A Figma user found that Shift+2 behaved differently depending on which “2” was pressed: the number-row key triggered Zoom to selection, while the numeric-keypad key acted like the down arrow. The discrepancy appeared on Windows but not Mac, and seemed at first to be a software bug. Its explanation reaches back to IBM keyboard design in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when arrow keys and the numeric keypad shared a cluster of keys. Num Lock switched between typing numbers and navigating, while holding Shift temporarily reversed the mode, letting spreadsheet users move between cells without repeatedly toggling Num Lock.
Although later IBM keyboards separated the arrows from the keypad, the Num Lock behavior and Shift shortcut remained for compatibility with users’ habits. The convention persisted in MS-DOS and successive versions of Windows, eventually affecting how Windows interpreted the keypad’s Shift+2. Figma could distinguish the two keys using information available in browsers and fix the mismatch, but the incident was less a newly introduced defect than an obscure legacy rule. The account traces a small interface inconsistency through decades of hardware and software history, showing how early design constraints can survive long after the original keyboards are gone. The explanation draws on research for a book about keyboard history, including a conversation with IBM engineer Dave Bradley, who helped make the 1981 design decisions.
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