18h ago

Can you dear lemmings help me undo my cat's latest keyboard shortcut?

I have an old Chromebook (yes yes there's my problem I know) that I basically only use to do the NYT puzzles with my spouse over lunch. Occasionally the cat jumps up, and sometimes her feet hit groups of keys... Yesterday she moved the bar from the bottom to the left side. I can't figure out how to fix it. Click/drag doesn't work, neither right nor left clicks in the bar do anything at all. The cat didn't drag, just stepped on several keys. It's still usable, just irritating. I've tried restarting, even let it update. Suggestions?

11 comments

Have you tried putting your cat on the keyboard again?
I searched a bit and apparently you need to right click, put your mouse on “shelf position”, and choose bottom. Also, you should right click the empty part it seems like. If right click does nothing, try using two fingers to click instead, maybe that will work.
- Two finger tap, yay! Gracias, sbeak!
Have you tried putting down the technology and just petting the cat for hours?
- That's the best preventive maintenance.
I can't find a documented keyboard shortcut for this.
Have you tried tapping an empty part of the Shelf bar where there are no apps using the touchpad and tapping with two fingers at once?
The only documented ways I have been able to find is the double tap on the touchpad or right-clicking then then choosing where to place the Shelf.
- Two finger tap 🤞 is the magic I was missing, that awakened the Shelf Position options! Thank you, Snotflickerman!
Have you checked for stuck keys?
- Oh that's a different thought, I'll make sure they're all up.
  
  I had similar issues in the past because of stuck keys. And those keys weren't even part of a shortcut or any other software function to control the particular element that went bonkers. It can be random keys you would never expect.
It's a sign that you need to switch to another Linux distro :)

11 comments