Touch Keyboard vs. On-Screen Keyboard
Microsoft primarily created the touch keyboard for tablets and touchscreen-enabled laptops running Windows. On these devices, it’s automatically displayed when you touch any area that accepts text inputs and hides when you no longer need it. It also sports a modern look adhering to Microsoft’s latest design language. On the other hand, the on-screen keyboard is part of the Accessibility tools in Windows. It boasts a few exclusive extras, such as a full suite of navigation keys and function keys. It’s possible to take advantage of it on touch-screen Windows devices as well as standard ones.
How to Enable the Touch Keyboard in Windows 11
To start using your touch keyboard, you’ll first need to activate it from your PC’s settings. Follow the below instructions. Note: if you are using a Windows tablet or touchscreen monitor without a physical keyboard attached, you may also tap any area allowing text inputs, such as a text box to pop up the keyboard. Take a look at some essential things you can do with the touch keyboard activated.
1. Basic Inputting Using the Touch Keys
2. Using Swipe Typing
3. Adding Text With Your Voice
4. Inserting Text Using Handwriting Recognition
5. Opening the Emoji Panel
6. Accessing the Clipboard History
7. Changing the Touch Keyboard Layout
Tap or click on the “Gear” icon on the touch keyboard and select “Keyboard layout.” Choose any of the three options from the pop-up menu.
Small – undocks and shrinks the touch keyboard to resemble a smartphone keyboard. Use this option to free up more screen real estate.
Split – shrinks the keys down to a smartphone size but repositions half of them to the far left and far right sides of the docked area. This layout is ideal for typing on the tablet touchscreen with your thumbs.
Traditional – closely resembles a standard physical keyboard layout, complete with a number row and extra symbols giving you quicker access to those keys.
8. Personalizing Your Touch Keyboard
Image credit and screenshots by John Ruiz
