How to move the on screen keyboard in Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile

Kellogg Brengel

Lumia 950 XL infront of a christmas hearth

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With the rise of phablets like the Lumia 950 XL, it is always welcome when an operating system takes advantage of moving objects around all of that real estate that comes with having a larger screen. Thankfully Windows 10 Mobile comes with a few tricks to make it easier to navigate and manipulate the layout of your phone’s interface with helpful capabilities like one handed mode when you hold down the Start button.

Microsoft has also built in the ability to move around the onscreen keyboard so you can slide the keyboard up and down to reveal different parts the content on your screen. A helpful tool for when the on screen keyboard pops up only to block the key part of a website or app. And this feature works in non-native apps too, like Facebook or Whatsapp, pretty much you can move the keyboard whenever it pops up. Here is a quick guide for how to quickly move around the keyboard with just a single long press.

Windows 10 Mobile On Screen Keyboard
When the keyboard appears and you want to move it, just press and hold the spacebar with your thumb or whichever digit you prefer.
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After you’ve held it down for a second, the keyboard will become highlighted with the accent color you’ve chosen, letting you know you can now slide the keyboard up and down the screen.
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With your thumb or finger still pressing the keyboard, just slide it up or down. Once you have it in the desired position, just release your thumb or finger.

You can now type on your keyboard per normal, with all of the same functionality, just in a different location. One note is that whatever position you leave the keyboard in is where the keyboard will appear the next time you use it, regardless of which other app or screen you are in when you need to use the keyboard again.

Windows 10 uses a different method than Windows 10 Mobile to move the keyboard around. To move around that larger on-screen keyboard, all you have to do is click the dedicated four arrow button on the top right corner of the keyboard to move it all around the screen, not just sliding it up and down like on Windows 10 Mobile. Just press and hold the arrow, and proceed to drag the keyboard to wherever you wish.

windows 10 keyboard

For more how-to guides to get the most out of your new Windows 10 device you unwrap this holiday season, head over to our Feature Stories section which covers everything from importing playlists into Groove Music, sending emails with Cortana solely using voice commands, to performing a clean install of Windows 10.

Thanks Sebastian for the tip on how to move your keyboard in Windows 10 Mobile!