts unrelated to Command+F)

The problem persists after trying all of the above and usually goes away after a couple of days for seemingly no reason. Has anyone run into this before or can anyone help me diagnose the issue further? This is driving me nuts.

OS Details: Macbook Pro running OS X El Capitan v 10.11.6

Solution 1

This has been driving me nuts for months too, and today I figured out that when I press Command+F (in that order), the F key press doesn't register. However, if I flip the order by pressing F + Command, it works again. That seems to "reset" something so that I'm able to continue using Command+F for the rest of that session. I hope this helps!

Solution 2

this is old post but it is first in the google search results by "cmd F doesn't work", so let me post a link to working solution

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5471806

TL;DR

1. remove ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db
2. restart in safe mode
3. restart again in normal mode
4. PROFIT

and i'm not sure about deleting file, please someone check it

Comments

[Josh Cox]

I have since upgraded to High Sierra 10.13.1 and it started happening again this morning.

[Jeff Warner]

Sanity check, first. When this problem is happening, can you verify that your keys are still being registered as pressed? Eliminating the hardware as a concern.

[Josh Cox]

The Command registers as being pressed but not the F. When I press Command + Shift + F the F is registered. So something low-level seems to be stopping that from being picked up in the Command+F case.

[Jeff Warner]

does this happen with both Command keys? Does it happen with an external keyboard's Command keys?

[Josh Cox]

Yes it happens with both command keys as well as external keyboard's command keys.

[Ray Kiddy]

I am seeing this on 10.12.6 also. Very annoying. Eventually (weeks later) it seems to fix itself. But then here it is again....

[drevicko]

Also in 10.13.6

[Ram]

I get the same thing although it only affects Chrome.

[faridghar]

I get the same thing but only with an external keyboard. Anyone find a solution (other than waiting)?

[Josh Cox]

This started happening to me again this morning. F+Command does seem to work to search! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have the same "reset" behavior for me. I am only able to get it to work with F+Command.

[Hadi Tok]

deleting the cache file is not needed for me. It seems starting the safe mode is the only solution for me.