How to make the keyboard bigger on an iPhone, so you can finally see what you’re doing

Increasing the size of your iPhone keyboard is easy, but you can customize it further.

By Debbie Wolfe

Posted on Nov 9, 2023 5:00 AM EST

A young man wearing an orange plaid shirt focusing intently on an iPhone he's holding in front of him, as if he needs to make the keyboard bigger to see what he's typing.
For some, the default keyboard size on an iPhone may be too small, resulting in frequent typos and frustration. Depositphotos

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Making the iPhone keyboard bigger is one of the easiest ways to make Apple’s phones easier to use. Doing so will allow you to see the keys more clearly, providing a more comfortable typing experience and reducing your chances of pressing the wrong characters. This is particularly helpful if you have larger fingers or visual impairments.

Follow along with our step-by-step instructions on how to enlarge the keyboard on your iPhone, and stick around for additional iPhone keyboard settings tips and tricks that should improve your ability to interact with your iOS device.

How to make the iPhone keyboard bigger, instantly

The bigger iPhone keyboard, or what happens when you put your phone in landscape mode.
If your phone isn’t locked to portrait mode and you turn it sideways, you’ll automatically make the iPhone keyboard bigger. Screenshot: Apple

The quickest way to get a larger iPhone keyboard is to rotate your device until it’s horizontal. This will automatically switch the screen orientation to landscape, providing a wider, more spacious keyboard for easier typing.

If the keyboard won’t turn sideways, your phone is locked in portrait orientation. To remedy this on an iPhone without a Home button, swipe down from the top right corner to open the Control Center. If you have a phone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge of your screen to get to the same place. Then tap the Portrait Orientation Lock button (a padlock with an arrow around it) to ensure it’s off—it will display in red if on and locked.

The iPhone's Control Center, showing what it looks like when the portrait orientation lock is enabled and when it's disabled.
On the left, you can see that this phone is locked in portrait mode. On the right, the lock has been disabled. Screenshot: Apple

Set the keyboard to display only uppercase letters

The iPhone keyboard alternates between lowercase and uppercase letters depending on the shift setting, but the lowercase characters can be harder to see. To make each key easier to identify, you can tell your iPhone to always display uppercase keys, simulating a physical keyboard with all keys printed in capital letters. You will still be able to type in lowercase letters as long as shift or caps lock is off.

[Related: 24 iPhone settings that feel like secrets]

To see only uppercase letters, go to Settings, tap Accessibility, then Keyboards. Toggle off the switch next to Show Lowercase Keys, and you’ll make the keyboard letters bigger.

The iOS Settings app, showing how to make the letters on an iPhone keyboard permanently uppercase.
Follow the steps from left to right and you’ll be able to ban lowercase letters from your iPhone’s keyboard. Screenshot: Apple

Make your iPhone keyboard bold

A side-by-side comparison of the iOS Notes app, with the left-hand example being normal, and the right-hand example featuring bold font.
There’s a slight difference between default font (left) and bold font (right), but it may still make a difference for you. Screenshot: Apple

Bold type is easier to see, making text and letters stand out. To make your iPhone keyboard more bold, and therefore, bigger, go to the Settings app and select Display & Brightness. From there, tap Text Size and hit the toggle switch next to Bold Text. Now, the letters on your keyboard and the text you type and see on your phone will be bold.

The iOS Settings app, showing how to make text bold.
Some may consider this a bold decision, but we think it’s a wise one. Screenshot: Apple

Switch to Zoom view

The iPhone’s Zoom function will allow you to magnify the entire screen, making it easier to see and interact with the content. Just be warned: enabling Zoom will activate it immediately, and you may struggle to go back to normal. If you need to turn Zoom off, double-tap the screen with three fingers. Now that we’ve hopefully prevented a stressful situation, you can enable the feature: Go to the Settings app, select Accessibility, and turn on the toggle switch next to Zoom.

The iOS Settings app, showing how to activate Zoom.
Zoom will make things bigger, including your keyboard. Screenshot: Apple

From there, you will see instructions for controlling magnification with finger taps.

You can also adjust the Zoom level according to your preference:

  • Follow Focus: Stays focused on typed and selected text.
  • Smart Typing: Zooms into the text box to make it easier to see when typing.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: If you’ve connected an external keyboard to your iPhone by enabling full keyboard access, this will let you use shortcuts on that keyboard to control Zoom.
  • Zoom Controller: Lets you slide your finger around the screen to choose what Zoom focuses on.
  • Zoom Region: Allows you to use Full Screen Zoom or Window Zoom (partial screen zoom).
  • Zoom Filter: Customizes the color of your screen when Zoom is enabled. Choose from: None, Inverted, Grayscale, Grayscale Inverted, or Low Light.
  • Maximum Zoom Level: Drag the slider to adjust the level of Zoom.

Use a third-party keyboard app

Maybe the iPhone keyboard just doesn’t cut it, and you’d prefer something else. Thankfully, customizing your iPhone by adding a third-party keyboard is simple. First, go to the App Store and search for one of the best keyboard apps. After you install the one you want, go to the iPhone’s Settings app, tap General, Keyboard, and hit Keyboards.

The iOS Settings app, showing how to access third-party keyboards.
Goodbye, default iPhone keyboard. Screenshot: Apple

Next, select Add New Keyboard. Find the third-party keyboard app on the list and tap on it to add it to your active keyboards. To use your new keyboard, open the app itself and make any modifications that will make the keyboard bigger.

The iOS Settings app, showing where to add a new keyboard to your iPhone.
Once you install the keyboard app you want, you’ll find it here. Screenshot: Apple

Boost your iPhone’s text size

A side-by-side comparison of the iOS Notes app, showing default text size on the left, and increased text size on the right.
You may find bigger text (right) easier to see than the default iPhone font (left). Screenshot: Apple

Increasing the size of the text on your iPhone’s screen can make it easier to see what you’re typing (and reading). To change your iPhone’s text size, go to the Settings app and select Display & Brightness. There, tap Text Size and adjust the slider to make the text larger.

The iOS Settings app, showing how to make the font size bigger.
You can also use the slider to make the text size smaller, if you have, like, super vision or something. Screenshot: Apple

This won’t change the size of the keyboard, but it’s still a useful tip if you’re struggling to see what’s written on your iPhone’s screen.

[Related: Best iPhone 14 cases]

Change your iPhone keyboard sensitivity

If you’re having trouble typing on your iPhone, you may want to consider adjusting the keyboard’s sensitivity. This will determine how your phone responds to how long you press and hold your finger on the screen. To find it, got to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, then tap Haptic Touch.