Can't use mac keyboard shortcut to switch input language

[Petja]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm having issues switching language input when writing text using Affinity Publisher. The standard keyboard shortcut for mac (Cmd+Space) doesn't do anything and instead plays a little error sound. When I'm not inside a text field, however, the shortcut works fine. So every time I want to switch input I have to exit the text box, press the shortcut, and then click back in again. I'm working on a project where I have to switch inputs very often, and this has become quite annoying. Other mac shortcuts (such as "Show Desktop" or "Quick Note") work fine, even when writing text.

 

Solutions I've tried:

Rebooting my computer

Restarting Affinity Publisher

Updating Affinity Publisher

Opening a new document

Changing the shortcut (same error, the new shortcut works in every program other than when I'm writing text in AP)

 

Grateful for any help!

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Petja

[MikeTO]

Hi @Petja and welcome to the forums.

Cmd+Space is the shortcut for Spotlight search on macOS, at least in English, and works fine in Affinity for me, and Cmd+Space is not a standard shortcut in Publisher. Perhaps you've assigned Cmd+Space to something? You can find out by opening Preferences > Shortcuts and typing Cmd+Space into any blank shortcut field. If it shows a yield sign mouse over that to find out what it's assigned to and then you can find and delete that one. Also delete the newly-assigned shortcut before you close this window.

I recommend also checking System Settings (formerly Preferences) > Keyboard to see what's assigned to the globe key. I assign mine to nothing because I frequently hit that key by accident but you can assign it to change the input source (keyboard).

Cheers

 

[Petja]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Cmd+space is the standard shortcut for changing language input if you have several input languages (It automatically removes the Spotlight shortcut). I've tried changing the shortcut to F1 which worked fine in all other programs except when writing text in AP. I also tried to change the shortcuts so that Cmd+space opens Spotlight and it worked everywhere, even when writing text in AP. My laptop is 8+ years old so I don't have a globe key, only a "fn" key.

 

To me it seems that the problem is not the shortcut, but that AP for some reason blocks the possibility to change input when in a text box. It's really frustrating since I'm writing a language textbook and need to switch constantly.

[Old Bruce]

I am a monolingual Anglo so I cannot really help with this in any meaningful manner. But having said that....

Language is a Text Style attribute. If you are just wanting to change for spelling or language specific font ligatures you would need to set up a Character Style for each "different" language. For example if the bulk of the document has English Text with some Spanish and Italian then all the Text Styles (Paragraphs) would be set to English and then you would have a set of Character Styles for Spanish and Italian where the only change is the Language.

If you are just wanting to change the keyboard's language layout (input) then I think you would need to use the Mac's menubar switch and that would also need to be in the Mac OS preferences.

 

[Petja]

The languages are Swedish and Russian, so I'm working with two completely different alphabets. Mixing them in the same paragraph works just fine and I can apply the same text style to the different languages and get an identical effect. The only thing that doesn't work is the keyboard shortcut.

[Old Bruce]

I am just guessing here. The Swedish and or Russian keyboard layout(s) may have different keyboard shortcuts or be remapping the shortcuts. In other words you are getting things jumbled up while in Affinity Applications and using a "Swedish" or "Russian" keyboard.

[MikeTO]

5 hours ago, Petja said:

Cmd+space is the standard shortcut for changing language input if you have several input languages (It automatically removes the Spotlight shortcut). I've tried changing the shortcut to F1 which worked fine in all other programs except when writing text in AP. I also tried to change the shortcuts so that Cmd+space opens Spotlight and it worked everywhere, even when writing text in AP. My laptop is 8+ years old so I don't have a globe key, only a "fn" key.

Cmd+Space Are you using Catalina or an older keyboard before the addition of the Globe key? Apple changed this shortcut in Big Sur. Cmd+Space is always Spotlight search now. The instructions for changing input language with the keyboard are now:

• Use the Fn key or the Globe key: If you set an option in Keyboard preferences to change input sources by using the Fn key or the Globe key (if available on the keyboard), press the key to display a list of your input sources, then continue pressing the key until the input source you want to switch to is selected. The list disappears automatically.

In Catalina the instructions were:

• Press Option-Control-Space bar to select the next input source in the Input menu, or Control-Space bar to select the previous input source.

It was Cmd+Space sometime before Catalina but Apple changed it due to the addition of Spotlight. However, depending on how you upgraded you could be left with the situation you're describing, with Cmd+Space still in use for input source even though a fresh install shouldn't have that.

In any case, Cmd+Space isn't the standard shortcut for this now. The good news is you can map the shortcuts in macOS and Affinity any way you want them.

Cheers