Use the on-screen keyboard on Pixelbook

Note: Pixelbook is no longer sold by Google.

Use your Pixelbook's on-screen keyboard to type, insert emoji, use your voice to type text, and to handwrite text with the Pixelbook Pen (sold separately).

Open the Pixelbook on-screen keyboard in tablet mode

When your device is in tablet mode, open your on-screen keyboard by tapping any text box. To hide the keyboard, tap Hide keyboard .

If you open the on-screen keyboard with your finger, the keyboard will default to typing mode.
If you open the on-screen keyboard with a Pixelbook Pen (sold separately), the keyboard will default to handwriting mode.

You can change the layout by selecting the mode you want (Keyboard or Handwriting ) in the top left of the on-screen keyboard. Your device will remember your choice as the default going forward.

Open the Pixelbook on-screen keyboard in laptop mode

If you want to use the on-screen keyboard even if your device has a physical keyboard attached, you can enable it in Settings.

Enable/disable the on-screen keyboard in laptop mode

Sign in to your device.
At the bottom right, select the time to open the status area.
Select Settings
At the bottom, select Advanced.
Under "Accessibility," select Manage accessibility features.
Under "Keyboard," select Enable on-screen keyboard.

Use the Pixelbook keyboard

Tip: For quick access to emoji, handwriting, and voice input, add keyboard input options to your device's shelf.

At the bottom right, select the time to open your status area.
Select Settings .
Under "Languages and input," select Input method.
Next to "Show input options in the shelf," tap the toggle to enable.
Your keyboard type (for example, "US" for a US keyboard) will appear in a circle on the right side of your shelf. Select to see input options.

Turn Caps Lock on or off

To enable Caps Lock while using the on-screen keyboard, double-tap Shift .

To disable Caps Lock, tap Shift again.

Use accented letters

Note that not all keyboards support this feature.

Open your on-screen keyboard. It should be a keyboard language that supports accent characters.
Note: If you're using a keyboard language that doesn’t support accent characters, you’ll need to do one of these things before moving to the next step:
- Switch to another keyboard language you already added by tapping the key to the left of the space bar.
- Add a new keyboard language. For instructions, see Related articles.
U.S. keyboard: Long-press the key for the letter you want to accent (for example, a to insert á) and select the option you want
International keyboards: In the bottom row of the on-screen keyboard, select AltGr. Then tap the accented characters you'd like to type.

Type text by speaking

You can speak to enter text in most places where you usually type. You can even add common punctuation marks by saying "comma," "period," "question mark," "exclamation mark," or "exclamation point."

Type text with your voice on a Pixelbook

Select where you want to type.
Open your device's on-screen keyboard.
In the upper right corner of the on-screen keyboard, tap or select Speak .
The first time you do this, you'll see a message explaining how the feature works. To turn on your microphone, select Got it.
When the microphone icon turns blue, say what you want to type.
Optional: To delete what you last said, select Delete.

Fix problems with voice typing on a Pixelbook

If you’re speaking, but text isn't showing up on the page, try these steps:

If you're using an external microphone, make sure it's fully plugged in, not muted, and using up-to-date software.
If you have other open programs on your device, make sure none of them are using your microphone.
At the bottom right, select the time, then select the icon next to the volume slider. If more than one input is listed for your microphone, make sure the correct one is checked.

Insert emoji or other images

To insert emoji into documents, emails, and chat sessions:

Open your device's on-screen keyboard.
In the lower left corner, select Emoji .
Select the emoji or graphic you want to insert.

Handwrite text

To handwrite text with Pixelbook pen, use the writing pad.

Open your on-screen keyboard.
In the top left of the keyboard, select Handwriting . A writing pad will appear.
Write text with your Pixelbook Pen, fingertip, mouse, or touchpad.

Swipe to type

You can enter words by sliding your finger from letter to letter.

Open your on-screen keyboard.
Select the location where you want to type.
Slide your finger across the letters of the word you want to type.
Lift your finger when you finish the word.
No need to tap the space key. When you lift your finger, a space is added automatically.
Optional: To change a word, tap the word to see other choices.

Glide typing is turned on automatically. To turn it off:

Open your on-screen keyboard.
In the top row of the keyboard, select Settings
Select Languages and input.
Under "Input method," next to your enabled keyboard, select New tab
Uncheck the box for Enable glide typing.

Adjust or turn off the Pixelbook on-screen keyboard

Activate the floating keyboard

Open your on-screen keyboard.
Tap Float
Move the floating keyboard by tapping and holding the direction pad at the bottom of the keyboard and dragging it to another position on the screen.
To return the keyboard to its original docked position, tap Dock

Adjust keyboard settings

Open your on-screen keyboard.
In the top row of the keyboard, select Settings .
Select Languages and input.
Under "Input method," Next to your enabled keyboard, select New tab .
Under "On-screen keyboard," tap the toggle next to each setting to turn it on or off:
- Turn keypress sound on and off.
- Set the level of automatic correction you'd like.
- Turn auto-capitalization on and off.
- Choose whether a double space automatically adds a period.
- Edit the entries you've made to your dictionary.

Troubleshoot issues with the Pixelbook on-screen keyboard

Before proceeding with troubleshooting, you can report any issues or experiences with your device to us by sending a feedback report. To do so:

On a keyboard: Press Alt + Shift + i.
On a touchscreen: In the top right of your browser window, select More Help Report an issue.
In the "Tell us what's happening" field, add any important details, including the steps to follow to reproduce what you're experiencing.
To submit the report, select Send.

On-screen keyboard doesn't respond

If the on-screen keyboard appears on the screen but isn't responding to your touch, first try restarting your device:

Turn off your device by holding down the Power button, or selecting the time in the bottom right and choosing Power
Wait for the device to turn off.
Press Power .

If the issue persists, you can instead perform a hard reset of your device:

Turn off your device by holding down the Power, or selecting the time in the bottom right and choosing Power
Wait 1 minute.

To learn more about resetting your device, see Related articles.

On-screen keyboard doesn't appear

If the on-screen keyboard doesn't appear when you select a text field, check the following:

Make sure your device isn't in laptop mode, or that the on-screen keyboard is enabled while in laptop mode. For more information, see Open the on-screen keyboard.
Make sure you've selected a valid text entry field. You may want to test this using a different app or webpage.

If the issue is with the on-screen keyboard, first try restarting your device:

Turn off your device by holding down the Power button, or selecting the time in the bottom right and choosing Power
Wait for the device to turn off.
Press Power .

If the issue persists, you can instead perform a hard reset of your device:

Turn off your device by holding down the Power, or selecting the time in the bottom right and choosing Power
Wait 1 minute.

To learn more about resetting your device, see Related articles.