How to Use Samsung Keyboard Like a Pro: A Complete Guide

Samsung Keyboard is the pre-installed and default keyboard on Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets. It offers interesting features such as cursor control, text shortcuts, sticker suggestions while typing, swipe typing, and much more. If you have been wondering how to use Samsung Keyboard like a pro, you have landed in the right place. Let’s get started.

Also read: How to Type Morse Code in Gboard App

1. Access Samsung Keyboard Settings

To customize Samsung Keyboard, you will occasionally need to open its “Settings”. Follow the following steps to do so.

1. Bring up the keyboard on your display.
2. Tap on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the keyboard.
3. Here you will see more features offered by the keyboard. Tap on the “Settings” button. You might need to scroll to the left in order to see it.

Pro Tip: Tap on the Settings icon next to Samsung Keyboard while switching between keyboard apps to open keyboard settings.

Also read: 11 Best Fixes for Gboard Not Working on Android and iPhone

2. Customize Samsung Keyboard Toolbar

The top row in the Samsung Keyboard is called the toolbar. It houses shortcut icons for various features offered by the keyboard like clipboard, emojis, text editing, keyboard size, and more.

The toolbar can hold up to seven shortcuts. You can customize the toolbar by adding, removing, and rearranging the shortcut icons.

1. Tap on the three-dot icon on the keyboard to expand the toolbar.
2. Then, in the toolbar, touch and hold a shortcut icon and drag it to reposition it. Alternatively, drag it to the bottom panel to remove it.

3. If you use a shortcut frequently, you can add its respective icon on the main toolbar. For that, drag the shortcut icon from the expanded menu to the toolbar.

If you don’t like the Samsung Keyboard toolbar, you can stop it from showing up too.

1. Open up “Settings” on the Samsung Keyboard.
2. Turn off the toggle next to the “Keyboard toolbar” to disable it.

Also read: How to Make Funny Emoji Combos Using Gboard

3. Access Symbols Quickly

Generally, you have to long-press a keyboard key to insert the symbol associated with it. But you can access popular symbols quickly by hitting the period (.) and comma (,) keys as well.

Simply, long-press on one of these keys to access the additional list of symbols. Then, drag the finger to the symbol that you want to insert in the text.

Tip: Go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings-> Swipe, touch, and feedback”. Enable the toggle for “Keep symbol panel open” to add multiple symbols at a time.

4. Customize Symbols

If you don’t like the default set of symbols that show up when pressing the period (.) key, you can replace the characters with the ones that you use frequently.

For that, go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Custom Symbols”. Tap on the symbol that you want to change and select its replacement symbol from the keyboard.

Tip: To switch back to the default set of symbols, tap on the “Reset” button

Also read: How to Use Gboard: The Ultimate Guide

5. Add and Customize Emojis, GIFs, and Stickers

All the emojis, GIFs, and stickers offered by the Samsung Keyboard are housed under the “Emoji” icon in the toolbar. Here are the steps to add, use, and customize emojis and stickers on Samsung Keyboard:

1. Tap on the “Emoji” icon in the toolbar to see the available things.
2. Press on the tabs at the top like GIFs, stickers, etc., to switch between them.
3. Now, tap on the item that you want to add.

4. Use the “Search” icon in each panel to quickly find the desired item.

5. Press the add (+) icon in the emoji panel toolbar to install sticker packs on the keyboard.

6. Similarly, hit the “Settings” icon to show or hide other emoji packs like Bitmoji, Samsung’s AR Emoji, etc., in the emoji panel.

7. Tap on the “Edit” button and use the arrow next to the pack to change its position.

Pro Tip: You can also add direct shortcut icons to emojis and GIFs to the Samsung Keyboard from the expanded toolbar.

6. Suggest Stickers and Emojis While Typing

Samsung Keyboard offers a smart typing feature where it suggests emojis and stickers while typing. You don’t even need to open the emoji or sticker panel.

1. To enable this feature, open “Settings” on your Samsung Keyboard.
2. Next up, enable the toggle for “Suggest emojis” and “Suggest stickers while typing”.

Note: This feature doesn’t work in all apps.

7. Use Universal Search Button

Samsung Keyboard offers a universal search button in the toolbar. You can use it to find emojis, stickers, GIFs, contacts, images in your gallery, YouTube videos, and similar things without opening another app.

1. Tap on the “Search” icon in the Samsung Keyboard’s toolbar to open the search bar.
2. Type the search term and hit the “Enter” button to show the results.

3. Tap on a search result to add it to the text.

Also read: How to Add, Use, and Manage WhatsApp Stickers

8. Use Clipboard

The clipboard is a section that holds your recently copied text and images so that you can easily paste them somewhere else without manually accessing them again.

