11 Easy Solutions To Fix iPhone Keyboard Not Working Issue

User Concern

“One row of my iPhone's keyboard in the SMS menu isn't working (the second to bottom row with the shift button and the delete key)...has anyone else experienced this? I've had the phone for three days and I'm nowhere near an Apple Store so if I can avoid sending it in that would be great. ” - from Apple Community

iPhone keyboard not working issue is one of the remaining issues of different iOS device models, including iPhone 15, iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12, etc.

It needs to be resolved rapidly in case not to cause any other damages on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. This issue is found frequently after upgrading iPhone to the newest iOS 17/16.

If you are going through the problem that keyboard is frozen, not popping up, etc, then you can find the right solution for this issue from this post.

Part 1. Why Is iPhone Keyboard Not Working?

The iPhone keyboard always fails to work for the following reasons:

• The app installed on the iPhone has crashed.
• The iPhone touch screen is unresponsive or not working.
• Your iPhone is having a more serious problem.

The content introduced below will help you identify what the problem is and show you some exclusive solutions.

Part 2. Keyboard is Frozen or Unresponsive

One of the most common problems is the iPhone keyboard freezes randomly, which forces the application to exit. There is no need to take your iPhone to Apple Store to repair. The straightforward and potential solution is to restart the device.

If your iPhone can be powered off normally, just keep holding the power button and select "slide to power off" option to turn it off, then holding the power button until the white apple logo appears on the screen.

You have to force restart your iPhone if it cannot be powered off normally. Keep holding the power button and volume down button at the same time for about 8-10 seconds until you see the Apple logo, then release the two buttons.

Part 3. Keyboard Predictions Not Working

iPhone's predictive keyboard, called QuickType, will display the choices of the predictive word that you may need according to your writing habit.

Sometimes the predictive texts or emojis disappear in iOS 17 when you go into the predictive text settings. There are several useful tips to quickly fix such an issue, the easist way is to reset keyboard dictionary.

Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary, and any word added to the dictionary will be removed.

Part 4. Keyboard Lag

When you type in Message or Email app, the letters cannot keep up with your typing speed, this problem is always called keyboard lag. This can also be fixed by resetting keyboard dictionary.

Part 5. Keyboard Not Popping Up

It is often complained that the on-screen keyboard on messages, iMessages or email not poping up. It occurs frequently after upgrading to iOS 17.

It could be the reason that your iPhone is connected to an Apple Bluetooth keyboard. There is no need to force restart or factory reset iPhone, turn off the Bluetooth will likely to fix it.

Part 6. Simple Fixes to Repair Common Keyboard Issues

The fixes listed below can be used to settle conventional Keyboard problems.

Force Close All Apps on iPhone

You should ask yourself a question: The iPhone keyboard problem only occurs in one app or in all apps?

If the keyboard won’t work in all apps, it seems that this issue is not caused by one specific app. Let’s try to close all apps to stop the iPhone keyboard issue.

To close your iPhone app, swipe up from the bottom to the center of the screen to open all the app running in the background. Then swipe the apps to the top of the screen to force close all apps.

Uninstall and Re-install Problematic App

If the keyboard issue is caused by certain problematic app on your iPhone, you should uninstall this app from the device and reinstall it later from official App store. This will refresh and update the app’s performance and have the keyboard issue fixed later.

• To uninstall the app, keep pressing the problematic app until the app is shaking and an "x" icon is appearing on the app. Click on "x" icon to delete the app.
• After uninstalling the app, you can got to App Store to install it again.

Turn Off Reachability Feature

The reachability feature could also cause the issue with your iPhone keyboard since it will move down the whole screen including keyboard when this feature is turned on. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility to disable the Reachability feature.

Turn Off the Reduce Motion Feature

If you have problem typing GIFs when using the keyboard, you may need to turn off the Reduce Mode to check whether the keyboard issue can be fixed or not.

To disabled Reduce Mode, you should open Settings and go to General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion to turn off this feature.

Switch to Default Keyboard

Any 3rd-party keyboard apps such as Switfkey installed on your iPhone is also the reason why keyboard failed to work. Switch back to iPhone’s default keyboard may get rid of the unresponsive keyboard issue and allow the keyboard to work normally.

1. Open one conversation on your iPhone to activate keyboard.
2. Click on the Global icon on the bottom left corner and change the keyboard to the default one.
3. If your iPhone keeps switching back to other types of keyboard, you can remove it from your iPhone.

Restore iPhone with iTunes or iCloud

Something goes wrong with your iPhone system will also cause the keyboard problem. Restore iPhone with iTunes or iCloud is never a bad idea to resolve the "iPhone keyboard not working" issue.

How to Restore from iTunes Backup:

1. You need to plug your iPhone into a computer running the latest version of iTunes.
2. Wait until your iPhone is synced with iTunes, go to the Summary page of the device.
3. Click "Restore Backup" to choose a backup to restore. And the iPhone will enter the automatic restore process.

How to restore from iCloud backup:

Step 1: To restore your keyboard from iCloud backup, you will need to reset your device through Settings.

Step 2: Go to Settings on device, scrool down to select General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings to erase your iPhone data.

Step 3: The iPhone will restart, follow the setups on the screen step by step until you view the option of Restore Backup. Select an iCloud backup you possibly made today or yesterday to restore your iPhone system.

Part 7. Fix iPhone Keyboard Not Working without Losing Data

If you worry that restore iPhone from iTunes or iCloud backup may lead to data loss, using a 3-rd party tool is applicable to you. FoneGeek iOS System Recovery is what you need. It is powerful to numerous problems related iOS systems without data loss, like iPhone keeps looping on start, messenger not working on Apple Watch, iPhone black screen, etc.

Step 1: Download, install and run the iPhone System Recovey on your Mac or PC. Choose "Standard Mode" to continue.

Step 2: Connect your iPhone to the computer using USB cable and wait for the program to detect the device automatically.

Step 3: Click on "Download" when you confirm the device model and firmware version.

Step 4: Click on "Fix Now" to fix the iPhone keyboard not working issue without data loss.

Conclusion

It really bothers a lot when iPhone keyboard not working. Try the tips mentioned above to sort out the issue. We hope that one of these solutions will be helpful to you. Always remember to back up your iPhone data when you choose to restore your iOS system to avoid data loss.