Skip to page contentSkip to chat
ServiceNow support
    • Community
      Ask questions, give advice, and connect with fellow ServiceNow professionals.
      Developer
      Build, test, and deploy applications
      Documentation
      Find detailed information about ServiceNow products, apps, features, and releases.
      Impact
      Accelerate ROI and amplify your expertise.
      Learning
      Build skills with instructor-led and online training.
      Partner
      Grow your business with promotions, news, and marketing tools
      ServiceNow
      Learn about ServiceNow products & solutions.
      Store
      Download certified apps and integrations that complement ServiceNow.
      Support
      Manage your instances, access self-help, and get technical support.
Some bidirectional text control characters in the Description field can crash Internet Explorer on Windows 10 - Known Error
  • >
  • Knowledge Base
  • >
  • Known Error (Knowledge Base)
  • >
  • Some bidirectional text control characters in the Description field can crash Internet Explorer on Windows 10
KB0693210

Some bidirectional text control characters in the Description field can crash Internet Explorer on Windows 10


558 Views Last updated : Oct 17, 2023 public Copy Permalink
KB Summary by Now Assist

Description

When the Description field contains certain bidirectional text control characters, when a user is using Internet Explorer on Windows 10 and they click in the Description, the tab will crash and restart.

Steps to Reproduce

1. If the Description field is not displayed on the incident form, Default view, add it through Configure > Form Layout.
2. Import the attached incident record, which contains the bidirectional text control character as the last character in the Description field.
3. Using Windows 10 and IE11, open the record INC0000058.
4. Click in the Description field.

Expected behavior: Nothing should happen when you click in the field.

Actual behavior: The IE tab crashes and restarts due to the special character.

If you use a different browser, this doesn't happen. If you copy the Description value using a non-IE browser and paste it into vi or VIM, you should be able to see the special characters:

In the example incident, vi shows the problem special character <202c>

Location: Top Folder <200e>> Reports <200e>> Customer Reports
<202c>

Workaround

  1. Using a browser other than Internet Explorer, open the affected record.
  2. Select the entire value of the Description field and copy.
  3. Open an editor such as vi or vim or some other editor that displays special characters and paste the Description value.
  4. Look for any special characters. In this example, the special character was <202c>
  5. Take note of where these special characters are located.
  6. On the incident record, delete the white space where the special characters are located. You can add back empty white space to separate words.
  7. Save the record.

After these steps, the Description field should be clickable by users using Internet Explorer on Windows 10 without the browser tab crashing/restarting.


Related Problem: PRB1295593

The world works with ServiceNow.

Sign in for more! There's more content available only to authenticated users Sign in for more!
Did this KB article help you?
Did this KB article help you?

How would you rate your Now Support digital experience?

*

Very unsatisfied

Unsatisfied

Neutral

Satisfied

Very satisfied

Very unsatisfied

Unsatisfied

Neutral

Satisfied

Very satisfied

What can we improve? Please select all that apply.

What are we doing well? Please select all that apply.

Tell us more

*

Do you expect a response from this feedback?

  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy statement
  • GDPR
  • Cookie policy
  • © 2025 ServiceNow. All rights reserved.