1. To open the Samsung Keyboard’s clipboard, tap on the “Clipboard” icon in the toolbar or the expanded toolbar.
2. Here you will see the recently copied images and text entries. Tap on an entry to insert it into the current document.

Note: Screenshots will also show up in the keyboard’s clipboard as those are copied to the phone’s clipboard automatically.

3. The earlier items will be deleted automatically from the clipboard as you copy more items. If you want an item to stay permanently in the clipboard, such as your address, touch and hold it in the clipboard. Then, hit the “Pin” icon to save it to the clipboard. The pinned items will be removed from the clipboard only when you delete them yourself.

4. To remove any item from the clipboard, touch and hold it and then press the “Delete” icon at the top.

Pro Tip: To pin or delete multiple items, tap on the respective icon in the clipboard panel. Then, select the desired items.

9. Change Keyboard Size and Position

You can increase or decrease the keyboard size and set it as per your preference. You can also change its position and move it upwards instead of keeping it just above the navigation bar. When you move the keyboard upwards, you will see an empty space between the keyboard and the navigation bar.

1. Look for the “Keyboard size” icon in the toolbar or in the expanded toolbar and tap on it. Or, go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Size and transparency” to open the keyboard size settings.
2. Drag the handles on the blue border present around the keyboard preview inward or outward to change its size.

3. Touch and hold the circular four-arrow icon in the middle of the keyboard and drag it to slightly change the position of the keyboard. Please note that if the keyboard is of full size, you cannot change its position. Make the keyboard a bit smaller and then use the icon to relocate it.

4. Tap on the “Done” button to save the changes or hit the “Reset” button to remove all the changes.

Also read: 8 of the Best Text-to-Speech Apps for Android and iPhone

10. Switch Different Standard Keyboard Modes

Samsung lets you use the keyboard in three modes: standard, floating, and split. The split mode comes quite handy on foldable devices and phones with a big display. Moreover, you can even specify the mode that you want to use on the main screen or the cover screen on foldable devices.

1. To switch between the keyboard modes quickly while typing, tap on the “Mode” icon repeatedly in the toolbar.

2. Or, open “Settings→ Mode” to specify the default keyboard mode.

11. Customize Appearance of Samsung Keyboard

You can modify the theme of the Samsung Keyboard in multiple ways. For instance, to enable high contrast color, use themes from Galaxy Store, or enable dark mode. For more details, go ahead and read our detailed guide on how to change the color of Samsung Keyboard.

You can also use the Keys Café app in Good Lock to customize all the aspects of the keyboard like individual key size, animations, add background pictures, and much more.

12. Turn off Number Key Row and Hide Alternative Characters

Samsung allows you to customize the keyboard layout in multiple ways. For instance, you can disable the number key row, hide the accented characters on the keys, hide the (.) and (,) keys to increase the size of the spacebar.

Open “Settings” on your Samsung Keyboard and go to “Layout”. Here you can enable or disable number keys, and alternative characters, and change the spacebar row style.

Also read: What Is Samsung’s Quick Share Feature and How to Use It

13. Convert Handwriting to Typed Text

If you enjoy writing instead of typing, you will like the handwriting mode offered by Samsung Keyboard. You can use your finger or a stylus to write text and the keyboard will automatically convert it into typed text.

1. Tap on the “Handwriting” icon in the keyboard’s expanded toolbar to open the handwriting panel.
2. Then, start writing your text.

3. Tap on the “Handwriting” icon again to turn off the mode.

14. Use Voice Typing

In addition to handwriting mode, you can also use your voice to dictate text. Tap on the “Voice input” icon in the keyboard’s toolbar and start speaking whatever you want the keyboard to type.

Pro Tip: You can activate voice typing using the Spacebar as well. Open Settings-> Swipe, touch, and feedback→ Touch and hold the space bar”. Select “Voice typing”.

15. Use Swipe Typing

You can use gestures to type quickly using Samsung Keyboard. Simply slide your finger across the letters that you want to type.

1. If this feature doesn’t work, go to “Settings→ Swipe, touch, and feedback→ Keyboard swipe controls”.
2. Choose “Swipe to type” from the option.

Also read: The Google Translate Guide for Easy Communication in Any Language

16. Translate Text

Samsung Keyboard offers a native feature to translate text on the go. You can use it inside any app like WhatsApp to translate the text that you type.

1. Tap on the “Translate” button in the toolbar to open the translation panel.
2. Choose the input and output languages by tapping on the arrows next to them.

