Keyboard

With an alternative keyboard layout, you can enter letters and marks that are different from the ones on your Apple external keyboard. With the ABC – Extended layout, for example, you can type letters and enter diacritical marks for several European languages and tone marks for Mandarin Chinese in Pinyin.

You just choose an alternative layout for your language from the list. You can switch between keyboards with iPad, too.

1. Open Settings, tap General, tap Keyboard, and then tap Hardware Keyboard.
2. Tap a language at the top of the screen. Then choose an alternative layout from the list.

See also

• Switch between keyboards with iPad

If the Apple external keyboard you use with iPad doesn’t include accents and other diacritical marks for the language you’re typing, you can use an Option key modifier or the onscreen keyboard to enter those marks.

You can add a keyboard for a language that supports diacritical marks, or choose an alternative keyboard layout that does. You can also switch to a language keyboard with the Switch Keyboard key on Magic Keyboard.

Here’s how to enter characters with diacritical marks on iPad.

Use the Option key to enter a diacritical mark for a character

To enter a character with a diacritical mark, you can press the Option key to select a mark.

1. Do one of the following:
   • Add a keyboard for a language that supports diacritical marks, then in an app, switch to that language keyboard.

     For example, add the Spanish (Mexico) keyboard, then in an app, use the Switch Keyboard key on Magic Keyboard for iPad to select Español (México).

   • Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard, then choose an alternative keyboard layout that supports diacritical marks.

     For example, if you have the English (US) language keyboard, tap English (US), then choose U.S. International – PC or ABC Extended.

2. In an app, press and hold the Option key and then press a key that enters a diacritical mark.

   For example, the Spanish (Mexico) keyboard and the U.S. International – PC alternative layout support these diacritical marks:

   • Acute accent (for example, é): Option-E.
   • Grave accent (for example, è): Option-`.
   • Tilde (for example, ñ): Option-N.
   • Diaeresis or umlaut (for example, ü): Option-U.
   • Circumflex (for example, ê): Option-I.
3. Press the letter.

   For example, to enter ñ using the Spanish (Mexico) keyboard or the U.S. International – PC alternative layout, press Option-N, then type an n.

Note: With the ABC – Extended alternative layout, you can also enter tone marks for typing Mandarin Chinese in Pinyin orthography. To type ǚ in lǚxíng (“travel”), for example, press Option-V, then type a v. The ABC – Extended layout also lets you type diacritical marks and letters from several European languages, like Czech, French, German, Hungarian, and Polish.

Use the onscreen keyboard to enter a diacritical mark

1. Switch to the onscreen keyboard.
2. On the onscreen keyboard, touch and hold the letter, number, or symbol on the keyboard that’s related to the character you want.

   For example, to enter é, touch and hold the e key.

3. Slide your finger to choose a variant.
4. To hide the onscreen keyboard when you’re finished, tap the Hide Keyboard button.

You can change options for auto-correction, smart punctuation, and more. You can change typing assistance options for an external keyboard or for all keyboards, and turn Auto-Capitalization and Auto-Correction on or off, so an app capitalizes proper nouns or corrects spelling as you type.

Change typing assistance options for an external keyboard

Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard, then do any of the following:

• Turn Auto-Capitalization on or off: When this option is selected, an app supporting this feature capitalizes proper nouns and the first words in sentences as you type.
• Turn Auto-Correction on or off: When this option is selected, an app supporting this feature corrects the spelling as you type.
• Turn “.” Shortcut on or off: When this option is selected, double-tapping the space bar inserts a period followed by a space.

Change typing assistance options for all keyboards

Turn special typing features, like predictive text and smart punctuation, on or off. These features assist you as you type, and the settings apply to both your onscreen keyboard and your external keyboard.

1. Open Settings, tap General, and tap Keyboard.
2. In the list below All Keyboards, turn typing features on or off.

For several options, including auto-correction and auto-capitalization, you can specify different settings for your external keyboard in Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard.

See also

• Switch between keyboards with iPad

When you dictate text on iPad, you can use commands for punctuation, formatting, capitalization, and more. In some languages, you can insert emoji using your voice while dictating.

The commands listed below are always available while you’re dictating text. To insert an emoji, you can say something like “heart emoji” or “car emoji,” and in some languages, Dictation automatically adds certain punctuation as you go.

Here are the commands for dictating text on iPad.

Note: Dictation may not be available in all languages or in all countries or regions, and features may vary.

When using Dictation, cellular data charges may apply. See View or change cellular data settings.

Punctuation

For some languages, Dictation automatically adds certain punctuation as you dictate text.

Format text

Change, insert, and delete text

Dictation commands to edit text are available in U.S. English on supported iPad models.

Insert emoji

You can insert emoji while dictating in certain languages. For example, say “heart emoji” for the heart emoji or “car emoji” for the car emoji. See below for more examples of emoji commands and the corresponding result.

See also

• Dictate text on iPad
• Use the onscreen keyboard with VoiceOver on iPad
• Dictate text while using an Apple external keyboard with iPad

You can dictate text instead of typing it on an Apple external keyboard. As you speak, iPad automatically inserts punctuation for you, and you can insert emoji by saying their names, like “mind blown emoji” or “happy emoji.” You can also switch between keyboards with iPad.

Note: Dictation may not be available in all languages or in all countries or regions, and features may vary. Cellular data charges may apply (Wi-Fi + Cellular models).

1. Open Settings, tap General and tap Keyboard. Then turn on Enable Dictation.
2. Tap the Dictation button in the Shortcuts bar (at the bottom of the screen) and then speak.

