Do you have trouble using the onscreen keyboard on your iPhone 13. In this article, I’ll explain how to fix issues related to the virtual keyboard not working on iPhone 13, including lag, not showing up at all, failing to register keystrokes, or being generally unresponsive.
Why your iPhone 13 keyboard or number pad is not working
Since the keyboard is a core part of your iPhone 13, it failing is rare. But it can happen due to temporary software issues or a major hardware failure. This includes minor glitches, the addition of many keyboards, bugs in the third-party keyboard, problems in the specific app, wet screen, internally broken screen, etc.
The same reasons can also cause the keypad or number pad inside the Phone app or on the Lock Screen to fail.
Ways to fix iPhone 13 keyboard not working
Here are the solutions and tips to take care of a non-working iPhone 13 keyboard. The troubleshooting tips below also apply to the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Wipe the screen
Your iPhone 13 is water resistant (not waterproof), but that doesn’t mean you can use the keyboard under water or even if it’s slightly wet. Often during a hot day, if you have been talking on the phone for a long time, sweat and body oils are transferred from your cheeks to the iPhone screen. As a result, the keyboard and the touch screen may not respond or work at all.
Use a soft dry cloth and carefully wipe the entire screen. After this, the iPhone 13 keyboard should work like before.
Remove it from charging
Your iPhone 13 keyboard may not work and respond correctly to keystrokes if you’re charging your device at unusual places, with power banks or cheap chargers, on a train or plane, or somewhere similar. Try removing your device from charging, and then everything should work fine.
Quit all open apps
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and drag all open app cards up to close them. Once that’s done, open the Notes app and see if the keyboard is working well or not.
Restart your iPhone
Restarting your phone can delete garbage memory, random bugs, and any problematic codes that are likely culprits behind iPhone 13 Keyboard issues. Once it’s back on, there’s a good chance that it runs without a hitch again. Here’s how to restart your iPhone:
- First, press any of the Volume buttons and the Side button simultaneously. Continue holding it until you see the Power Slider on the screen.
- Drag the Power slider. Your iPhone will shut down.
- Turn the device back on by pressing and holding the Side button until you notice the Apple logo on the screen.
Remove unnecessary keyboards
Have you added several keyboard languages to your iPhone? Remove the ones you don’t need and see if this solves the iPhone 13 keyboard issues or not.
- Open Settings and tap General > Keyboard > Keyboards.
- Select Edit.
- Choose the red minus button > Delete next to all unnecessary keyboards.
- Finally, tap Done.
Turn off One-Handed Keyboard
On the keyboard settings screen (Settings app > General > Keyboard), tap One-Handed Keyboard, and instead of choosing Left or Right, choose Off.
Disable keyboard click sound
Go to iPhone Settings > Sounds & Haptics and turn off Keyboard Clicks. After this, try using the iOS keyboard and see if it works properly or not.
Disconnect hardware keyboard and other peripherals
If you’re using an external keyboard with your iPhone 13, disconnect them. You can also turn off the iPhone Bluetooth to disconnect other keyboards. Once that’s done, the on-screen virtual keyboard should work.
Update your iPhone
iOS updates often come with a set of fixes for common software bugs. It could help resolve minor glitches that have been affecting your iPhone 13 keyboard. It’s easy to update your iOS. Follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Download and Install or Install Now.
Disable dictation
By now, the iPhone 13 keyboard not working issue should be solved. But if not, please follow the remaining solutions that have worked for a few people.
Start by going to Settings > General > Keyboard. From here, turn off Enable Dictation. See if the keyboard works normally now or not!
Turn off Reachability
Go to iPhone Settings > Accessibility > Touch and turn off Reachability. This means you can no longer bring the entire screen down (by a small down swipe at the bottom of the screen. But if this solves the iPhone 13 keyboard not working issue, you can keep it off until a software update fixes the bug.
Turn off zoom on your iPhone
The iPhone 13 keyboard may behave erratically if you use the zoom accessibility feature. To fix this, unzoom your iPhone screen and turn off this feature.
Reinstall the problematic app
Are you noticing that the iPhone 13 keyboard works fine in all apps except one (or a few)? This is mostly the case with writing apps like Google Docs, Word, Evernote, etc. If you’re in a similar situation, update that app, and this should fix the keyboard issues. If that doesn’t help, delete and reinstall the app.
Reset all iPhone settings
In case the above solutions fail to fix iPhone 13 keyboard not working issue, go ahead and reset your device settings. This should most certainly fix the iPhone 13 keyboard issues.
Remove the screen protector
If some letters in the iPhone keyboard are not working, it can be due to the screen protector. Remove the screen protector and while you’re at it, also make sure to remove any case that clings tightly to the edges and presses the iPhone screen.
Contact Apple Support for hardware issues
Finally, if nothing fixed your iPhone 13 keyboard not working problem, chances are your device has suffered visible or internal hardware damage, particularly inside the screen, due to which the keyboard isn’t working. You can get this fixed by visiting an Apple Store. Also, before doing that, you can try restoring your iPhone as new and see if it helps or not.
Fix third-party keyboard like SwiftKey not working on iPhone13
You can install one of the several third-party iOS keyboards like Gboard by Google, Microsoft SwiftKey, Grammarly, etc. Do the following if you’re using these keyboards and they don’t work.
Correct the third-party keyboard settings
First, go to iPhone Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards and ensure the third-party keyboard is added here. If not, tap Add New Keyboard and add it. If it’s added, tap the third-party keyboard, and enable Allow Full Access.
Secondly, open the keyboard app and make sure the settings are correct. Here, try to turn off unnecessary effects, themes, and extra features. This should most likely fix iPhone 13 keyboard lagging and improve the overall responsiveness.
Update the app
Update the keyboard app from the App Store to ensure things are in order.
See also: Pro Tips to Fix Autocorrect Not working on iPhone 13
Delete and reinstall the keyboard app
Finally, if nothing helps, delete the keyboard app and reinstall it. This has helped me in the past fix problems like failing keystrokes, random up and down movement of the iPhone 13 keyboard app, lagging issues, and more.
Fix word predictions not appearing on top of iPhone 13 keyboard
When you type on your iPhone 13 keyboard, you see predictions at the top. These are words you’re most likely to type next. If you don’t get the predictions on your iPhone 13 keyboard, make sure you follow the above basic fixes.
In most cases, you don’t get predictions because your keyboard language isn’t supported. As per the official Apple Support page, Predictive Typing is available in only about 37 languages and styles.
Fix cursor not working on iPhone 13 keyboard
While typing, if you want to place the typing cursor at a specific point, make sure you press and hold the space bar, then drag the cursor. Earlier, you could press anywhere on the keyboard to use it as a touchpad for positioning the cursor. But now, it’s limited only to the space bar.
See also: Dictation not working on iPhone 13? Here are the fixes
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