cant access version bar

the other day i bought minecraft and started playing on my friends new server. it was made recently, a week or 2, so it was still in version 1.17.1

today my launcher updated my gameplay to version 1.18.1, so i went to try and load the older version.

however, when i go to the versions bar (located on the installation tab in "new installation") it will not drop down or let me type in it.

a white border pops up around the box, but otherwise it does nothing