   As you speak to insert text, iPad automatically inserts punctuation for you. You can insert emoji by saying their names (for example, “mind blown emoji” or “happy emoji”).

3. When you finish, tap the Keyboard button at the bottom of the screen.

Quick tip: On the Magic Keyboard for iPad or Smart Keyboard, press the Switch Keyboard key-D to quickly switch to dictation.

See also

• Switch between keyboards with iPad

With an Apple external keyboard, you can switch between the language keyboard for your region, an emoji keyboard, other language keyboards you add, and the onscreen keyboard. A keyboard shortcut cycles through them. The emoji keyboard even lets you search for an emoji with a common word, like “heart.”

Switch between language keyboards and the onscreen emoji keyboard

1. On the external keyboard, press and hold the Control key.
2. Press the Space bar to cycle between the language keyboard for your region, the emoji keyboard, and other language keyboards that you add.

   When you select the emoji keyboard, you can do the following:

   • Search for an emoji: Enter a commonly used word or phrase—such as “heart” or “smiley face”—in the search field above the emoji keyboard.
   • Enter an emoji: Tap it; or use the arrow keys on the external keyboard to select it. Then press Return.

Quick tip: To jump to the emoji keyboard quickly, press the Switch Keyboard key-E on Smart Keyboard or the Magic Keyboard for iPad.

With Magic Keyboard for iPad and Smart Keyboard, you can also press the Switch Keyboard key to choose between keyboards. If you want to use the Switch Keyboard key to show only the emoji keyboard instead of switching languages, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard, then turn on Press the Switch Keyboard key for Emoji.

Quick tip: With a Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Hebrew keyboard added, you can press the Caps Lock key to switch between Latin script and the other keyboard you’re using. If you’d rather the Caps Lock key not switch languages, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard and turn off Switch Languages using Caps Lock.

Switch to the onscreen keyboard

1. Do one of the following:
   • Tap the Keyboard Shortcut button in the Shortcuts bar (at the bottom of the screen).
   • If you installed additional language keyboards, tap the language button next to the predictive text suggestions (opposite of the Dictation button in the Shortcuts bar).
2. Tap Show Keyboard.

To hide the onscreen keyboard, tap the Hide Keyboard button.

Note: On Magic Keyboard for iPad and Smart Keyboard, the Switch Keyboard key can show only the emoji keyboard rather than switching languages. To set that up, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard and turn on Press the Switch Keyboard key for Emoji. Then, to switch between other language keyboards, you press and hold the Control key and press the Space bar.

See also

• Use the Shortcuts bar to switch between language, emoji, and onscreen keyboards

If you use a physical keyboard with iPad, you can use Full Keyboard Access to control your device with keyboard shortcuts instead of the touchscreen. Full Keyboard Access highlights the item on the screen that has focus.

You can see the available commands, move forward or backward, activate the selected item, and go to the Home Screen or open Control Center, all from the keyboard. You can also customize Full Keyboard Access.

Here’s how to control iPad with an external keyboard.

Control iPad using Full Keyboard Access

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, tap Keyboards & Typing and tap Full Keyboard Access. Then turn on Full Keyboard Access.
2. Navigate iPad using the following default commands.

   Action	Shortcut
   View available Full Keyboard Access commands	Tab-H
   Move forward	Tab
   Move backward	Shift-Tab
   Activate the selected item	Space bar
   Go to the Home Screen	Fn-H
   Open the App Switcher	Fn-Up Arrow
   Open Control Center	Fn-C
   Open Notification Center	Fn-N

Customize Full Keyboard Access

To customize Full Keyboard Access, you can change the keyboard shortcuts associated with its commands and adjust its appearance, like the color, contrast, and size of the highlight.

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility and tap Keyboards & Typing. Then tap Full Keyboard Access.
2. Do any of the following:
   • View a complete list of Full Keyboard Access commands and customize them: Tap Commands.
   • Change the look of Full Keyboard Access: Tap an option below Appearance.

See also

• Adjust the onscreen and external keyboard settings for accessibility on iPad
• Switch between keyboards with iPad
• Accessibility features for mobility on iPad

You can set the onscreen keyboard on iPad to show only uppercase letters. If you use a physical keyboard, you can adjust key sensitivity and make it easier to press key combinations. You can also set typing options, like auto-correction, and add keyboards for other languages or alternative layouts.

With Sticky Keys, you can press keys one at a time instead of together, and Key Repeat and Slow Keys change how the keys respond on an external keyboard. And in landscape orientation, you get a larger keyboard for typing in many apps.

Set the onscreen keyboard to display only uppercase letters

If it’s easier to read uppercase letters, you can set an option so the onscreen keyboard doesn’t display lowercase letters.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboards & Typing, then turn off Show Lowercase Keys.

Quick tip: In many apps, including Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari, you get a larger keyboard for typing when you rotate iPad to landscape orientation; see our article, Change or lock the screen orientation.

Change how the keys respond on an external keyboard

If you use a physical keyboard with iPad, you can adjust the sensitivity of keys and make it easier to press combinations of keys.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboards & Typing, then tap any of the following:

• Key Repeat: You can set how long you must press and hold a key before it starts repeating and how fast it repeats once it starts. You can also prevent the key from repeating at all.
• Sticky Keys: When you need to press multiple keys at the same time, you can press each key separately instead. For example, enter the keyboard shortcut Command-Z by pressing Command, then pressing Z.
• Slow Keys: Adjust the time between when you press a key and when it’s activated.

See also

• Move the iPad onscreen keyboard
• Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPad
• Control iPad with an external keyboard
• Accessibility features for mobility on iPad