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I am not sure I understand this response (I guess you are saying, call me, if you can get through) - but let me follow up with some more information as I have PUT A LOT OF TIME IN trying to overcome this problem of not being able to make entries into the boxes originally provided by Trubotax - and at least I was FINALLY able to make entries into the Turbotax boxes.

 

WARNING - SOMEWHAT LONG POST, BUT I AM WRITING IT FOR THE SOFTWARE GUYS AND HOPE IT REACHES THEM - because this is somewhat of a bug UNLESS it is documented someplace to work this way.

 

1)  I have always been able to make an entry directly into the box provided by Turbotax, EXCEPT I need to state that this problem, at least in a few places started last year (2019 Turbotax).

 

2)  I have always been able to do a Right-Click to get to the Supporting Details pop-up - a feature that I VERY MUCH LIKE, particularly since Turbotax with even carry the supporting details forward from past years (SUPER).

 

3)  I will point out also that the problem that I am having seems to only occur in certain sections of Turbotax - or maybe that is a further manifestation of the problem.

 

4)  I have discovered that the problem seems ONLY to exist when Turbotax pre-inserts something into the box they are asking me to fill in - i.e. most times this is a "$0".  This is the REALLY FRUSTRATING part because when this happens, I CANNOT EVEN CLICK TO GET THE CURSOR INTO THIS BOX.

 

5)  I have FINALLY found that when this happens, if I Double-Click on this box, Turbotax will bring up a Supporting Details box, even if there is nothing in it.  At this point, everything seems to be working correctly as I can make entries in the Supporting Details pop-up and they are carried back to the original Turbotax box that was provided for an entry.

 

OK, let me expand further on this with an example.  In going through the Medical deductions section and getting to the "Tell us about anything spend on x-ray and lab work fees" - on my screen I see "$0" in the box provided.  I CAN NOT CLICK IN THIS FIELD, BOX - the really frustrating issue noted in 4) above.  BUT if I Double-Click on this box, up will pop a Supporting Details box with previous years entries in it, although the "Amount" column is blank. 

 

Additionally if I click on the "Show Relevant Form" box (ANOTHER NICE TURBOTAX FEATURE), I find that the x-ray line on the form has a "0." on it.  I can click on the "0." entry on that line and the box will be highlighted, BUT I can't change the "0." that resides there.  HOWEVER if I Double-Click on the "0." that resides there, up pops the Supporting Details box - consistent with the action that happens when clicking on the originally supplied box on the "Tell us about x-rays . . ." screen.

 

6)  IF the original Turbotax provided box is empty to begin with, everything works as you would expect - i.e. I can click in the box and make an entry.

 

7)  I will also note here that somewhere in my research of this issue, I see that you can also click on the Edit drop-down and then click on Add Supporting Details (I guess as opposed to Right-Clicking on the box).  A nice feature, alternative to the Right-Click, BUT you have to be able to click and get your cursor into the box in the first place for this to work (properly) - something you can't do.  And yes, this feature does work, even though you can't get your cursor into a box on the screen you are viewing - but when you do it this way, you end up pulling up the Supporting Details on a different box from a different screen, probably for the last place your cursor was located - probably a previous screen (so don't do that).

OK, have I worn everyone out - the few that maybe read this synopsis.  I maybe need to do a little more research, but I am beginning to think this is the way it is supposed to work - WELL, REALLY NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK THIS WAY, BUT AT LEAST IT SEEMS TO BE CONSISTENT - and I have been able to work with Turbotax under these conditions.  And yes, excluding or pending further exhaustive research, as I remember it, every time this has happened (incidents complained about in my original post), there has always been Supporting details from past years.

 

Actually, this is not a bad approach to the Supporting Details feature that exists in Turbotax - I just wish it was explained or documented somewhere.  I.E. Operationally, seeing a value in the originally-supplied Trubotax entry box (that you can't click on) is telling you that this box contains Supporting Details  (even though they may be from past years) and that you need to Double-Click on them to make any changes to that box.     Actually, a pretty nice feature IF it was intended to work that way - and now that I think about it, it is a really nice feature - once you understand what is going on.

 

As I write this, I will say that I have not exhaustively explored to see if Turbotax is probably designed this way - but will say that the operations seems to be consistent across the boxes and entries that I have complained about in my originally post.

 

I still don't think this is the way it has always worked.  I seem to remember IF there were Supporting details and you made an entry in the box before Right-Clicking on the box, when the Supporting Details box popped up, it replaced the 1st line in the Supporting Details box with your entry - a problem I never lilted and hence modified all of my Supporting Details boxes so that the 1st line in the box was always blank and the 2nd line always said, the above line is blank - anyway that is how I remember the way it has always operated.

 

So like I said, I like this new operational feature (particularly as it seems consistent), of letting you know the original box has supporting details, even if they are old and are zero - so if this is documented anywhere, please let me know - OR if not, please consider documenting it somewhere so that us old probably 20-year users of Turbotax know and understand what is going on.

 

I will let this one go as long as the operation is and stays consistent with the way I have described it above.  And yes, this post describing the operation of Supporting Details - PARTICULARLY THE INABILITY TO CLICK IN A BOX - is too long, but you, Turbotax should consider Posting a shorter explanation in the Turbotax Community posts that will pop up when someone searches for "cannot click on/in a box" problem - just a thought.

 

ron in shawnee