Recent Databricks UI issue with mouse

[ecwootten]

For the past week or so, I've been having a weird UI issue with Databricks. Frequently, when I try to select text within a notebook, by dragging the mouse, it behaves as if I have clicked on a notebook within the LHS explorer pane, and loads it. So, drag mouse to select text, completely different notebook loads.

I've never seen this in the past 18months or so that I've been using Databricks, but now it's happening multiple times a day. I haven't yet managed to trigger this on purpose, but it's very disruptive every time it does happen (especially since the load/return to intended notebook loop is pretty slow).

Have there been any new UI elements introduced that I might somehow be falling foul of?

[Advika]

Hello @ecwootten!

This behaviour might be caused by certain browser extensions interfering with the UI. I suggest turning off active extensions, refreshing the page, and trying again.
Additionally, reset your browser zoom to 100%, as UI issues can happen at other zoom levels.

Let me know if the issue persists.

[ecwootten]

Thanks for the suggestion! I have very few extensions, but my zoom level was set at 90%. I've put it back to 100% and will see how I go.

[ecwootten · Accepted solution]

Changing the zoom level has not fixed it, but I have now narrowed down exactly what the problem is.
When I select text, I move my mouse from right to left (I'm a left-handed mouser). If the mouse cursor has crossed the "boundary" into the explorer window on the left, then releasing the button is considered to be a click.
If the list of notebooks in the explorer window is long enough that that click was level with a file, then that file is loaded.

Obviously the answer is "don't drag your mouse any further than you absolutely need to to select text", but in practice this is super-easy to trigger accidentally. Though probably not if you're right-handed 🙂

[Advika · Accepted solution]

I'm left-handed too, and I totally get how easy it is to accidentally trigger this! One thing that helps is collapsing the sidebar while working in notebooks. This reduces the chances of unintended clicks when selecting text.

[ecwootten]

Thanks for the tip! I'm a bit surprised that I've only just started triggering this - and am now seeing it all the time. But yes, closing the explorer window is probably the way to go if it can't be fixed 🙂