Windows 11 came with many changes, where one of the major changes that occurred was in the Start Menu. Apart from that, there are also other features that also get a new look and features but get less attention -- Touch Keyboard is one of them.
Touch Keyboard in Windows 11 got a lot of improvements, Microsoft made it a keyboard like the one on Smartphones, where now there are options to add emojis, search GIFs, transparent effects, and more.
This article will discuss what can be done from the Touch Keyboard in Windows 11.
Enabling Touch Keyboard
Touch keyboard can be opened via the icon on the taskbar. But if you don't find it, then you need to bring it up first.
- Open Settings.
- Click the Personalization option.
- In the right pane, click Taskbar options.
- Click (On) on the Touch keyboard option.
- After that, the keyboard icon will appear on the taskbar and you can click it to open the touch keyboard.
Docking Touch Keyboard
You can dock so that the touch keyboard remains open. This will come in handy if you're typing and don't want the touch keyboard to disappear when you open another app.
The trick is to click the dock icon in the right corner.
The keyboard goes into dock mode with a smaller display (you can resize it if you want). You can click the same option again to undock.
Changing the Keyboard Layout
This feature has been around since Windows 10, but underwent a change in appearance in Windows 11.
- Open Touch Keyboard.
- Click the Settings option in the upper left corner.
- Click the Keyboard layout option and select the layout you want.
In addition, you can also change the layout to Handwriting through the same menu.
Emojis and GIFs
This feature has been around since Windows 10, but underwent a change in appearance in Windows 11 and now supports GIF search.
- Open Touch Keyboard.
- Click the Emoji option marked with a heart icon.
- You'll find a panel of emoji, GIFs, Kaomoji, and symbols. In addition, you can also further menu options from the icons in the upper left corner.
- To do a GIF search, open the GIF menu and enter keywords in the search bar.
This improvement also occurs in the individual panels of Emoji and GIFs while typing. Use the shortcut Windows + . (period) or Windows + ; (semicolon) to bring up the emoji panel. Where now users can search for GIFs.
Touch Keyboard Settings
- Open Settings.
- Click the Personalization option.
- On the right pane, click the Touch keyboard option.
- You will find the option to change the keyboard size and keyboard theme.
That's the change that happened to the Touch Keyboard in Windows 11, of course this is a good thing by providing more features for the Touch keyboard, considering that Windows 11 is optimized for touch screen devices.