This problem isn't specific to Word. It seems to happen with text boxes in browsers sometimes too.

On my old computer or in the text entry box in this forum, whenever I press up with the cursor on the top line, the cursor moves to the beginning of the line. Likewise when I press down at the bottom line, the cursor moves to the end of the bottom line. However, this behavior isn't exactly the same as home and end because when you press home for example, the cursor position is set to column 0 but when you use the up key trick the column information is preserved so that when you press down again the cursor will return to the column it was at before.

But this won't work in Word anymore. I'm using Windows 8 and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. When I press up on the top line or down on the bottom line, the cursor doesn't move and nothing happens. Is there any way to get the old behavior back?

This may depend on your keyboard. If it has a Function (Fn) key, you may have to hold that key for certain functions to work. Usually, color coding shows which keys require Fn to be pressed.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thank you for replying! There's no function key. It's an Alienware keyboard. I'll see if I can get access to another keyboard, but supposing the keyboard isn't the problem are there any alternatives?

Personally, I haven't seen anything strange with the keyboard in Word 2010 or 2013. Since you see it not only in Word, but also in other programs, I don't think the problem could be caused by an option in Word.

Just to be clear, you are referring to the Up and Down arrows on the keyboard? Is NUMLOCK activated?

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Yes, I'm talking about the arrow keys. And it happens whether or not num lock is activated, but I normally don't have num lock on.

Are you saying when you press up on the top line of a Word document, the cursor moves to the beginning of that line?

I just tried it in Word 2013 on a school computer and it has the same problem. The cursor won't move to the beginning or end when I press up or down.

No, pressing the Up arrow doesn't move the insertion point to the beginning of the line. The Up arrow key doesn't work like that on my installation of Word 2010 either.

I can press the Home key to go to the start of the current line, though.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional