The Keyboard On-screen Typing

When you tap your finger on any part of the iPad’s screen where you can enter text, such as an email or a note, the iPad’s on-screen keyboard appears. Here’s a guide on how to use this keyboard and all its features.

The Keyboard in Focus

New Formatting Window. Tap the ‘Aa’ icon for the new formatting window, which offers editing and formatting options such as fonts, typography, and colours.

1 Tap on any box or screen where text can be entered, and the virtual keyboard appears as shown. This is true for emails, messages, search fields and indeed any area of the screen where you can enter text.

2 The keyboard’s top bar icons differ according to the app you’re using. These icons give access to the Undo, Redo, and Paste options, and open the formatting window.

3 As you type, suggestions for the word you’re currently typing appear here. When one of them is correct, you can tap it to automatically complete the word, saving on your typing.

4 These three icons in the top right of the keyboard, let you take, or choose, a photo to add to the email, choose or scan a document, or use the Markup tools.

5 This is the capitals and caps lock key. Tap it to make the next key you press a capital, or double tap it to lock the keyboard in caps mode. When it’s locked in this way, you can tap it once to go back to normal typing.

6 In iPadOS, a key’s alternate characters, such as punctuation or numbers, are shown at the top of the keys. You can type a key’s alternate character by dragging it down instead of tapping it.