ESC key will not work in Revit but works everywhere else

[Anonymous]

So we are having a problem with revit where the esc key does not work but it works everywhere else.  It is not an adobe product as we do not use those programs.  Any ideas?

[matthew.ngo]

Paul, 

Do you use the Alt key to start some commands? (i.e. Alt>G>ML = Manage Links)

Sometimes my keyboard shortcuts, included Escape and Delete will break for me and the Options menu fix I originally described does not work. If I complete a command using the Alt sequence, it unlocks the typical keyboard shortcuts. Again, not sure why it locks up in the first place but it probably has to do with errant key strokes occurring during quick work. 

Hope that helps!

[paul.sandersL3K92]

No, I never use the ALT key normally. I guess there is a possibility of unintentionally touching it once in a blue moon, but I doubt that I would be doing it without noticing.

[Anonymous]

Still happening, currently using an updated Revit 2022. Restart works to fix it but is not a sustainable ongoing work around!

[Anonymous]

Still a randomly-rucurring issue for me on Revit 2020.2 on Windows 10 Pro. I often work with two projects open in separate Revit 'instances', and the ESC key will stop working in one project while still functioning in the other. Restarting the program restores funtionality, but I agree with everyone else in saying this is not an acceptable solution.

[mho]

What often seems to help for me is just to start a new project next to the one you are working on. If you then just go back to the tab of your current project, it seems like something gets reset. This way you don't need to restart your current project.

[RSomppi]

I recently had this happen for what I think was the first time since I started using Revit. All it took was going back to the last place I was typing and click in it. Hovering the cursor wasn't enough. I had to click inside the box.

Just retrace your last steps and you should be able to get back up and running without restarting or any of those other workarounds..

[CVDemick]

Bump. Same issue here with Revit 2020.2.8. Started happening to me with the update to 2.8. Affects the ESC key, Delete key, and the Tab key. Only fix for it is to restart Revit which is painfully time consuming when deadlines are looming. 

[wcrothers]

I was having the same problem with the Esc key and simply synching to central seems to have resolved the issue

[yassin.tatar97]

esc is not working in Revit 2023. when i do restart it works, but after a few minutes it stop working.
any suggestion

[RobDraw]

Me too isn't going to get you anything more than what's already here in this thread. Have a look. There are several suggestions. Try them all.

[jrobbins]

Unhelpful. I already tried them all.

[RobDraw]

Poorly worded posts don't get helpful responses. 

Then this thread is not going to help you.

[paul.sandersL3K92]

Hi All,

I had this happen again recently and pressing Alt+Escape seemed to clear the problem. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

Thanks to @matthew.ngo if it works as his post prompted me to try Alt with the key that was 'broken'.

[Austin.CrawfordQSEHM]

Update. It's July 2022. Revit 2022 still has this issue! 

[RobDraw]

Can you recreate it? 

IME, Revit is very picky about cursor placement. The only time I experienced it, I was able to reactivate the esc key by clicking in the last area that I was typing. I am convinced this is OIE in combination with finicky software.

If you want Autodesk to hear about it, try the product feedback page.

[jb.reinert]

I am also having this issue with Revit 2023.

[RobDraw]

Congrats!

What do you think you're doing to cause it?

What do you do to fix it?

[jb.reinert]

I have no idea. The only thing that fixes it is closing Revit out and restarting the program. it is very frustrating! if you have any suggestions to help, please let me know

[RobDraw]

Please see message #55.

[Lance.Coffey · Accepted solution]

From reviewing the posts so far, it is looking to me like there are many different possible causes (and as a result solutions) for this behavior.

I’ve gathered together many of the suggested solutions into the following article (as well as including some additional troubleshooting steps to try identifying the underlying cause): ESC key does not work in Revit

Please update this thread, if finding more solutions, or underlying cause of this behavior.