Accidentals - sharps, flats & naturals in music:
When you add a sharp or flat in front of a note, the sharp or flat should apply to every instance of the same note from that point until the end of the measure.
For instance, if you put a # in front of a C, all the other Cs from this point to the end of the measure are supposed to be C#. What I found is that in MuseScore, all the Cs of the same pitch automatically become C# but the Cs in a lower or higher octave remain C "natural". When you are writing music notations, changing a C to C# should apply to all the Cs from this point onwards in the same measure including those who are in a higher & lower octave.
The way I work around the problem is to set all the necessary notes to C# and turn some # symbols to invisible. I play in a local band. When you put a # symbol in front of a note, it is understood all other instances of the note should be "sharp" whether it is in a lower or higher octave. I notice the problem recently when using MuseScore on a Mac.
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Comments
How are you adding the accidentals in the first place? The best way for an F# say, is to place an F and then raise it a semitone by raising it using the up arrow. For Flats, lower it.
Other similar notes in the same bar can be raised and lowered as necessary and will then conform to your needs.
By design, MS and other notation programs, not knowing that you want a full bar of altered notes enters them as naturals.
When you READ a sharp in front of a note it is understood that all notes of that same octave in that measure will be affected and you should read them and play them as such. Any same notes in another octave are not always, by convention, affected but it should be indicated whether they are sharp flat or natural to avoid confusion. It is also customary to indicate on the bass stave of a piano, for instance, whether a note here is changed or not because you have added an accidental to a note on the treble stave. The key here is clarity so that a performer can play with the minimum of confusion.
When you PLACE a sharp in front of a note (in MuseScore or another program) you are just affecting that note. If you want to raise or lower multiple notes (originally of the same pitch) then select them all and then use the Up or Down Arrow keys. This results in a sharp (or flat) being applied to the first note and the others are left without any indication, which is how it is most commonly represented in music scores. Where additional clarity is required you can add a sharp, flat, natural, (#) courtesy accidental or whatever it takes to make your score more easily read and performed.
In reply to When you READ a sharp in by underquark
underquark has it.
Actually, it is totally correct that accidentals only apply to the octave in which they occur. This seems to be a commonly misunderstood aspect of notation, but if you look it up, you'll find it universally agreed upon by all sources. See for instance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_(music)
(although you'd be excused for not trusting Wikipedia blindly, they *are* right about this). The relevant passage is:
Accidentals apply within the measure and octave in which they appear, unless canceled by another accidental sign, or tied into a following measure
In other words, in your example, the notes in the upper octave are *not* supposed to be sharped. The second measure is the correct way to notate it. The third measure will playback, but hiding the sharp signs is incorrect notation, and musicians reading it would play natural signs unless they happened to ask you first if that was a typo - which would be a natural assumption.
You are not alone.
See:
http://musescore.org/en/node/10593#comment-38173
and have a look at attachment 'Test2.mscz'
Then, read the next few comments.
Regards.