"Step-time input mode" vs "insert" mode. Too many beats in bar . . . that was a challenge! Solved & shared FYI
For unknown reasons, MuseScore put itself in "insert" mode
Example
-- 4 beats per bar
-- I enter a quarter note
-- Now the bar has 5 beats!
I had a merry search trying to find out how to make this stop happening. There are a few threads about this. Some say to click the N in the tool bar (there is no N in the toolbar). Some say to observe the "plus" sign next to the measure (there is no plus sign next to the measure). Some say to right click the measure and select Measure Properties (none of the available properties in that dialog are relevant).
Eventually I found a "note with plus sign" icon in the toolbar. (See screenshot, attached)
-- Click the icon => Nothing useful
-- RIGHT click the icon => dropdown and you can get out of "insert" mode by selecting Default.
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Comments
See also https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/alternative-note-input-methods
In reply to See also https://musescore… by Jojo-Schmitz
Nice.
On that help page, the instruction is
-- Click and hold the Note input button in the Note input toolbar --
... fortunately there is a visual a few inches away for those of us who don't know which one is the Note Input button.
.
Side benefit, reading that page I learned about the "re-pitch" option which will be very useful on occasion.
In reply to Nice. On that help page, the… by Ndbmketirsk11
"For unknown reasons, MuseScore put itself in "insert" mode
Example
-- 4 beats per bar
-- I enter a quarter note
-- Now the bar has 5 beats!"
I'd wager you've inadvertently used the shortcut for Insert mode, i.e. Ctrl/Cmd + I.
It's so close on the keyboard to Ctrl + L (lyrics) or Ctrl + K (Chords symbols) or simply the "I" (add/remove instruments dialog) that a slip or error can happen quickly.
This shortcut is a toggle. If you encounter this problem again, press Ctrl + I to return to the default input mode.
For your information, in version 4.5, alternative input modes are no longer displayed in the same place (at the Note input button), but from the central cogwheel in the toolbar. Open the eye icons
for the relevant alternative input modes, and they appear in the toolbar.
But the shortcut is always the same... ready to play with you! :)
I'm joking, of course! If this bothers you, simply delete or customize this shortcut (to make it less reachable) in Preferences / Shortcuts.