Some of our readers report keyboard lag and typing delays after upgrading to the latest iOS. And they’re discovering that their iPhones’ and iPads’ keyboards aren’t working as they should. Symptoms include general keyboard slowness, delays, or lagging when typing, keyboard(s) freezing, keyboard shortcuts not working, and even stuttering of letters when typing.
We know this is a real problem for many of us iFolks. Even a couple of our staff writers noticed a decline in keyboard performance when working on their updated iPads and iPhones. Their keyboards just freeze and become super laggy!
If this sounds like you, we know how frustrating it is. And we are here to help.
So let’s get to it!
Contents
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Quick Tips 
- Close All Apps
- Settings > General > Accessibility > Reachability > OFF
- Turn Zoom OFF
- Set Display Zoom to Standard
- Delete App Documents and Data on iCloud
- Toggle ALL Keyboard Settings OFF
- Remove any additional keyboards
- Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion > ON
iPhone & iDevice Keyboard Lag
You go to type in your iDevice, and your keyboard just freezes and becomes super laggy! It’s like your iPhone just can’t keep up! If you continue typing and wait a few seconds, everything you typed starts appearing but not in the order you expect. It’s a garbled mess of letters and very frustrating.
Keyboard lag commonly appears when typing emails, texts, or when using Messages. Consequently, your iPhone or other iDevice ends up virtually unusable to type emails, respond to a text, enter web pages or anything involving the keyboard. Not Good.
Try the following suggestions, from least invasive at the start of the list to most dramatic at the end. This list is not a step by step, so try each fix one at a time and then see if it resolves your issue. If not, continue to the next tip on the list.
Simple Fixes for Keyboard Lag
Close ALL open apps
- Double-click the Home button or swipe up on the Home Gesture Bar
- Swipe right or left to see all your open apps
- Swipe up on each app’s preview to close
Uninstall & Reinstall
If the problem happens only in one app or just a few apps, consider uninstalling and then re-installing that app. In iOS 11 and above, use the Offload app feature. This setting allows you to retain all your documents and data while removing the app–then when you reinstall, it fetches the most recent version of the app and links it all to your previous app data. Pretty neat!
Turn OFF Reachability
- Settings>General>Accessibility>Reachability>OFF
- Reachability is only on the larger iPhone models
Turn OFF Zoom
- Settings>General>Accessibility
- Under Vision, toggle Zoom OFF
Set Display Zoom to Standard
- Settings>Display&Brightness>View
- Tap Standard and tap Set
- iDevice automatically restarts
- Available only on iPhone 6 and later models
- Not available on iPhone X
Switch Screen Mode
- Turn display to portrait or landscape mode
- If unresponsive, ensure orientation lock is OFF
Turn OFF iCloud Drive
- Go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > iCloud Drive > OFF
Turn ON Reduce Motion
- Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion > ON
Check for an iCloud sync issue
- Tap Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > Manage Storage > TextInput (textinput in Documents and Data is your text replacement data)
- Tap TextInput and Select Delete Data
- For Older iOS, open Settings > iCloud > Manage Storage
- Documents & Data to see if you have “Documents & Data” turned on, then tap to turn it off
- Now try to use your shortcuts
- If they now work, turn back on Documents & Data
Delete iCloud Documents&Data
- Settings>Apple ID Profile > iCloud>Manage Storage
- Under Documents & Data, select the first app
- Tap “Edit” from upper right
- Select “Delete All.”
- DO this for each app storing Documents&Data
Reset the Keyboard Dictionary
- Settings > General > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary
Disable Keyboard Settings
Disable Predictive Text
- Settings > General > Keyboard > Predictive > OFF
Turn Dictation OFF
- Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation > OFF
Disable ALL Keyboard Settings
- Settings > General > Keyboard
- Turn Toggles OFF for all these settings from Auto-Capitalization through Shortcut
Delete Additional Keyboards
- Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards
- Select Edit and select minus sign to delete
- Includes deleting Emoji keyboard
- Add keyboards back after issues resolved
Additional Tips for Keyboard Lag
Turn iPhone OFF and Back ON
- Hold Power Button until slider appears
- Slide OFF
Perform a Settings Reset
- Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
- Does not delete any of your data pictures, texts, etc
- Reader Tip–Do this TWICE, that sometimes does the trick
Perform a Forced Restart
- On an iPhone 6S or below plus all iPads & iPod Touches, press Home and Power at the same time until you see the Apple logo
- For iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold both the Side and Volume Down buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo
- On an iPhone X or iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Then press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Finally, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo
Reset Network Settings
- Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings
- You might need to enter in WiFi passwords again and any other manual settings
Reset iMessage
- Settings>Messages>iMessage
- Toggle OFF and ON
- Reader Tip–Do this a couple of times
Return to Factory Settings
- Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Contents and Settings
- Factory restore DOES delete everything
- Backup iPhone or iDevice to iCloud or via iTunes FIRST
Keyboard Not Showing Zoom View?
Have you changed your display from zoomed to standard or vice-versa? Often when we update our iOS version or if we reset our iDevice settings, this keyboard preference returns to iOS defaults. In that case, all you need to do is update this setting to enlarge or minimize the on-screen keyboard. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > scroll down to Display View, tap it, and select Zoomed. Or if you’re seeing a zoomed screen, select Standard. Your iDevice restarts and the new screen setting takes effect. That’s it!
Finally, if Nothing Works
Contact Support
If none of the tips worked for you, there are a couple of options. First, if your iPhone or iDevice is still under warranty from Apple Care or via your Mobile Carrier, contact support and schedule an appointment with an Apple Care Genius. It’s best practice to conduct a full backup to iCloud or iTunes BEFORE your appointment.
Perform a Restore AFTER Backing Up
If your iDevice is not currently under warranty, then the time’s come to try a full restore either via iCloud or iTunes. It’s not a pretty solution, but this might be the best option if none of the tips above worked. If possible, backup your iPhone or another iDevice just before you start your restore.
Restore with DFU Mode
If you experience trouble restoring via iCloud or iTunes, then try a full recovery in DFU Mode using iTunes. Just backup your iPhone or iDevice via iCloud or iTunes (and preferably both following our 2X2 rule) before you try this last resort.
Wrapping it Up!
When your iPhone’s or other iDevice’s keyboard lags and delay when typing, it’s a real pain in the you-know-what. It makes almost everything we do with our iDevices, like texting and email, tough and incredibly frustrating! So we hope that one of the suggestions above did indeed work for you. As a reminder, always start with the least invasive and if that doesn’t do the trick, try another. Move down this list to try the easiest fixes first.
We don’t know why this keyboard lag occurs. But we do know it frequently happens after updating to the latest iOS. These typing delays appear to impact older devices more often and with greater severity, with a sizable delay between tapping a key and the character appearing on screen.
Historically, iOS updates cause these kinds of keyboard and typing problems–these tips should fix it. As minor iOS updates release, Apple makes improvements and these bumps in the road, like keyboard lag and typing delays, get sorted out. We expect that the next iOS updates to resolve this issue completely. But in the meantime, try out our list of suggestions to get your keyboard and typing back to work.
So remember always to make sure you update your iOS to the latest version. And of course, ALWAYS BACKUP before any iOS updates, even the minor ones. Better safe than sorry, yeah?