3. Then, start typing the text that you want to translate in the box and hit the “Translate” button (present in the place of “Enter” button) to add it to the text field.

17. Create Shortcuts for Frequently Used Phrases

If you type certain long words or sentences frequently, you can create shortcuts for them. Later, you can simply type the shortcut and its expanded version will show up in the toolbar. To give you an example, I have created a shortcut for when I want to type “Make Tech Easier and I’ve set it as “MTE”.

1. Open Settings on your Samsung Keyboard.
2. Go to “Text shortcuts”. Here you will find a list of existing shortcuts.

3. Tap on the add (+) icon at the top to create a new shortcut.
4. Type the shortcut phrase like MTE and its expanded phrase (Make Tech Easier) in the available fields.
5. Tap on “Add”.

Tip: Hit the “Delete” icon to select a shortcut that you want to remove.

6. To use the shortcut, type it in the desired text field and tap on the expanded version in the toolbar to add it to the text field.

Also read: How to Use Google Docs Voice Typing to Type Faster

18. Easily Edit Text

Navigating through long text often becomes difficult on mobile screens. This can be avoided by using dedicated text editing controls on the Samsung Keyboard.

1. Look for the “Four-arrow” icon in the Samsung Keyboard’s toolbar. Tap on it.
2. Use the arrows to move through text and buttons to select and copy-paste text.

19. Use Spacebar to Control Cursor

Touch and hold the Spacebar to open a virtual trackpad. Then, drag/slide the finger across the trackpad to move the cursor on the text.

Tip: To disable this feature, go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Swipe, touch, and feedback→ Touch and hold the space bar”. Choose “No action”.

20. Remove Learned Words

Samsung Keyboard keeps on learning the new words that you type. If you typed a word incorrectly and the keyboard remembered it, you can easily remove the learned word from the keyboard.

1. To do so, long touch on the word when it shows up in the suggestion panel.
2. Then, tap on “Remove”.

Also read: 5 Android Equalizer Apps for Better Audio on Your Phone

21. Turn off Sound and Vibration

If you don’t like the sound or vibration that occurs when you type on the Samsung Keyboard, you can turn them off.

1. To mute Samsung Keyboard, open your phone’s Settings and go to “Sounds and vibration→ System sound/vibration control”.
2. Turn off the toggles next to “Samsung Keyboard” under both “Sound” and “Vibration”.

3. If your keyboard is speaking each word or character, open “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Swipe, touch, and feedback”.

4. Turn off the toggle next to “Speak keyboard input aloud”.

22. Change Samsung Keyboard Language and Layout

To add or remove languages in Samsung Keyboard, follow these steps:

1. Open “Settings” on your Samsung Keyboard.
2. Go to “Languages and types”.
3. Tap on “Manage input languages”.

4. Enable the toggle next to the languages that you want to add.

5. Go back to the previous screen and tap on the language to select the keyboard type.

6. To change the default language, tap on the three-dot icon in the upper right corner.
7. Hit “Reorder”.

8. Then, using the arrow next to the languages, rearrange them so that the language you want to make the default is at the top.

Pro Tip: Swipe on the Spacebar to switch between languages on the go.

Also read: How to Change Google Assistant Voice & Language on Android

23. Use Grammarly with Samsung Keyboard

Samsung has collaborated with Grammarly to provide suggestions for text corrections directly within the Samsung Keyboard.

1. To enable this feature, go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Select third-party content to use”.
2. Enable Grammarly. You can also enable or disable other third-party apps like Bitmoji, Giphy, etc., from this screen.

3. Then, go back to your keyboard’s “Settings→ Suggest text correction”.
4. Enable text correction for the desired languages and apps.

24. Use Samsung Pass

Samsung Pass is a great utility tool built right inside the Samsung Keyboard that lets you save notes, cards, addresses, and sign-in details. You can then easily access and use these details in any app.

1. On Samsung Keyboard, tap on the three-dot icon at the top and select “Samsung Pass”.

2. Verify with your fingerprint or password. Then, tap on the desired tab to add or use items from it.

Also read: How to Completely Delete and Uninstall Apps on Android

25. Reset Samsung Keyboard

If you don’t like the final look or how your Samsung Keyboard works, you can reset it to the default settings without changing each setting manually.

To do so, go to “Samsung Keyboard Settings→ Reset to default settings→ Reset keyboard settings”.

Samsung Keyboard vs Other Keyboards

Samsung Keyboard can be a great asset on your Samsung Galaxy phone. However, if you are curious you can compare it against other keyboards by checking our comparison post between Gboard, SwiftKey, and Samsung Keyboard.

All screenshots by Mehvish Mushtaq