How To Turn The IPad Floating Keyboard On & Off (iPadOS 15)

The iPad floating keyboard can be handy when you want to see more of the screen or use slide-to-type. However, it can be annoying when the floating keyboard pops out accidentally, especially if you don’t know how to return it to the bottom of the screen. Here's how to get rid of the floating keyboard on your iPad.

Why You'll Love This Tip:

• Quickly turn the iPad's floating keyboard off and on to make typing on the iPad a lot easier.
• Learn to disable the floating keyboard feature when you want your full-size keyboard back.

System Requirements

While the steps below work on previous software versions, the screenshots shown were captured using iPadOS 18. Find out how to update to the latest version of iPadOS.

The small Apple floating keyboard can come in handy for quick typing and better viewing on your screen, so it's nice to know how to turn on the iPad floating keyboard when you want it. If you haven't already, update your iPad software to the latest iPad OS, then follow the steps below. Be sure to sign up for our Tip of the Day newsletter for more great iPad tutorials!

How to Turn Off the Floating Keyboard on iPad & Fix iPad Keyboard Glitches

You're not alone if you're wondering, how do I get my keyboard back to normal? Even if you accidentally turned on the floating keyboard, this quick trick will turn your iPad's small keyboard back to the full-size version! Here's how to disable the floating keyboard on your iPad:

1. To switch back to the regular keyboard, grab the bar at the bottom of the floating keyboard and drag it to the bottom center of your screen.
2. Another method is to perform a reverse pinch gesture from the center of the iPad floating keyboard. Your fingers should start close together and then spread farther apart, maintaining contact with the iPad screen the whole time.

Sometimes, when you tap into a text field with the Apple Pencil, the floating keyboard will automatically pop up. To keep this from happening, you can follow these steps:

1. On your iPad, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Apple Pencil.
3. Then, turn off Scribble. It will be gray when disabled.

And that should keep the mini floating keyboard from popping up! Voilà! Your keyboard is back to normal. Now, you can enable or disable the iPad floating keyboard anytime you want. Happy typing!

Learn More About the iPad Keyboard

• How to Fix iPad Keyboard Not Working
• How to Use iPad Keyboard Shortcuts
• Jump from Touchscreen to Hardware Keyboard