Backspace doesn't work in Visual Studio

I keep getting a very annoying problem in Visual Studio. When I try to delete some text by pressing backspace it doesn't work. Why is this? What is going on? Sometimes I have to close and open Visual Studio to make this problem go away but I just tried that right now and it didn't work. Backspace works in Notepad in case you are wondering.

In Visual Studio go to:

Tools 
Options
Environment
Keyboard

1. Find "Edit.DeleteBackwards" command.
2. In "Use new shortcut in:" dropdown select "Text Editor".
3. In "Press shortcut keys:" click backspace so it would show "Bkspce"
4. Click "OK".

Backspace should start working for you again.

I solved this issue resetting keyboard mapping scheme.

Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard -> Reset.

This seems to happen to me when I open a solution and there are files already open. I used to close the files, then close and re-open the solution to fix it, but now I just hit Alt + Enter.

Here is the blog where I found this trick.

A quick fix for me is to simply open any menu from the menu bar. Once the menu is closed the non-character keys start to work again.

I get this from time to time in VS2010 as well and simply just using the mouse to change tabs/files seems to always fix it now. Nothing more.

Except for the above methods.

You should also check the shortcut key settings:

File -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> 'Then check the item: deleteLeft'.

This method is working at 100%. Go to "File-> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts" and search for deleteLeft and add keybinding "Backspace".

Odd that this is still an issue even in VS 2019. Both the backspace and delete keys didn't work. Quick fix, I just ran the project and it seemed to give it the kick it needed.

All I did was exit visual studio and restart it.None of the above options worked for me.

In my case the problem was the "When" Condition in "File-> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts".

I removed "textInputFocus && !editorReadonly" and it works now as expected. I'm looking forward to the side effects ;).

Try resetting your Visual Studio Settings

Go to :

All Program > Visual Studio 20xx > Visual Studio Tools

Run Developer Command Prompt for VS20xx as Administrator and this command:

devenv.exe /resetsettings

A quick work-around for me is locking the pc (Windows+L) and logging in again.

This problem happened for me when I used a different version of resharper at home and then took that project to my employment. Backspace works for me now after I deleted the bin and obj and resharper directories.

I have this problem after I install Vim, uninstall Vim Backspace works fine.

When this issue has happened to me, I've found that hitting delete or backspace is unresponsive only within a portion of my code. This portion happened to be some code that I've pasted in from the internet somewhere.

To fix this issue, I cut out the recently pasted problematic code and then pasted it into a text editor like Notepad++. Then copying and pasting that same code out of the text editor and back into Visual Studio fixed the problem.

Using Visual Studio Community 2019 (16.4.3)

I just searched this issue because I could click in my document, type, et cetera, but I could not use backspace, delete, ctrl+z, or the arrow keys.

Opening the "File" menu, I noticed the Save option referred to a different file. I checked that file and found that all of the keys that seemed not to work were actually editing that other file.

Switching between the file in half-focus and the file I intended to edit worked and, luckily, undo was able to fix the file I unknowingly butchered.

If you wound up here, check your "File" menu to make sure the correct file is referenced, since the fix is quick and easy to try.

I just had this happen in one instance of Visual Studio 2022, caused by the debug settings editor window being open in another instance of Visual Studio 2022 in the background where I couldn't see it.

Closing that window resolved it.

You can reset keyboard mapping scheme like this

Options => Environment => Keyboard then select (Default) in the comboBox and click Reset button and then Ok button to confirm

Visual studio 2019 : Keyboard mapping sheme

Tested in Visual Studio 2019

Just had this exact issue (along with 'Enter', 'Ctrl+X', 'Ctrl+C', 'Ctrl+V', 'Ctrl+Z' keyboard mappings seemingly doing nothing) in the latest VS preview version below:

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 (64-bit) - Preview Version 17.2.0 Preview 6.0

The fix for me was to move to another tab (I had multiple open) use the backspace key which worked fine, then move back to the original tab with which it wasn't working, save the file (as it had outstanding changes) and then I found backspace and all other shortcuts then worked!

I can only think that VS got in a locked (to keyboard mappings) state for that particular tab.

A few notes on this:

• I knew it wasn't a keyboard issue as I was able to use those keys/mappings fine in other apps.
• I found closing and reopening VS didn't work.
• Also resetting the keyboard mappings (through Options menu as others have described) didn't work.
• I had multiple tabs open.
• Resharper was disabled.

I've had this issue for a long time. I'm not sure what causes it, but Alt + Enter works. The extensions that I'm running include AnkhSVN, MySQL Tools, and Productivity Power Tools.