Missing insertion cursor when dragging text into a profile's "Reason" textbox (Chrome, Windows 11)
It is standard functionality across most Windows applications, including web browsers and, in particular, most of the FamilyTree website, that you can select text from some place, and drag and drop it into a textbox. When you move the selected text over a textbox or other control where it can be dropped, an insertion cursor (vertical bar) appears in the control. As you move the text over any existing text in the control, the cursor moves to positions between the characters in the existing text to indicate exactly where the text will be inserted when it is dropped.
Over the last few days (end of June 2026), there has been a very specific change in this behaviour in the FamilyTree website. This cursor no longer appears at all when I am dragging text and hovering it over the "Reason" textbox while editing profile and couple relationship data items (vitals, events, facts, etc.).
I can reproduce this simply:
- Pick a profile;
- Click ADD FACT, select a fact type, and enter some text in the "Description" and "Reason" textboxes;
- Select some text from anywhere and drag it across the Description and Reason textboxes without releasing the mouse button;
- As the text is moved over the "Description" textbox, the cursor appears and moves around as expected;
- As the text is moved across the "Reason" textbox, no cursor appears. This makes dropping the text somewhat hit-or-miss.
I am using Windows 11 and Chrome, fully updated. The behaviour occurs in Chrome, but not in Firefox or Edge. I have cleared my FamilySearch cookies in Chrome; that made no difference. As far as I know, this behaviour change applies only to the "Reason" textboxes.
Answers
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@JulianBrown38 I was successfully able to copy and paste information into each area of the Facts Box - Physical description and Reason. You are correct. No cursor appears, but the text does move using your drag-and-drop method. It also works using copy and paste.
Just to be clear, your issue is that the cursor isn't in the box before the drag-and-drop? How often is this happening - that you are unable to move the information over?
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I am able to do drag and drop into the Description and Reason fields of a newly-created Fact, and it works exactly as expected. As I am dragging over the text field that is the drop target, I see a cursor appear to guide me in the precise place I want to drop the text. When I release the mouse to drop it, the text is inserted at that exact spot. This is true for both the Description and Reason fields. So I can't duplicate any problem at all in this area.
I am also using Chrome on Windows 11.
[As a side note, there are some places on FamilySearch.org where dragging and dropping text does not work, as I explained in a response I gave you on a very similar issue, but in a different context (Chat in that case).]
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@shecorwe, @Alan E. Brown Thank you for testing this. The version of Chrome on my computer was 150.0.7871.46, and it had been updated on 1 July. That would have been about the date that I first noticed the issue,
I have just returned from my local FS affiliate library where I checked out this issue on another computer (4 July). The problem did not occur there. The version of Chrome on that computer is 149.0.7827.201.
When I started Chrome on my computer a few minutes ago, it immediately updated itself to 150.0.7871.47, but that hasn't made any difference. The problem persists. What version(s) of Chrome are you using?
@shecorwe Yes, my issue is the absence of the cursor. I can still drop the text, but it doesn't always land where I want it to.
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I have just found that the same issue occurs when I am giving a reason for dismissing a research suggestion for a profile.
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You are quite right that the version of Chrome makes a difference. I was actually a bit behind in updating my Chrome and was using version 149.0.7827.115 when I did my initial testing where the cursor appeared properly.
Then I just updated to 150.0.7871.47 and now I am seeing exactly what you are seeing — the drag and drop still works, but with no cursor being shown, which makes it substantially more difficult to precisely select the place you want to drop the text. However, it is important to note that what I see on FamilySearch.org is exactly the same behavior I see on other sites, for example, when dropping text onto a Google search page, which has nothing to do with FamilySearch.
Since FamilySearch made no change, but an update to Chrome made all the difference (in this case a negative difference), it seems clear that you should look to Google to fix the problem that they clearly introduced between major version 149 and version 150.
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