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The iPhone has a built-in virtual keyboard you can use to input text on your device. While it's much smaller than a physical keyboard, the virtual keyboard includes several convenient shortcuts to make typing easier.
The iPhone's virtual keyboard will appear whenever you tap a text field. For example, the keyboard will appear when composing an email, writing a note, or entering a website address.
Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn more about using the iPhone's virtual keyboard.
The cursor indicates where the text will appear.
Your iPhone generates predictive text depending on what you're typing and what you've typed in the past. Click a word to type it.
The main part of the keyboard includes the letter keys and the spacebar. Tap these keys to add the desired text.
Tap the Shift key, then tap a letter to insert a capital letter or alternate character. Double-tap the Shift key twice to turn on Caps Lock.
Tap the Backspace key to erase the character to the left of the cursor. Press and hold the Backspace key to delete entire words.
Tap here to switch the keyboard from letters to numbers and special characters. Tap the button again to switch back. It will also switch back when you add a space after a character. You can also tap the #+= button to access more special characters.
Tap here to switch the keyboard from letters to emojis.
This feature allows you to enter text without having to use the keyboard. Tap the microphone icon on your keyboard, then start talking.
Tap the spacebar to add a space. You can also double-tap the spacebar at the end of a sentence to automatically add a period.
The iPhone's virtual keyboard includes several features that make typing on your device faster and easier.
The iPhone will offer suggestions for certain words as you type. When typing, simply tap the spacebar to use a suggestion. In the example below, we used the suggestion to change agreem to agreement. To dismiss a suggestion, just ignore the suggestion and continue typing.
The iPhone will correct commonly misspelled words automatically using the Auto-Correction feature. For example, teh will be corrected to the.
While it's a powerful feature, it isn't perfect. And because it happens automatically, you may not always notice when something is changed. You should always review your text to make sure it's correct before sending it out.
The iPhone will also note spelling errors as you type. Any misspelled words will be underlined in red. To view possible suggestions for a spelling error, tap the word. A list of possible spellings will appear. Simply tap a suggestion to replace the existing word.
Sometimes you may find that you want to edit something at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph. Instead of deleting the existing text and starting over, you can move the cursor to the desired location. To move the cursor, simply tap the desired location. If you need more control, press and hold the screen, then (without removing your finger) drag the magnifying glass to choose a location for the cursor.
If you want to move text from one location to another, you can copy and paste it. This is especially helpful if you want to move text between different apps. For example, you might find some useful information in Safari and then copy and paste it into the Notes app.
The iPhone keyboard has several other features that aren't immediately obvious. We've listed some of the most helpful ones below:
If you want even more control over the keyboard, you can customize its settings.
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