Alt Key Not Releasing The Menu Bar Focus

@colin @trent

Colin or Trent, Can either of you please confirm that this issue with the Alt key not releasing the menu bar is actually going to be addressed in the next update? It has plagued SketchUp since Version 2023. It was confirmed back then to be logged internally, and the lack of resolution in 2024, 2025, and 2026 has been disappointing to say the least. This is also an issue the same issue/bug with the material tray on a second screen. Both need a constant, erroneous second click to use the tool because they each “lose focus”. See thread below for a memory refresh.

Thank you

Edit: Adding this link too for reference. Looks like it was supposed to be fixed in 2023, but either wasn’t or has since rebroken: SketchUp 2026 Alt-key shortcut conflict & LayOut tag visibility workflow

I don’t think that I am experiencing any issues with the alt key in 2026.2…

I haven’t been seeing this in 2026.2, either.

Alt issues do come and go. People do report ones they see, and we try to fix them.

I tried that one reported in 2023, and don’t see it happening in 2026.2, or in two later internal versions I have.

My version 26.2.243 also has this problem. For two-way verification, I installed SketchUp on another brand new computer, but the new computer has the same issue. Using Alt to set shortcuts activates and selects the menu bar, which is very inconvenient, so I’ve been using version 25 all this time. I really hope this bug gets fixed.

Sounds like it’s still an issue, just not for all which I’m sure is frustrating for your diagnostics. Pressing the Alt key on my keyboard underlines all of the ‘File, Edit, View, Camera…’ menu bars. At that point, not even clicking a tool in my toolbar (like the pencil or paint bucket tool) clears the issue. Keyboard shortcuts are also completely frozen during this time. Esc key does not work to clear the menu focus either as others have suggested.

I’d be happy to work with you on this, Colin. Seems the only fix is to re-click back in empty space, which has the adverse effect of clicking out of the group I was just working in… I’ll take even a temporary fix at this point until it’s fully resolved.

Are you able to troubleshoot the Alt key behavior with the toolbars on second screen? This may entirely be the issue. Prehaps related, but the paint bucket tool also suffers from the “focus” issue when the toolbar is on another screen: Windows 11 build. I’ve had to keep that on the main monitor to band-aid this issue.